Site Upgrade

Any site announcements will be made here. Also the place to make suggestions to help improve this site. Also use this forum for reporting suspected errors or for asking 'how to' questions.
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Robert T
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Joined: Mon 12 Jun, 2006 10:35
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Location: Cheshire

Site Upgrade

Post by Robert T »

The planned upgrade is progressing well with most of the groundwork now done and the final stages of planning the switchover underway.

We have now have a new hosting provider, with a better server, more space and better technical support that should hopefully stand us in good stead for quite some time. The old hosting was not capable of supporting the new version of phpBB, so it made sense to switch providers at the same time as doing the upgrade.

phpBB3 is up and running on the new server with all current features of the site preserved - this includes things like the zed models, country flags and the portal page which give zroadster some of its character - as well as all users, posts, PMs and file attachments. The new site also has a more modern look and feel, which we hope you will like.

The next big step is to move to using the new server, which unfortunately means a small amount of downtime for the site, as whilst you are all still posting on the old site, any backups we run the new server from will get staler and staler.

The current plan is to first get the zroadster.net domain moved to the new provider, where it will be under our direct control. This takes time but should not in itself cause loss of access to the site. Once under our control, we can point the DNS at the new server, and it is at this point that the site will be taken offline, the database backed up, upgraded and restored onto the new server. This is about 4 hours work, and the changes to the DNS server will also take several hours to propagate. When everything settles down again, you should all be looking at the new server and your existing logins should all still be valid.

In case of DNS problems, we do have a contingency plan that will allow you to use the new site without having to rely on DNS, but we will hopefully not need this.

Finally, with the move to phpBB3, we will be able to support Tapatalk, and this will be turned on soon after the upgrade is completed.

We will set a date for the switchover once the domain has been transferred, and details will be posted here.

Best wishes,

The ZRoadster.net Team
Last edited by Robert T on Tue 28 Feb, 2012 22:27, edited 1 time in total.
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stu
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Post by stu »

Robert, thanks for the amazing level of effort you've put in and to Tim for helping us carry this vital work out.

What dates are we looking for this to happen?

Cheers & fingers crossed for a smooth & successful transfer.

Stu
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Robert T
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  Z3 roadster 1.9
Location: Cheshire

Post by Robert T »

The domain transfer can take a week or so to complete, so once that it done I will come up with some dates for the upgrade - as I have to take the site down it will be announced beforehand - it will have to fit in with my work as it is requires hands on for most of it. At the moment, barring any problems, I am looking at having it up and running in the first week of March.

Cheers R.
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John1950
Joined: Tue 15 Mar, 2011 18:49
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Location: Cadeilhan, Le Gers

Post by John1950 »

Robert T wrote:The domain transfer can take a week or so to complete, so once that it done I will come up with some dates for the upgrade - as I have to take the site down it will be announced beforehand - it will have to fit in with my work as it is requires hands on for most of it. At the moment, barring any problems, I am looking at having it up and running in the first week of March.

Cheers R.

Yes, well done Robert. I'll be looking forward to the change, new presentation and extra functions.
Keep it up (and the site)
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rgf
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Post by rgf »

Well I understood very little of that but I gather it is going off, will come back on and will be better - so that's all I need to know. Thanks for your efforts.
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Robert T
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Post by Robert T »

rgf wrote:Well I understood very little of that but I gather it is going off, will come back on and will be better - so that's all I need to know. Thanks for your efforts.
Very succinctly put. You don't need to worry about my fiddling about with it in the middle. :wink:

Cheers R.
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Jonttt
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Post by Jonttt »

Cool
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Post by TitanTim »

Cheers Robert and for all your efforts and hard work :)

Tim.
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Post by Jamezee »

Great stuff :thumb:
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Deano1712
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Post by Deano1712 »

Good work Robert. Three cheers!
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///M_aniac
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Post by ///M_aniac »

Thanks for the update, Robert, and for all your hard work in the background to upgrade the site. :P Can't wait to see the final result in March.

C
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Cloz
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Post by Cloz »

Many thanks Robert :bow :thumb:
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whiteminks
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Post by whiteminks »

Excellent job! I am looking forward to the all dancing/singing new site! 8-)
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Post by Boysie »

:thumb:
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PCSAM
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Post by PCSAM »

its thankless processes you lot are going through . I know i did a few years ago..........
a big thank-you.. the result will be impressive .......a pint for each of you :D
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Robert T
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Post by Robert T »

Just to add to this - the domain transfer is now complete, so the upgrade will be going ahead very soon.

Please make sure you read the post on the home page/top of this forum regarding when the upgrade is happening and how long the site is expected to be down.

Cheers R.
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Post by Jamezee »

Farewell old site.... hello new site..tomorrow :)
Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one. Harry Callahan.

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Post by Robin »

I hope the latest posts will scroll up the page as they do now.
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BBZ149
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Re: Site Upgrade

Post by BBZ149 »

WOW, forum is looking awesome! Loving the look and feel of the site. Well done guys bloody good job :cheers
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John1950
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Re: Site Upgrade

Post by John1950 »

Well, well, well....
Not bad at all - it looks much smarter and newer.
Does it do more things?
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Cloz
Joined: Fri 30 Jun, 2006 01:41
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Re: Site Upgrade

Post by Cloz »

Nice our new site. I like it.
The only thing I don't like is in the Recent Topic it is not easy to read.
I don't know if it's possible put a line between the topic and the authors or change the color of one of line.
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Re: Site Upgrade

Post by TWO »

Cloz wrote:Nice our new site. I like it.
The only thing I don't like is in the Recent Topic it is not easy to read.
I don't know if it's possible put a line between the topic and the authors or change the color of one of line.
Here here!!!!
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daverave
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Re: Site Upgrade

Post by daverave »

Cloz wrote:Nice our new site. I like it.
The only thing I don't like is in the Recent Topic it is not easy to read.
I don't know if it's possible put a line between the topic and the authors or change the color of one of line.
I thought that at first then found the increase font icon ( top right below the search box ) and that made it much easier.
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snoops
Joined: Sat 12 Jun, 2010 17:08
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Re: Site Upgrade

Post by snoops »

Suggestion - I don't know if you can change the wording on the search panel for finding a member but having now worked it out it might help others if it were on there in the explanation.. or whether the functionality of the search can be tweaked??

When searching for a member by user name, whether you know the full or part name (using * wildcard) if you are on the "All" page when you carry out your search then it can appear that your result is nil - no-one found, but if you then choose the 1st letter of the user name you have searched on it will display your matches.

Edit, the reset button isn't working (if it's supposed to clear all your search fields??) you have to manually delete

A nice feature though that isn't obvious is the column headers are "clickable" to sort Ascending or Descending whether displaying "All" or a filtered search, I think the default sort is joined date.
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Zmeagol
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Re: Site Upgrade

Post by Zmeagol »

The normal default for phpBB is date of joining in ascending order which means you list the oldest members first. This seemed illogical, so yes, the default here is newest members first.

Tim
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Cloz
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Re: Site Upgrade

Post by Cloz »

TWO wrote:Here here!!!!
:shock: :puzzle:
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Gazza
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Re: Site Upgrade

Post by Gazza »

Cloz wrote:
TWO wrote:Here here!!!!
:shock: :puzzle:

He agrees with you ;)
Gazza

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Cloz
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Re: Site Upgrade

Post by Cloz »

Thanks for the modification :thumb:
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