Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
[SOLVED] Forum Problems
#1
Well, even though I did a fresh from scratch installation of the forum software, and even though it is the last version of the software, even still, over the last few days I have taken notice of certain "problems" that seem to have decided to rear their ugly little heads. Some others have raised the specter of certain of these problems, also. I'll try to get to them, when I can. Some I have already tried to bring remedy to, but my own technical expertise in software matters is always limited, at best. Bear with me, if you will, for I still trudge across the Unending Desert of Problems Without End.

1. There was a problem with when you read new messages, the forum would keep on leaving them marked as unread.

2. The Online Today mod, that think that would list the avatars of forum users that had been online here in the last 24 hours installed flawlessly. It was working like a charm. Then, in the middle of late last night, in the midst of having a zillion and three web browser tabs opened, at some point along that log and lonely journey through the darkness, I happened to notice all of a sudden like that the forum wasn't displaying them, anymore. What the dickens?

Is it frustrating? Sure it is. However, when quick searches for the underlying problem(s) don't bring resolution to such problems, whether these or others that crop up along the way, I kind of have to take it in stride. I am simply trying to juggle a lot of balls, and each of those balls consumes a certain portion of my time. It would be nice if I could master the art of getting it all done yesterday, but for me, that's still a work in progress.

Basically, I tend to approach most of my general PBM activities, such as what I do here with this forum, on a zero-budget basis. There are learning curves associated with virtually everything that I have encountered - and especially where software problems arise out of nowhere and attack me like the walking dead, when I least expect them.

Over the years, I've actually had pretty good luck, overall, using MyBB forum software. The biggest headaches that I have experiences over time with it have mostly been of the self-inflicted variety. Hey, it's how one learns, right? I did ponder installing SMF forum software, this time around. If you don't believe me, then just go here. I don't know, first-hand, that SMF forum software is better than MyBB software, but one thing that I do know with absolute certainty is that I have vastly more experience with MyBB and its occasional quirks than I have with SMF (which, by comparison, is virtually none). So, ultimately, what with everything else that I'm doing gobbling huge chunks of my time, which is only exacerbated by me trying to keep adding additional balls into the mix on top of all of the current ones which I have not done such a good job of juggling, I seem to have ended up going with the lesser of two evils. For my experience with MyBB forum software has some value to me, even if perhaps others may have went with a different type of forum software, this time around. Anyone who knows anything about forum software at all, though, likely knows that all forum software products are always releasing the occasional new updates. Every kind of forum software that I have used, that has certainly been the case. Some forum software types are expensive, yet others are free. At the end of the day, one must make a choice - a choice from a parade of imperfect contenders. So now you know. . .the rest of the story, much as Paul Harvey might, back in the day.

Even writing this attempt at an explanation and awareness raising required time, in order to be accomplished. Hopefully, you'll still find this PBM Gaming Forum to be of soem use, whether now or at some point in the not-too-distant future.

Happy gaming!
Reply
#2
I noticed not long after I had posted the previous posting in this thread that the PBM on Discord link that I had posted last night at the top of the forum seemed to have just magically disappeared. So very vexing!

And so I headed off into the night, once more, alone and without any techno-champions to aid me in my cause. Going where, exactly, and in search of what, exactly? Honestly, I don't know. I rarely ever do - or so it seems. Yet, problems arise like orcs and goblins in the night. They come without warning, and they intend to do you in.

Er. . .me, that is. Not you. Non, no, oh never you. It's always. . .me.

So, I ended up venturing into the ancient that is new templates section of the forum admin control panel. It was only just last night that I "forced" all forum uses to use the forum using the same theme - namely, the default one. Yet, why then was there the number 2 above that section? Odd, indeed, my good Watson!

So, I cast my spell of admin magic, and voila! I forced all users - again - to use the same forum theme, when lurking about the place.

And magic being what magic is, the avatar images at the bottom of the page to show who has been online here in the last 24 hours magically reappeared, as did the PBM on Discord link at the top of the page - which I noticed first, before I even then afterwards happened to notice that the row of avatar images was back.

See how easy it is? Not having a clue what you're doing, nor having even the slightest idea about what causes such problems to transpire out of thin air with no real notice in advance, doesn't mean that you can't work magic.

Magic worked. Problems solved.

At least, until the next one comes along.

Happy gaming!
Reply
#3
I can only commiserate, and commend you for persevering. I don’t know much about forum software per se, but I do support software as a job. 30+ years in the industry has not helped in reducing the frustration I often feel when dealing with it !

I did have a question though - I don’t want to add to your workload unnecessarily, but is there no way you could reinstate the user accounts from the old forum ? It would be a shame if a lot of these users never returned because 1) The old forum address changed and 2) They couldn’t log in.

Just a thought.
Reply
#4
(08-06-2022, 06:05 AM)strudders Wrote: I did have a question though - I don’t want to add to your workload unnecessarily, but is there no way you could reinstate the user accounts from the old forum ? It would be a shame if a lot of these users never returned because 1) The old forum address changed and 2) They couldn’t log in.

Just a thought.

Well, no one really adds to my PBM-related workload but me, as I only undertake something if I want to do it. That said, I'm sure there is a way to reinstate the user accounts from the old forum. However, that's beyond my ability to do. I made an attempt to restore the old forum into a fresh install of the forum software via phpmyadmin (which is not a place that I should be tinkering around in, because I'm basically a human guinea pig lost in a technological software maze, there). Doing the wrong thing, even by just a wee little bit, can quickly yield disaster, when one doesn't know what they are doing in phpmyadmin.

It went well enough, and took only a minute or so, but it also yielded close to a thousand errors. Literally! Now, those errors may have been due to plugins on the old forum that weren't on the freshly installed forum, but even one error that needs to be fixed in phpmyadmin tends to be a bridge too far for me, with my limited "expertise" (ahem!) in and with phpmyadmin.

Could I pay someone else to do it for me? Sure, but a zero-budget approach to doing such things, while it does result in me learning to do things, it also inhibits rapid fix of software-related problems that pop up. As a general rule of thumb, I try to avoid "inviting" others with technical expertise and a soft heart to into my Jumanji situations. And the combination of it all tends to yield less than perfect, less than optimal, working conditions for forums that I install. I do make some use of the main MyBB forum for advice and guidance, at times. Some problems I have fixed by going that route, but not all. In fairness, though, I don't seek help there, each and every time, though perhaps I should. That, too, takes time, and at the end of the day, it is all a never-ending exercise in ball juggling and time management.
Reply
#5
I completely understand your predicament. I wasn't offering my direct help as such, as I have no expertise in this specific area and I know it would just muddy the water. What I will say though is that a quick look at the help pages of MyBB does say that as part of the 'MyBB Merge System' utility, you can specify which data you want to try to bring in. That includes just the User data. Anyway, I won't go on any more as you know the system better than me  Big Grin
Reply
#6
(08-06-2022, 09:14 AM)strudders Wrote: I completely understand your predicament. I wasn't offering my direct help as such, as I have no expertise in this specific area and I know it would just muddy the water. What I will say though is that a quick look at the help pages of MyBB does say that as part of the 'MyBB Merge System' utility, you can specify which data you want to try to bring in. That includes just the User data. Anyway, I won't go on any more as you know the system better than me  Big Grin

Well, that's good to know. I'll try to install one or more additional copies of the forum software in other directories on my webhosting account, and play around with it.Who knows? Maybe I can get lucky with it that way. Thanks!
Reply
#7
(08-05-2022, 11:33 PM)GrimFinger Wrote: 1. There was a problem with when you read new messages, the forum would keep on leaving them marked as unread.

I think that this problem may be resolved, now.

Let me know if you keep encountering it, though. Thanks for your patience!
Reply
#8
(08-05-2022, 11:33 PM)GrimFinger Wrote: 2. The Online Today mod, that think that would list the avatars of forum users that had been online here in the last 24 hours installed flawlessly. It was working like a charm. Then, in the middle of late last night, in the midst of having a zillion and three web browser tabs opened, at some point along that log and lonely journey through the darkness, I happened to notice all of a sudden like that the forum wasn't displaying them, anymore. What the dickens?

I think that this problem may now be fixed, also.

Let me know if any of you encounter this problem, anymore.

Again, thanks for your patience as I sort through problems that pop up!
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)