Major Forum Upgrade *Now Complete*

[wurlycorner]

Hi, all good stuff, but can't find the 'new post' or post button on my dashboard?

I meant 'new posts' not 'make a new post'

When you have the list of threads open, towards the right hand side of each thread header, there's the icon with 2 white boxes (2 bits of paper top of each other) with a red arrow pointing to the right. If you press that it takes you to a new post at the end of that thread.

[bill hughes]

Whatever you need to do Jim has to be ok, just as long as you keep the forum going, I for one would be lost without it, there's always someone who comes up with the answer to a question, so keep up the good work,
Cheers mate Bill

[Old-Guy]

I would just like to say a huge thank you to all involved for the immense technical effort freely given to keeping the forum working properly.

I've been totally pre-occupied with other things over the several months and as the 'Green Lady' has just kept going without problems, I'm afraid I've shamefully failed to even visit the forum.

[xantia_v6]

You have not been the only one busy with other things. You may have noticed that the upgrade is still pending, partly delayed by some issues with the new user registration system. We think that those are now solved, so just doing a bit of fine tuning, then we need to find time for the final upgrade procedure.

Watch this space.

[xantia_v6]

After months of testing and tweaking we are finally ready to install phpBB version 3.1.

The Forum software upgrade has now been scheduled for Wednesday 9th September 2015.

The work will commence early in the day (when Jim wakes up), and should be finished by mid-afternoon, give or take a couple of hours.

This is a major software upgrade and the forum needs to be off-line for several hours while the database is backed-up, the new software installed, the database restructured and the Forum configuration adjusted and tested.

Please try to ensure that your car does not break down on Wednesday, as you will be on your own.

[CitroJim]

So that means the forum will be off-line from about 04:15 BST on Wednesday Morning....

[addo]

Is it possible the upgrades will lead you towards new demands (costs) of running the forum? Happy to tip in.

[CitroJim]

Is it possible the upgrades will lead you towards new demands (costs) of running the forum? Happy to tip in.

Yes, We're going to have to pay the Admin team double what they earn now...

Still, double zero is still zero so we'll be OK..

Seriously, thanks for asking Adam but at this time it's just a software update to existing infrastructure so we remain OK. Currently the forum bank account is quite health...

[xantia_v6]

This is a final reminder that the forum will be off-line tomorrow, from about 4:30 am - for as long as it takes - to upgrade the forum software and make some other adjustments.

See you on the other side...

[Stickyfinger]

what the heck ?...Jim will go melt down...that's his mid-day

[electronmirror]

Good luck with the upgrade folks

[xantia_v6]

Well the forum is back on-line running phpBB 3.1, still a bit of testing to do, so it may be up and down for then next few hours.

Changes:
Although we have tried to keep the look-and-feel of the forum unchanged, users may notice a few changes since the phpBB 3.1 upgrade:

1. The forum now has better rendering on small screens, so can be used directly on phones without the need for Tapatalk (but Tapatalk is still supported).
2. A new notifications system, similar to those found on Facebook or Google, can inform you of new replies to watched topics, posts quoting you, or new moderation activity.
3. You will now see an Google Custom Search box on the navigation bar just below the header (not on small screen devices),
   and also near the top of the search page (also on small screen devices, but not tapatalk).
   The new search box performs a Google search of the contents of the forum and wiki. It is rather good. Try searching for C5 rear brakes corrosion in both the new and old search systems, and see which you prefer!
4. On a forum index page, hovering the mouse over a topic title gives a preview of the first and last posts in the topic.
5. Users may now upload their avatars from Gravatar (see http://www.gravatar.com).
6. There is a new user profile field My Cars which shows beside each post (and in a few other places). New users fill in the field during registration, existing users may transfer the data from their signature if they wish.
7. Various buttons and boxes at the top of the page have moved around
   The Active Topics button now works correctly on all sub-forums.
8. There are many other changes inside the forum software which should improve reliability and security and make life easier for the moderation and administration team.

Note that if you have ad-blocking software installed on your browser, the Google custom search will only work if you unblock the "Google AJAX Search API" cookie. Gravatar avatars only work properly if you unblock the "Gravatar" cookie.

[CitroJim]

Excellent work Mike Many thanks indeed for all your hard work this morning

[Stickyfinger]

Shame, I wanted a Pink forum

GJ Guys

[CitroJim]

Shame, I wanted a Pink forum

That'll be available in the next version