The Upcoming Upgrade: Here's what's happening...

Got a couple of emails indicating the website was down -- maybe more were sent, but if you use the webmaster@ email address, it wouldn't work either.

I sent out a couple of middle of the night emails to the webhosting company and the groupee people (software we use on the CF) and just got a notice that it was a server problem. They've rebooted and it is now working -- or I wouldn't have been able to post this message.

Today I'm hoping to get a firm schedule on updating the software so be prepared for another shutdown in the next few days. You SHOULD see a message about 'updating' or something.

In the meantime, enjoy.

We ALL appreciate your time and effort that you graciously give to the HL website and the Collectors Forums. Thanks, John!!

A few glitches here and there as time goes on, but you always come through and take care of things.

Thanks Again!

John, Thanks for all the hard work keeping the CF going !!!

Glad to hear the update is on the horizon !!!

Yes John, we too want to thank you for all the work on CF!

It will be great to tell my friends that they can now register!

So and to the Captain of the CF waves

Weeks of emails back and forth are about to pay off. Here's the quick explanation of the delay in upgrading the software:

1. It's a 2-step upgrade. First to get to the last and highest version of "UBB Classic" (no longer supported, but still used by some sites like ours) then #2 install the "new" Threads version from the software company. This version requires a database SQL and will need to "Translate" all our 10+ years of threads.

2. When the software people asked for the access information to our database, I passed that on to the hosting people. It turns out we didn't have a database -- didn't need one for upgrading the UBB Classic. We got hooked up on this issue for a weeks.

3. Only today we (host and I) figured out the SQL was needed for the "Threads" software. And to add the SQL to our dedicated server means changing to a different OS - Operating System - and that change will mean losing the ability to edit domains directly using FrontPage.

4. Editing the domains using FrontPage is posible indirectly, but it will mean that forms and some other "bells & whistles" that are done in FrontPage will need to be changed to a different process. Making those changes will take some time then before we can change the OS.

5. In the meantime, I'm going to contact the software people today and see if they can proceed with the first step -- upgrading our UBB Classic to the last and highest version of that. This should repair the problem with new registrations.

6. After this change is made, we should have the CF acting like it does now perhaps with some added features. We'll hold at that upgrade until the FrontPage issues are resolved. Perhaps a month or so.

We'll then install the new OS on the server and...

7. Make the final leap to the "Threads" software. I'm going to ask the software people to preserve the UBB Classic as it is and install the "Threads" into a new area of the server. This will provide us with a 'fall-back' to the UBB Classic in case there is some problem translating the giga-bytes of our stored threads, user names, passwords, pictures, etc, etc.

I'll use this thread to keep you up to date as we move ahead.

I heard from the UBB folks and it looks like the first upgrade will take place this week.

I noticed things weren't well this morning, but I figured it would be squared away some time today.

Bob

John, Let me know if you need a tester with any part of the upgrade.

I think we'll all be testers when it happens. I was expecting it any day now...

It appears the upgrade has been completed. You'll note that at the bottom of each page is that we are now "Powered by UBB.classic 6.7.3" that upgrade was from version 6.4 which was updated in 2002.

This is the first step in the two-step upgrade mentioned above. We'll be on hold with this for a month or two.

I've started a new thread in which to post In which to post things that are different in this new version.