The adventures in upgrading a website

[MightyGiants]

The upgrade was on my radar for a month or so.   The last time we had an issue with the website (which turned out to be the hosting company) I made the decision that it was time to upgrade to the new software as the people who create the Simple Machines Forums had recommended that active sites use the new version.

Now the thing with Simple machine's forums is that the entire look of the forum changes with the Theme (which are mostly add-ons outside of the default).   The upgrade didn't have a version of the theme we had been using, so I knew there would be a change.   So that's when I gave the warnings that things would be changing.

Now all last week I was running in my head the things I needed to do (I even wrote some of them down).  I started looking at different themes (although the pictures available don't really capture the true essence of the look of a given theme).   I started to reach out (too late in one case) to our IT experts in case things went south.

So Saturday morning before my walk I downloaded much of what I needed for the upgrade as well as made a backup copy of the files.   

I then did my 8-mile weekly walk.   After lunch it was D-Day.  I backed up the database and started the upgrade

Hitch 1-  This upgrade couldn't be run like the usual upgrade I had to research how to do it and had to run the upgrade manually (so to speak)

Hitch 2-  There were settings that had to be changed before the upgrade.  Downloaded a tool and fixed the settings

Upgrade made

Added a new theme and one mode.   The software was throwing all sorts of errors (database errors, Chon errors, and others).  I couldn't even post at first and I could embed pictures.   I was able to research and fix the posting issue and I continued to work on the site.  I spend most of the afternoon and evening researching the issues and also trying a different Theme as I wasn't all that fond of the one I had chosen.  I went to bed with the site seeming to work but throwing many errors.  I had lost all the avatars and the pictures that were uploaded as attachments.   I might at some point be able to restore all the posted attachments, but the avatars were lost for good but can be uploaded now.

In the morning I found the site had thrown hundreds of errors overnight.  I spent most of Sunday morning researching the various errors and what I could do to fix them.   I spent most of the morning on this issue and one person and the SMF forums suggested I do a complete collation operation on our database.  It was a little risky but I figured it was worth trying.   After I did that, SUCCESS!  all the errors, not just the DB errors stopped being thrown (the only errors I get now are the result of the issue with the picture attachment issue).

So then I spend the rest of Sunday morning (and some of the afternoon) trying to add new features via Mods and the like.   Eventually, chores made me stop work, but at a point, I was pretty happy.

At this point, I am not likely to add more Mods (the more mods the more likely issues, and I will try and tweak settings and the like).   

By Sunday afternoon, I felt like I do on the Saturday evening after the 3 days of the draft were over (only without a day to recover).

[Jolly Blue Giant]

Without you telling us what a huge project it was, I knew it was going to be a massive undertaking. And there are thousands of people who use this site so a lot was sitting on your shoulders. I can't thank you enough and would love to see a Go Fund Me page set up so we can throw a little something your way to show our appreciation.

You did a fantastic job Rich 

[MightyGiants]

Thanks, Ric

No need for $$$.  Although I will say my use of free (open source) software does create most of the challenges.  If I were paying for the software, I would have support people who would walk me through issues.   With open-source, it's up to me (and my Google/IT skills) to fix any and all problems

[Ed Vette]

Quite an ordeal, Rich. At least we're good for the foreseeable future. Thanks for all the effort!


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