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This is just a quick note to let all Forum members know that we will be having some downtime over the upcoming weekend, March 27/28.
It's well past time that we upgraded to the new version of vBulletin (4.0). Ideally it would have been nice to get this done during the month of February, a little before AWoM popped out, but that's just not how the dice rolled this time. As a result, we will be doing the "heavy lifting" on the upgrade over the course of the next week, with the outages scheduled for the weekend, when the number of member logins is routinely the lowest. (Most of the really tough work will already have happened behind the scenes, but it's always wise to assume that something will go wrong and require some downtime when the new version of the Forums is moved into its correct position on the web server.)
There are a few issues that readers of this message need to keep in mind as we get ready for the changes:
(1) The old page-display templates which have been available for our users with the present version of the vBulletin software (3.7.x) will not work with the new 4.0 version. Therefore they will all be withdrawn at the weekend. We strongly advise all Forum readers who're using one of these templates to change to the default Forum template. (Members already using the default don't need to do anything. The tweaked version of that template, with the Manual at the top, will be the easiest to retool for v.4 and will most likely go up when the new version of the software does.)
I can hear some of you asking: "When will the other old templates be revised and reissued?" Not for a while, maybe even a couple / few months... sorry! It's also possible that many of them may have become completely and permanently unworkable / unconvertable due to basic changes in the way the new software handles page display and design. We won' t be able to tell which templates are affected by this problem until we start trying to convert them, and there is at present no ETA for when this will happen. Getting the new core software running smoothly before things start getting busy on the YW sites in April is going to be our major concern.
(2) The forum database will at least temporarily be locked over the weekend while we're in upgrade mode, so that we can get a clean copy of the database for transfer to the new software installation. All Forum pages will be displaying a FORUM CLOSED message at that time. Don't waste your time hammering on it and trying to get in: come back in a few hours. Also, as a general note: it would be smart not to post anything vital during this period, as if there is an accident of some kind, messages posted between Saturday AM and Sunday PM (UK time) may be lost. A word to the wise...
(3) Once the new software is in place, some forums are going to be set as members-only -- particularly, one or more of the forums where A Wizard of Mars is being discussed. If you are not now a registered member and are interested in reading those messages about AWoM, you will need to register when the the new software goes up. Our advice: Do it now and save yourself a little time. Additionally, we will be installing some new addons to help us prevent spam registrations, which have been becoming more and more of an annoyance lately for your hardworking admins.
And a general note on timing: We'll try to schedule the worst of the Forum disruptions over the weekend outside of peak North American visiting times. But you should note that there may be periods when the Forums will be down for several hours at a time. Please be patient while we get things working, OK?
Thanks, everybody!
It's well past time that we upgraded to the new version of vBulletin (4.0). Ideally it would have been nice to get this done during the month of February, a little before AWoM popped out, but that's just not how the dice rolled this time. As a result, we will be doing the "heavy lifting" on the upgrade over the course of the next week, with the outages scheduled for the weekend, when the number of member logins is routinely the lowest. (Most of the really tough work will already have happened behind the scenes, but it's always wise to assume that something will go wrong and require some downtime when the new version of the Forums is moved into its correct position on the web server.)
There are a few issues that readers of this message need to keep in mind as we get ready for the changes:
(1) The old page-display templates which have been available for our users with the present version of the vBulletin software (3.7.x) will not work with the new 4.0 version. Therefore they will all be withdrawn at the weekend. We strongly advise all Forum readers who're using one of these templates to change to the default Forum template. (Members already using the default don't need to do anything. The tweaked version of that template, with the Manual at the top, will be the easiest to retool for v.4 and will most likely go up when the new version of the software does.)
I can hear some of you asking: "When will the other old templates be revised and reissued?" Not for a while, maybe even a couple / few months... sorry! It's also possible that many of them may have become completely and permanently unworkable / unconvertable due to basic changes in the way the new software handles page display and design. We won' t be able to tell which templates are affected by this problem until we start trying to convert them, and there is at present no ETA for when this will happen. Getting the new core software running smoothly before things start getting busy on the YW sites in April is going to be our major concern.
(2) The forum database will at least temporarily be locked over the weekend while we're in upgrade mode, so that we can get a clean copy of the database for transfer to the new software installation. All Forum pages will be displaying a FORUM CLOSED message at that time. Don't waste your time hammering on it and trying to get in: come back in a few hours. Also, as a general note: it would be smart not to post anything vital during this period, as if there is an accident of some kind, messages posted between Saturday AM and Sunday PM (UK time) may be lost. A word to the wise...
(3) Once the new software is in place, some forums are going to be set as members-only -- particularly, one or more of the forums where A Wizard of Mars is being discussed. If you are not now a registered member and are interested in reading those messages about AWoM, you will need to register when the the new software goes up. Our advice: Do it now and save yourself a little time. Additionally, we will be installing some new addons to help us prevent spam registrations, which have been becoming more and more of an annoyance lately for your hardworking admins.
And a general note on timing: We'll try to schedule the worst of the Forum disruptions over the weekend outside of peak North American visiting times. But you should note that there may be periods when the Forums will be down for several hours at a time. Please be patient while we get things working, OK?
Thanks, everybody!