The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum

As you may recall from our donation drive last fall, we need to upgrade the system software (Ubuntu) on our server by May 2015 as our current version (10.04) will not receive security update after that. We really need to update to Ubuntu 14.04 as it will have security updates through April 2019.

However, a problem has arisen: Ubuntu 14.04 updates to the current supported version of php (5.5). Our current version of Vbulletin 4 uses php 5.3 and the latest version of Vbulletin 4 (which I had planned to upgrade us to) works -- barely -- with php 5.4 (which stops getting security updates in about a year). Neither work with php 5.5. The vbulletin people really have no firm plans to make Vbulletin 4 work with php 5.5 as they want to push people to their new Vbulletin 5. People aren't moving to VB5 because it sucks bigtime -- it tries hard to be Facebook first and a useful forum second so people are avoiding it like the plague.

So we are probably going to have to switch software yet again. The other two paid major forum software (IP.Board and Xenoforo are possibilities but they two seem to be heading toward being more FB-like and are annual subscription things where you have to "rent" the software by the year). Although I like Xenoforo (it is written by the original developers of Vbulletin), I'm really not sure I want to go this route. First, the annual fees. Second, the whole reason we went with Vbulletin was to get something stable and supported so we could stay with it. We haven't got that -- the new owners have no real interest in supporting it so we are no better off that we were with open source software.

Sadly, the reason we left SMF in 2011 (several years of infighting amongst the SMF developers blocking the release of SMF 2.0) was resolved about 6 months after we switched to Vbulletin with the several years late SMF 2.0 finally being released under a new (open source) license with a new development organization set up and given control to resolve the infighting.

So it looks like we will be returning to SMF. The current plan is to update, reconfigure, and remodel the old SMF board and reopen it. (I've already tried this with a copy of the old board and it works.) Unfortunately, importing the messages from this board into it likely all but impossible. As Vbulletin 4 doesn't work with php 5.5, we plan to move the message from this board into a MyBB board and provide it as a closed to posting archive board. Why not just move the messages to MyBB and continue using that board -- it lacks many of the features we use and like.

When will all this happen? Sometime this spring. Watch this space for more information as it becomes available.

Oy. Thanks for dealing.

I'll admit to being annoyed about this situation. The whole point of moving to vbulletin was to avoid problems like this.

Oy, that is a mess.  Cheers to you for keeping us moving in a useful direction despite unhelpful developers.

 
Seconded.

Although I like Xenoforo (it is written by the original developers of Vbulletin), I'm really not sure I want to go this route.

I belong to a forum which uses that and the new version runs in wounded-snail mode if you don't have a fast computer. I have to turn off Javascript to make it usable, and then turn it on again to log out!

BTW, Tapatalk is available for just about any forum software we might use, including the front-running SMF 2.0.

I'll admit to being annoyed about this situation. The whole point of moving to vbulletin was to avoid problems like this.

 
Oy yah.

A sucky mess to deal with. Seems internet tech has been undergoing a slow decline from ugly but usefull and flexible to pretty useless dreck that slows everything down for years. Not suprised forum software is not exempt.

I'll send up a prayer to Slaanesh that your pains bear satisfying fruit.

So it looks like we will be returning to SMF.

Boo hiss on the mess, but YAY! for the above. I'll be only too glad to go back to the old board; this one has always felt cumbersome.

The new (2.0) version of SMF is quite the same as the older 1.1 version but it is close.

 
...Is there a 'not' missing above?