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.