The Next Upgrade 20 / 21

[anthony]

In Oct 19 I said I'm happy with the setup and there was no need to upgrade for a couple of years, as our current site version was upgraded in Aug 18. Sticking to that, Xenforo software is now making strides in its current beta version towards some exceptional usability upgrades, features and mobile use.

I expect to start playing with an upgraded version of the site in a month or two. I would anticipate a completed new version of MyPTSD for release late 20 / early 2021. I will talk more about things once I begin. Web standards have changed significantly over the past year, as has Google, towards mobile coding. Whilst this site is mobile proficient, it is now missing considerable new standards adopted by Google and browsers to keep it current.

We are running version 2.x of Xenforo here. They have released 2.1 since then, but the changes were never enough for me to consider upgrading to that version. 2.2 is now beta, and the changes are significant and have my attention to warrant upgrading.

I can remove more third party systems here, as XF have incorporated them into their default system. The user improvements warrant implementation here via upgrade.

Basically, the site, its current systems, will get turned on its head once again, choosing what is installed here and what is not. What has worked, what has not.

Like stated, the software is beta. Beta is not polished, and initial releases are never polished, so they will not be run here. Initial releases will be used for initial private upgrade work, and as the software develops, and third parties develop for it, a later version will be the rolled out version here - hence maybe early 21 for release here.

If you want to see some of the new features, see the links at XenForo & Add-ons 2.2.0 Beta 1 Released as most have short videos on the features that will be part of here.

I have progressively simplified the forum in past upgrades, and this next one will no doubt be any different. The more noise I remove, the better the purpose of the site is achieved, and features modernise with the times.

 

[bellbird]

Thank you, @anthony :)

 

[anthony]

Looking into this, I have decided to build from the server up again, as the changes are worth it, along with some other goodies I can now add as a result of the latest softwares. Upgrading the existing server... I would spend more time trying to fix issues than I would just building it new, swapping the current files and DB to the new server, send live and all is well again. The primary issue is the PHP and MySQL version differences.... they don't play nice between existing version and latest versions, so starting new is quick and simple, and it will then work from the get go without days of fault finding problems.

The process has begun and will take some months playing around with it, along with awaiting stable versions of things to be released before public rollout.

 

[anthony]

Firewall Changes

Part of my process with this upgrade, is to remove as many third party aspects and non-essentials as possible, including staff additions that help us manage the site and the noise that occurs from just being online. As such, I have made some rather harsh changes to the DNS firewall, now challenging many non-speaking English countries who are listed as major spam sources. I had some listed in the last upgrade, but have made additions this time to further existing work, thus relying more on the firewall and less on third party systems being installed.

The USA is actually one of the largest origins of spam in the world, as is the UK, however, they're also both native English speaking countries which is a requisite of this sites use. We still have systems to manage those sources, but the less we have to deal with, the easier it is to focus efforts to remove rubbish sources in English speaking countries. Anyone using ISP's to run spam, well... they don't last long and place themselves in prime line for police forces to act. They tend to use third party systems, anonymous methods, which all can be firewalled from the site. Many already have.

Chat & Groups

We have additionally decided that neither chat or groups are used enough to further warrant their implementation here. Chat is often just a toxic cesspool that requires action by staff. There is one group used of all, and that is still minimal compared to general forum use.

Sponsors

As part of removing many third party features that more often than not cause technical headaches for the site, I'm unsure exactly where the sponsors system will head. I am leaning more towards reducing the price, decreasing the features, but making the features it does have more pronounced.

The newest software version has several existing third party systems now incorporated, such as articles, username changes, profile banners, related content and a few other things. This alone allows me to remove those systems and convert to the default software. Default Xenforo means no technical headaches that cause other systems to crash. As such, I've been able to reimplement the ElasticSearch system, which is far superior to MySQL search. Faster, more accurate, and now as a result of less is more, is much less likely to crash.

Some of these I will swap into sponsors, thus no more third party reliance. Some things I will simply remove completely.

Question Threads

The new additions to Xenforo, one of which allows question threads, will be combined into many of the forums with normal discussions. Users will choose at thread creation whether they want to talk or ask a question. Question threads come with voteable answers and selectable answers by the thread starter.

Reactions

This has actually been around in the last version, but will become the normal here. Reactions replace the "like" system by itself. You have the like button, but now you choose to like, love, be sad, mad, etc, from a handful of options. It solves the issue that has been raised here for years about not wanting to like something as a means to acknowledge, when in fact it makes you sad or mad instead. Or you just love something, not just like it.

Less is more will continue forward.

 

[somerandomguy]

Very exciting and I'm looking forward to the changes! I'm a little sorry to see Groups go, but it's true they weren't used much at all.

 

[joeylittle]

Hey folks - There's now a thread in Social, where you can chat and generally hang out - check it out!

Regarding Groups: as Anthony mentioned, they are being phased out.

If there is content you wish to hold on to - posts you've bookmarked, etc. - please watch this thread for advice on how to best accomplish that.

 

[anthony]

Bookmarks

The new software has a bookmarks system now as default, thus our third party system will be removed.

If you want to save any links to bookmark in the new system, post them in your diary or profile until the new system rolls out, where you can just bookmark them again.

I do not anticipate any changes to systems that are now default Xenforo built-in features, as Xenforo have not removed any feature they have released to date. In fact, they hesitate on what they make default, as doing so impacts the overall softwares performance, thus they add features sparingly and ensure they are amazing to use.

 

[anthony]

Archive Changes

I am moving relevant content into appropriate forums to remove / reduce the archive from public / member accessibility. Public content will go into public forums, member only to member (if available or delete) and private to private (if available or delete). It is content no longer relevant or accessed, and really is just hindering the system in both search size and performance of search.

 

[joeylittle]

Groups are now disabled. If you have questions about accessing any of that content, please ask via contact us.

 

[anthony]

Smilies

The old smilies have been removed, and our system currently is using the third party emoji support implemented at the last upgrade. This will also be removed for the default new Xenforo emoji system, which is far superior in every way, will work similar to your phone, in that it will keep recently used at the top and only load emoji's as you scroll through them. More web compliant and user centric to current web usage.

 

[Sweetleaf]

Good changes. Thumbs up.

 

[Widow_of_one]

In Oct 19 I said I'm happy with the setup and there was no need to upgrade for a couple of years, as our current site version was upgraded in Aug 18. Sticking to that, Xenforo software is now making strides in its current beta version towards some exceptional usability upgrades, features and mobile use.

I expect to start playing with an upgraded version of the site in a month or two. I would anticipate a completed new version of MyPTSD for release late 20 / early 2021. I will talk more about things once I begin. Web standards have changed significantly over the past year, as has Google, towards mobile coding. Whilst this site is mobile proficient, it is now missing considerable new standards adopted by Google and browsers to keep it current.

We are running version 2.x of Xenforo here. They have released 2.1 since then, but the changes were never enough for me to consider upgrading to that version. 2.2 is now beta, and the changes are significant and have my attention to warrant upgrading.

I can remove more third party systems here, as XF have incorporated them into their default system. The user improvements warrant implementation here via upgrade.

Basically, the site, its current systems, will get turned on its head once again, choosing what is installed here and what is not. What has worked, what has not.

Like stated, the software is beta. Beta is not polished, and initial releases are never polished, so they will not be run here. Initial releases will be used for initial private upgrade work, and as the software develops, and third parties develop for it, a later version will be the rolled out version here - hence maybe early 21 for release here.

If you want to see some of the new features, see the links at XenForo & Add-ons 2.2.0 Beta 1 Released as most have short videos on the features that will be part of here.

I have progressively simplified the forum in past upgrades, and this next one will no doubt be any different. The more noise I remove, the better the purpose of the site is achieved, and features modernise with the times.

Hi Anthony! Great site thank u!! I have a diary and I’ve started a handful of threads. Do I have to do anything? FYI my computer knowledge is very minimal!!