Site Upgrades 2021/2022

Hello All,

The site will be undergoing upgrades and changes over the coming months.

Phase One

The site's technology stack needs to be upgraded to support upcoming software releases and new features.

Server/Operating system:

• A new server upgraded from CentOS 6.10 (Final) to CentOS 7+ (Core)

Web layer:

• PHP upgraded from 5.5.38 to 7+

Database layer:

• MySQL upgraded from 5.1.73 to MariaDB 10+

Support stack:

• Prometheus/Grafana Monitoring and alerting + analytics for Adsense

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STATUS: In progress. The site will be down for 1-3 hours when the cutover is made. This should happen over the next week or two. It's currently in testing. You should not notice any changes... perhaps a performance increase for some.


Phase Two

Software and feature upgrades/changes.

More details to come. Please post any changes or features you'd like to see on the site.

For example. Tamstrong notified me that some members want more social media integration. I suppose that means more options under "Media"?

 

A bigger, better selection of Smilies would be much appreciated. Please & thank you.

As for the social media thing, adding more options to the list (like Reddit & Twitter for example) might be nice. Another good suggested addition is a gif site like Giphy or Reaction Gifs. I haven't had any issues posting from the options already included (I've had no problems posting images or gifs either), but a few folks have mentioned having issues doing so. Just my opinion of course, but anything more than additional media options would be a negative. A big part of the appeal to the forum for me is that it's not like Facebook, Twitter, IG, etc., and I'd hate to see it go too far in that direction.

 

The site is on the new server since 10:00 AM EDT. (15:00 GMT)

Please let me know if there are any issues.

 

Phase Two

Software and feature upgrades/changes.

Phase two is beginning... finally.

Software upgrades are being tested, and the current theme and plugins are being converted to work with the new version. You may notice some minor changes but nothing major. Most of the changes are code upgrades.

This should be completed by the end of February. The site will be down for 1-3 hours to implement these changes.

After the upgrades, we can work on getting the suggestions added.

 

Yes, Twitter and a bunch of other sites will be allowed.

 

Not sure yet. I'll have to add them on the test site-- the latest forum version. A designer just finished copying the current design template over and now working on the add-ons.