Upgrades Take 2

[elc32955]

OK folks, we have the clearance from the Web Host to try the upgrade process again. I've scheduled with the developer for Friday, Jan 5 in the AM, however if things do not go as expected you may see intermittent downtime for the whole day.

The Forum system will be the only portion of the NewCaprice system impacted by the upgrades, the rest of the system will operate as normal.

Any questions please PM or email me. Let's keep our fingers crossed that the second time will be the charm!

Thanks
Eric

[elc32955]

Well, the upgrades did not happen today and will be rescheduled. As soon as I know a date I'll post it up.

Thanks
Eric

[elc32955]

Hey folks, we're partially through the upgrade process. We are returning to service on a trial basis, so some things may not work as they did before or may be temporarily disabled. If you find weirdness please drop me a PM & let me know. I'll flag anything we find as noted.

We started this process after 5 PM on Friday evening, and it's now 1:30 PM on Sunday my time. We are trying to drag a system that is kicking, bucking, and screaming into current software revision-land. Our outage time was much extended past initial projections and there is still work to be done. Our developer & webhost are still diligently working and trying to figure out what is causing the forum system to blow-up on us. SO.... please be patient while we continue to analyze things. We may have some no-notice intermittent downtime whilst we sort through the rubble. Rest assured.... we'll be back if we go down again!

Until we get the Announcement module fixed I'll use the Mchat space for announcements, so please make sure to check the chat box.

MODULES WE KNOW ARE DISABLED OR PROBLEMATIC.....

Media imbed (I.E. putting direct windowed video in from another site. Manual links should still work).
Board Announcements (currently disabled).

More info as I check things over.... Thanks for your patience over the last two days!

Thanks
Eric

[CrashTestDummy]

It's almost always database-related.

Been there, done that. We had customers who would run old OSs because their stuff wouldn't work on the new ones. Sadly, our management let them do it with the exact same SLAs!!

Happy to see the forum back online, though!!

[s/c'd cav]

weekend times dont effect me much , since i usually view the site while at work

thank you for the updates , and working on keeping the site alive !

[elc32955]

Heads up folks, we're going to try some tweaks in the next 24 hours so you may see some intermittent downtime....

Thanks
Eric

[elc32955]

Howdy folks,

Well this is a synopsis of where we stand currently. The major portion of the upgrades were completed successfully. The PHP version and the phpBB operating software are now at current operating revisions and security levels. This was the #1 objective of the upgrade project. It was unfortunate that we had to do everything on a crash basis (hire our developer, update software, debug quirky system issues), but the upgrades needed to happen for a number of reasons.

Now where we still have yet to complete are some of the add-on programs called "extensions". These are enhancements to the system that allow additional functions outside of the main operating program. About 50% of our extensions are currently functioning, with the other 50% disabled for a few reasons. At least two of them caused the system to crash after the core updates took place and are now disabled. The developer recommended we give the system some time to adjust and burn in with the new software configuration, and I fully support that. There comes a point in time where you have to sometimes step back and get the new 40th floor view of the project in toto, so for the next 45 days or so that's what we're doing.

The most important thing is that we have continuity in the software with these updates. They system will continue to operate as before with only minor changes to the look & feel. An important revision is that the search engine is completely redesigned and is supposed to return faster, more efficient search results. Coupled with the speed of the new web server that we now reside on should improve the user experience of folks searching for a particular topic or interest of the day. And we are still optimized for mobile phone display since many users now use phones to look at & interact on the forums in lieu of desktop or laptop PC's.

We did have to sacrifice a little in the interest of getting the system back up and not causing me to mortgage my house, lol! The precise similar topic extension is off-line. The system announcements extension is off-line (in the interim I will use the Mchat system to put any system announcements up for users to see. It's not like we were chatting on a daily basis anyway....). The media embed module is off-line, this means that you will have to follow a link to watch video - where before you could watch it directly on-site from sources such as YouTube, etc... All of these will be addressed in the next round of updates which will probably take place sometime in March and will be proctored by the hired developer with assistance as needed from our webhost & other IT entities.

One last thing. It's been my pleasure to support the system's necessary operating expenses monetarily entirely out of my pocket for over the last 10 years on your behalf. I ABHOR obtrusive & invasive commercial advertising, and I will do anything I can to prevent monetization of the New Caprice system in becoming dependent on advertising revenue to subsidize operating expenses. Your personal information is yours, not for sale or harvest here as most of the other car sites that are corporately owned do. However... with the economy in it's current state and given the unexpected urgency of the system updates (which did hit my wallet at an unexpected moment), I think it's finally time that I do avail the opportunity to the members to assist with the support of our happy home since we just completed the first round of a probably three-part upgrade process.

Part 1 was the events associated with the web server upgrade and the necessary software revisions, coupled with hiring a for-profit developer phpBB developer and renewing our Internet DNS for the next 24 months - as the DNS is required for us to operate. Part 2 will be to reengage the developer and possibly other professional IT talent as required to correct the remaining issues with the system as it currently stands, this will take place between 45 and 60 days from now. Part 3 will be additional enhancements, added capabilities, and growth of the system to match todays technological levels. What form will that take? Not completely decided as of yet as we want a totally operational, updated stable system before we order a second story built upon the one-story foundation that right now is suffering from ground settling until I can heal these problematic extensions.

So, in the next day or so I will activate the donation module with some detail on the asking figure we are trying to reach, why we need the money, and what it was (or will be) spent on. The system has always been operated on a not-for-profit basis and right now all that's happening is the soliciting for reimbursement of funds I've already spent last month and in the current month. I'm not going to be in your face with this like the ads you see for dying animals and such on TV. If you can contribute it's much appreciated, if not it's understood and we are happy and appreciative you are here no matter what.

One other thing, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the superlative service & generosity provided by our webhost, SPARK I/T Services. Their purchase of a new web server for their Internet operation is the baseline reason you are enjoying warp speed access today. Without their support running this system would be much harder. Sincere thanks for all that you do for us!

So, here we sit. If anyone has questions or comments please feel free to post and I'll do the best I can to answer everything.

Thanks as always for your continued support!
Eric

[s/c'd cav]

ill be on the look out for it , though not sure what i can spare , im still suffering the effects from the UAW strike , and GM dragging their asses on back orders and shippments

greatly appricated on the site being here and your time spent to keep it here