SusSAR Forum Update
It was finally time to update the forum on the SusSAR website. The forum is used for communication within the team and is completely sealed off to the public as it contains confidential information. This is and was my main priority when setting up the forum and i am constantly checking for security loopholes in the system. The forum is made by phpBB and the upgrade was from v2.0.8 to v3.0.7
Upgrading, as i found out, was not as easy as i first thought. The web host SusSAR use charges for databases. We have one for the forum and thats all we generally use. However, for the upgrade, ideally i would install the new forum in parallel, meaning i would need a second database. An example of this would be if someone new comes into your work to replace you. You would work with that person for a short while, ensuring everything is ok before you leave. This is how website updates are generally done.
The upgrade would only take a few hours, but the web host wanted to charge SusSAR for using two databases, the minimum time being a year. So i had to do the upgrade ‘blind’. This is similar to being the dealer in a game of new market. The first hand you pick up is ok, but the other one is potentially better. But if you go for the other hand, its too late to go back. I had to upgrade the forum by deleting the old one and installing the new one. There was no going back!
With the ability to have 2 databases, phpBB 3 can convert the forum for you, making the process nice and simple. Instead i used MAMP to set up a couple of local databases and do the conversions offline.
Luckily there were only minor hiccups which i overcame eventually. The update, which should have taken 2 hours max, ended up taking 5 hours.
But everyone likes the new forum – and it works which is the main thing!
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