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  • Upcoming Site Upgrade - testing required

    Hey all

    The time has come where we are forced to upgrade the forum software. vBulletin 4 has a number of outstanding issues and the forum is getting attacked pretty much continously so we have to upgrade things to a newer version.

    Sadly this process isn't a simple one, and a number of plugins in use haven't been updated in years and have no support for vBulletin 5. Where possible we are working to replicate functionality.

    There will be another post with advance notice before the real upgrade too, this is just to help identify issues ahead of time.

    At this point we need your help to test the upgraded site ahead of a migration. Due to licencing issues it is password protected, this is only for the beta version.

    URL: https://beta.irishmilitaryonline.com/
    Username: betauser
    Password: betapassword

    Once through the prompt, you would use your normal forum user to interact with it.

    Some points to note:
    • This is a copy of the forum from around a week ago.
    • Anything you do on the beta forum won't be reflected on the main site and will be lost after the upgrade.
    • Anything from the main forum since we copied the data won't be reflected on the beta site.


    Known Issues / Changes
    • Beta site is slow
      This is hosted on a much smaller server.
      Almost all caching is off and the little that is enabled gets wiped anytime we apply a fix.
      The real site should be as fast or faster than it is now after the upgrade
    • Template issues
      The version on the main site hasn't been upgraded in multiple years and isn't compatible with VB5.
      Due to historical issues, there may be places where things still render incorrectly, showing parts of the older templates. Please report that here with urls and screenshots.
    • All the urls change in the new version.
      This is vBulletin imposed so not much we can do about it.
      Any urls saved should redirect to the newer format.
    • Thanks/Post plugin is no longer supported.
      This means all Thanks/Likes are converted to Likes on the new site.
      The display is different because of how vBulletin handles this.
      Disliked posts have *NOT* been migrated. Due to the likes using the reputation system, this might have unintended consequences if we did.
    • Donate button
      The plug for donations was enabled but going to a non existent account.
      If anyone did manage to donate over the past year, I'd assume Paypal would have automatically refunded the money.
    • Layout of links to subforums has changed on main page.
      Real forum names are being used now.
      We had to fix hundreds of issues around the rendering of these. Please report anything that renders incorrectly.
    • Privacy Options
      vBulletin nor properly supports privacy consent for guests and users. This options have been enabled to comply with EU data regulations.
      There will also likely be a cookie message eventually.
    • Ads
      The code running the Advert has been disabled.
      If anyone gets any ad popups or displays, please report here with a screenshot and the url.
    • Emails from beta are disabled


    For Moderators
    • The privacy page text needs filling out in the admincp. We will copy what you put in here to the live install when that point is reached.
      https://beta.irishmilitaryonline.com/privacy
    • You may notice some (very) old messages appearing in the moderation queue. This will be a one off as the database is repaired.
      Don't worry about it on the beta site, the process will need to be repeated on the live upgrade.
    • Numerous plugins around user registration have no VB5 support. Some have been integrated straight into VB itself.
      We are looking for replacements and/or additions for other parts.
      Expect more updates before the real upgrade.
    • admincp is blocked on the beta site due to some DB issues.


    Thanks
    Stephen

  • #2
    thanks - seem to be some styling/css differences in the regular look and feel
    "Are they trying to shoot down the other drone? "

    "No, they're trying to fly the tank"

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by trellheim View Post
      thanks - seem to be some styling/css differences in the regular look and feel
      Sorry I should have been clearer. The template running currently on https://forum.irishmilitaryonline.com is not compatible with VB5. The beta site is running on a default template. Due to some questionable decisions around how vBulletin handles templates, we are still cleaning out code from vBulletin 3 made nearly 10 years ago. It is those that we need to track down and fix.

      Comment


      • #4
        template
        in this context what is a template please
        "Are they trying to shoot down the other drone? "

        "No, they're trying to fly the tank"

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by trellheim View Post
          thanks - seem to be some styling/css differences in the regular look and feel
          The software itself has a default look and provides some ability to customise the colour, some placement of objects like tabs etc. A custom template gives even more control over that. The lines get a bit blurry as both a template and the software provide options to change say the background colour, but only a template would give options change the say the forum icons.

          Comment

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