Thanks, Paul!

Hi, I'm trying to migrate from 1.6 to the most recent version. Unfortunately, the migration procedure only works starting from version 1.7...

By way of test, I've followed the procedure as is, and I get what seems to be the correct amount of topics/posts for each forum, but unfortunately: there are no actual forum-posts and I can't login,...

So, would there be someone who can provide me with a description of what was changed from 1.6 to 1.7 in the database? That way I could try to add some lines to the file !UPDATE_DB.sql. Any other help/pointers would be welcome as well.

Probably very strange to have someone come up with this question so many years after the release of that 1.6 version, but I've been running it all these years without any problems (it's a small forum, less than 20.000 posts)... until hackers started exploiting the SQL-injection vulnerability a couple of months ago:-( "My bad" of course, should have upgraded earlier but I had customized the forum sooo nicely...

... Just a small addition to the previous post: just discovered that search is working and able to retrieve my old posts. Must have done something right ;-)

Cahier
There was no database update when moving from 1.6 to 1.7, so I am sure the current database upgrade should work. Don't forget that you must run convdb tool to update correct number of posts, topics etc. Don't pay attention that it suggests 1.7 version at least - it should go fine for any version if you have updated the database properly.

Also, you must add new options to setup_options.php (specially $dbUserSchema - it will affect the login issue) and restore each and every point described under Updates History.

Of course if you did some custom changes, they will be lost. 1.6 is really an outdated version.

Hi Paul, thanks for the reply. With "Updates History", I'm assuming that you refer to the points mentioned under the title "How to update miniBB from 1.7 series to 2.0 (RC1)" in the file "!UPDATE.txt". Not sure yet whether I'll manage, but I'll keep you posted!

I did realise that my custom changes will be lost, that's why I waited so long to update;-) Just a little lazy I guess, because it's nothing compared to what I have to do now. Not complaining though, everything seems to be documented well enough - but as a non-technical person I must admit that I'm having difficulties figuring some of the stuff out...

Cahier
UPDATE.txt contains all the versions history for 2.0. I think it would be a very hard job to restore templates changes and CSS, so the most simple solution is just to upgrade your database and apply the completely untouched version over it, as it's described at the very first post of this thread.

We are providing paid support for non-technical persons so you must think either spend one month of work either hire us for 3-4 hours to maybe even save your changes (but it of course depends on what kind of changes you have... if they affect core files, and if they are not documented, it's not possible to restore them at all; however if they just affect the layout, templates and CSS, it would be quite possible).

excuse me, where can I find older versions of miniBB like 1.6 (and 1.1)?

or can anybody send me a pack? ... i'm migrating but also with hosting change...so need older version installation and then upgrade

thank you

We don't have older versions available to download for security purposes. I doubt that trustful Internet sources have them stored as well.

When migrating to the other server, you don't need the basic package at all. The only things to do are to copy all files from your old server to the new server, then copy the database (via dump export/import) and specify new data for the database under setup_options.php. This process is easy as well as miniBB itself.

thank you!
will try just to copy while migrating

(i'm not very familiar to minibb yet - always used SMF, invision, etc. :))

thanks

I updated my forum from old version, but I can't see forum topics!

Guest
It may mean you have failed to update topics table properly (missed some new fields or something like this).

I'm in the process of upgrading minibb from 2.0 to 2.4. In general I like the new layout and bb_default_style.css. However one thing I still prefer from the old style is the way the message and replies are displayed, with two columns: the author on the left, and the message on the right. To my eye, it's easier to read a long chain of replies that way (of course it's a matter of opinion). Is there a skin available which would revert back to this older style of displaying messages and replies? If not, can you provide a pointer to the appropriate section of code that would need to be modified? I don't want to change the way the forums list is displayed in V2.4.

Thanks for any help

Mark

It's not actually related to the skin... it's templates/main_posts_cell.html you may keep from your old forums. In general, upgrading your forums it's possible to keep older layout with no problems. You don't have to change anything.

BTW we're working on the updated 2.4 now and may be we will revert the old layout, author on the left, text on the right... it seems the new layout doesn't really pass. Too many requests regarding a new one, so we must keep an eye on it (despite I personally like the current one more, I'm not the one to decide it).

I still like this layout ;). I would ask a question why actually some users prefer the old layout. I think it's because in the current layout they have to put their eyes right on the left of the screen (where previously the text of the post started more to the middle of the monitor's center). So maybe the very easy solution - instead of 95% width you could try 90% as I did on one of my site and then see how other users like it ;).

@Paul: Thanks for the reply and info. I've been able to get things looking the way I like.

@Tom322: No it's not about where left-vs-right I have to look. Rather I like to be able to read a thread straight down without having to parse all the "clutter" such as the username, their status (member, guest, etc), each shaded differently. I can always see that information on the left if I'm interested, but IMO it's secondary to the actual conversation.

But, again, it's all a matter of opinion. Perhaps the ultimate solution would be to offer a couple different versions of main_posts_cell.html to accomodate various tastes.

The great thing however is that with minibb we can don't need to fight it out and pick one, since it can be customized to meet various preferences.