System upgrade - Please Read

[GVGjr]

Hi,

On Thursday afternoon WOOF will be receiving a system upgrade that includes moving to the latest vBulletin version.
We will also be getting an increase to the bandwidth and disk space that we currently have which should speed the site up or at the very least stop it from slowing down.

During this upgrade (approximately 2hrs) you will not be able to access the forum.
I have asked for this to happen from 4pm to 6pm but this might vary a bit.
During this time if you try to access the site you should receive a message similar to this.

Sorry, the board is unavailable at the moment while we are testing some functionality.
We will be back soon...

Some of the various boards like The Doug Hawkins Wing and Legends and Larrikins will also be switched off from tomorrow before the upgrade so don't be concerned if they are not visible to you.

I will be performing some tests on the site to make sure things are working before turning the site back on.

I'll confirm the likely time as soon as I can.

Regards,
GVG

[The Coon Dog]

Will the new version have any new features?

[GVGjr]

Will the new version have any new features?

Probably not a whole lot but there is a host of small new or improved features between the current and the latest versions. Some will be switched on like security upgrades etc and some like the social groups feature and user reputation add-ons probably won't be looked at until later on. I won't switch on features until I know they won't slow the system down.

A lot of the features are more administrative options like increased forum statisics.
The main driver behind this upgrade is to coincide with the more to a new server to provide the site with greater disk space and bandwidth.

I need to upgrade the forum regularly and it's been a while. It can get to a point that if you don't keep upgrading regularly you might not be able to move from a real old version to the latest one. We are moving from vBulletin version 3.6.8 to 3.8.2 so it's long overdue.

[hujsh]

As long as it looks similar. The forum visibly does look very good.


And also keep the 'go to 1st unread post' thingy that I just discovered.

[GVGjr]

As long as it looks similar. The forum visibly does look very good.


And also keep the 'go to 1st unread post' thingy that I just discovered.

I was looking to change the banner and the visual side of things but the upgrade and the new sever is enough.

I'm surprised that it's taken you this long to find the "go to 1st unread post" button but it's a real time saver.

[LostDoggy]

Keep up the good work mate, thanks to you and all others involved, I am on this site daily at least once, I cant really afford to timewise but I dont want to miss a thing!

[LostDoggy]

As long as it looks similar. The forum visibly does look very good.


And also keep the 'go to 1st unread post' thingy that I just discovered.

Where is that feature?

[boydogs]

Where is that feature?

Its the red square with triangle in it on the left of the description for the thread

<here>Torrents or whatever you nerds call them ( 1 2 3)
Sockeye Salmon

[GVGjr]

The forum won't be upgraded today and we will have to reschedule it for either midday Sunday (unlikely) or mid next week. I'll fix up the boards for the time being.

[GVGjr]

Apologies but the site was down for several hours last night due to someone (where the site is hosted from) doing some pre-work before the upgrade and messing things up.
The upgrade was scheduled for Thursday at 5pm, although nothing had been confirmed, and I'm in two minds to put it on hold again until they can assure me that they have this under control.
As a precaution, I've closed a couple of the boards down like The Doug Hawkins Wing and Legends and Larrikins just in case it goes ahead.

I'll keep everyone updated.

[GVGjr]

The upgrade is now tentatively scheduled for Thursday afternoon but I will have some firmer details by tomorrow afternoon.

If everything is still right by tomorrow, a few boards will be closed down until the upgrade has been completed so don't panic if you log on a few boards are missing.

The upgrade will probably take about 2 hours.

[GVGjr]

It has been confirmed that the upgrade will go ahead on Thursday afternoon.
As a result, some boards will be closed down now until the upgrade is completed.

[GVGjr]

Just having a look at the upgrade now and it's been about 80% completed with a few features to be added tomorrow. I'll turn the balance of boards back on after everything has been completed.

[The Coon Dog]

Now that its been upgraded, are there any changes that we'll notice?

[firstdogonthemoon]

Thank goodness it is back. I knew I would miss it but I didnt realise how much. *kisses monitor*

[GVGjr]

Now that its been upgraded, are there any changes that we'll notice?

As I previously mentioned, there is a lot of changes behind the scenes more than what a lot of you can see. I will switch on a few of the new features over the weekend.

[Raw Toast]

You've made it harder to misfpell words I see, which should help make things more readable, though it'd be good if you could put the correct spelling of all the Bulldogs players names that would be good (so all posts with Hargraves and Griffin in them get red carded, :))

[The Coon Dog]

As I previously mentioned, there is a lot of changes behind the scenes more than what a lot of you can see. I will switch on a few of the new features over the weekend.

Thanks for that. Looking forward to seeing them.

[hujsh]

Will the bar with "User CP FAQ Community Calendar" above the post reply button go?

Probably not necessary with the bar up the top having the some buttons