Update forum software?? 2.0.19 to 2.1.2??

[86Woodgrain]

I have created & admin'd a number of automotive forums, going back as far as 2001. I have always used phpBB and I can see you use SMF.

I think it would be a good idea for you guys to update the forum software one version newer to 2.1.0 at least, MAINLY because it is mobile friendly. Secondly, it's good practice to not use old software versions for security reasons. It is also not a good practice to advertise the version of software you are running (phpBB took that out of the HTML code) because it makes you more of a target. I realize you may not be able to change that with SMF.

The current release is 2.1.2 - https://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=582201.0;all

I submit this idea for your consideration. I'm not sure I could actively help with the upgrade but I at least wanted to bring it to your attention.

[TheBirdman]

With such an old forum, a large update like that has a decent chance of causing problems. If youre worried about security, no version of BB or SMF is ever going to be very secure.

[86Woodgrain]

With such an old forum, a large update like that has a decent chance of causing problems. If youre worried about security, no version of BB or SMF is ever going to be very secure.

I have been upgrading forums for 21 years. With phpBB the only real risk of causing issues is when you go to a major revision from like version 2.x to 3.x. I would bet going from 2.0.x to 2.1.x would be a very low likelihood of problems. It is good practice to do the upgrade on a backup or test version of the database / site prior to pushing it out live to the production site.

One might say those risks outweigh the risks that you leave open by not upgrading:

Notable changes in SMF 2.1.2
- Fixes errors when attempting to view the profile of a non-existent user.
- Fixes minor issues with the editor toolbar when certain BBCodes are disabled.
- Fixes a bug where the admin panel incorrectly showed the image proxy settings as editable when Settings.php was read-only.
- Correctly formats the gender string in profile exports.
- Correctly formats the custom profile field names and values in the Buddies list.
- Fixes a minor bug when displaying size limits in the attachments restrictions information.
- Large image thumbnails now display with the the correct aspect ratio when viewed on small devices.
- Video attachments no longer overflow the window on small devices.
- Fixes

Notable changes in SMF 2.1.1
- errors about undefined variables when switching between different cache accelerator options.
- Fixes an error about invalid dates when a comma was used under certain circumstances while creating a calendar event.
- Correctly handles uppercase non-ASCII characters in the answers to verification questions.
- Fixes a bug that could allow a topic to be moved into a redirection board under certain circumstances.
- Fixes a error that could be generated when sending notifications about guest posts.
- Fixes a bug where certain pages could fail to load if the set_time_limit() function was disabled on PHP 8+.
- Fixes a bug where attachments might not download correctly if the "Enable compressed output" setting was enabled on PHP 8.0.17+ and 8.1.4+.
- Fixes some rare Unicode character handling issues.
- Security improvements.

ALL of that would be fixed with an update. Plus, the site would be mobile friendly, which is the feature I really want to see.

[Taylor]

The last update was Dec, 2021 and the version was from 2.0.18-2.0.19
For some strange reason, updating/upgrading to the newest version gives a error? not sure why, it isn't giving any information on it. "undefined error" "board_stats_limit" is that shows.
I believe the problem might be there is not update from 2.0.19-2.1.1 it is not listed anywhere that I have been able to find.
Download page:
https://custom.simplemachines.org/index.php?action=patches

[86Woodgrain]

Yeah I don’t see an update pkg 2.0.19 up. It says:

If there is no available version, then package manager upgrades are not possible. To upgrade you will need to use the Large Upgrade (also known as Full upgrade).

[86Woodgrain]

If you are interested if you gave me admin privileges for a bit I could try to take a look at the admin area and see if I see anything unusual. My experience is with phpBB, however. If not, I would suggest you post at the SMF community and ask for help to see if they have any additional ideas.

[Taylor]

Multiple errors when trying to update the SMF updates. Also updating the PHP software yesterday caused the blank page that we have endured for the last 24 hours or so. That was reverted by tech support this morning. Apparently I didn’t revert it back far enough for it to be fixed.
All of it is rooted in what seems to be various plugins
A partial screen shoot of the errors that tech support emailed.

[86Woodgrain]

My experience is phpBB but typically you have to do the script upgrades first (e.g. SMF and other scripts), and then last test the upgrade of php, MySQL, etc. Do not try to update the server software itself until the SMF is upgraded successfully.

Also, in my experience add-ins or extension that are not part of the forum software tend to not be maintained after years so those also become a problem. I run very few extra "addins".

It looks like Subs-ForumFirewall might be a plugin?

You also need to be very aware of the system requirements for each SMF version release. Typically you need to update the forum scripts first before upgrading PHP because once you upgrade PHP to like 8.x or whatever it's a massive upgrade and not backward compatible. That part doesn't surprise me.

I sent you my email address directly. If the forum is down and you think I could provide some advice feel free to reach out.

Is this the version of ForumFirewall you're using? Last updated in 2017 - https://custom.simplemachines.org/index.php?mod=2815

SOMETIMES, you can get away with disabling these plugins / add-ins FIRST, to allow you to actually run the upgrade of the core SMF. Then review which ones are compatible with the new version of the forum software SMF. Re-enable or re-download the new version if possible.

Exactly which plugins/mods are you using? How many?

=======

If I was you, I'd look at what all plugins you are running, disable each one ALL OF THEM (on a test board if you have one), and then try the SMF upgrade. See if that works. If it does work, re-enable plugins one by one, update as needed, ALSO disable ones that break the forum or are no longer compatible. If you can get the forum working OK at that point, then and only then consider updating PHP, MySQL, server side scripts.

In a nutshell:
1. Backup your current database and files
2. Disable all forum plugins / mods now, record which ones you were using (and their version numbers)
3. Do a test upgrade to SMF 2.1 (you may have to update multiple times to 2.1.1 then 2.1.2, then 2.1.3 I'm not sure if you can go straight to 2.1.3 from the current 2.0.19 !!!!! ) - you may want to just do one update per day to make sure there are no issues each time rather than doing all at once!
4. If the upgrade works and the forum is working, only turn plugins back on one at a time but update them from the developer. You likely can't put all them back up.
5. If you are good now, only at this point consider PHP / MySQL upgrades, I would strongly recommend you wait a few days after the forum is upgraded to do this to make sure there are no pre-existing software bugs that arise from the other SMF upgrades.

[86Woodgrain]

FYI I found this on the SMF website:

If you are currently using any older version of SMF (including SMF 1.x, SMF 2.0.x, or one of the SMF 2.1 Betas or RCs), you can upgrade directly to 2.1.3 from whichever version you are currently using by using the "Large Upgrade" package from the Download page. Be aware that using this upgrade method will require you to reinstall any customizations that you have added to your forum, so if you are running SMF 2.1.0 or higher, it is recommended that you apply the successive patches instead of using the Large Upgrade.

[86Woodgrain]

Did you make any progress since my last post?

[Taylor]

No I haven’t. Still looking into it and other stuff.