Forum and server updates 3.18.21

[Mike Weins]

Howdy folks :)

Apologies for my absence. Upon arriving in Oregon it was deemed that my job was not essential and therefore I was without a job for a few months. Now I'm working but barely getting enough hours to make ends meet. During my unemployment months I sold my computers to pay for cat food. About 3 months ago I bought a cheap laptop from eBay. It didn't work. Returned it and got another one. It kinda works. Has to stay plugged in and the wrong jostle turns it off

Being without a computer for so long had forced me to stay offline and I got used to not coming online everyday. Thankfully BT is still running fairly smoothly :)

But our hands have been forced. At the end of the month the server folks are going to stop supporting some of the software we use and rely on to keep BT in it's current state. So we will be updating to the latest vB and some behind the scenes software.

I will be doing the update Thursday starting around 1pm PST. I can't say how long it will take because there are multiple programs to update. There's a 50/50 chance that during some point in the updates BT will be completely unavailable for a period of time. Can't say how long until it's started.

David and I have been communicating over this past year and we both feel it's time for BT to update the forums regardless of our hand being forced. Folks nowadays are used to the latest (or at least newer) versions of software and kind of expect it.

I understand that a lot of you aren't looking forward to the changes, but we will be here to help you through the transition :)

The update will put us into using the https system, this means that all of the links will be changing (think bookmarks). There is a way to redirect them, which I will hopefully do correctly so the transition will be mostly seamless. This is a really good thing as it will help secure BT's database and your user information. Along with the other tricks that I employ, I doubt any nefarious fool will be able to get into BT without some serious time and effort :)

I apologize for the short notice about the update, I've been putting off doing it for awhile as it seems quite daunting looking at the big big picture :-/ But it's time to put on my big boy pants and get to work :)

[agate]

Howdy folks :)

Apologies for my absence. Upon arriving in Oregon it was deemed that my job was not essential and therefore I was without a job for a few months. Now I'm working but barely getting enough hours to make ends meet. During my unemployment months I sold my computers to pay for cat food. About 3 months ago I bought a cheap laptop from eBay. It didn't work. Returned it and got another one. It kinda works. Has to stay plugged in and the wrong jostle turns it off

Being without a computer for so long had forced me to stay offline and I got used to not coming online everyday. Thankfully BT is still running fairly smoothly :)

But our hands have been forced. At the end of the month the server folks are going to stop supporting some of the software we use and rely on to keep BT in it's current state. So we will be updating to the latest vB and some behind the scenes software.

I will be doing the update Thursday starting around 1pm PST. I can't say how long it will take because there are multiple programs to update. There's a 50/50 chance that during some point in the updates BT will be completely unavailable for a period of time. Can't say how long until it's started.

David and I have been communicating over this past year and we both feel it's time for BT to update the forums regardless of our hand being forced. Folks nowadays are used to the latest (or at least newer) versions of software and kind of expect it.

I understand that a lot of you aren't looking forward to the changes, but we will be here to help you through the transition :)

The update will put us into using the https system, this means that all of the links will be changing (think bookmarks). There is a way to redirect them, which I will hopefully do correctly so the transition will be mostly seamless. This is a really good thing as it will help secure BT's database and your user information. Along with the other tricks that I employ, I doubt any nefarious fool will be able to get into BT without some serious time and effort :)

I apologize for the short notice about the update, I've been putting off doing it for awhile as it seems quite daunting looking at the big big picture :-/ But it's time to put on my big boy pants and get to work :)

It sounds as if we're in for a very substantial and welcome change here. I'm sure everyone here appreciates the effort that must go into making that possible.

This might be the time to put in a request for a feature we had at BT years ago--e-mail notification of replies when you've posted here. The e-mails could include the content of the reply too, I think? Or some of the content?

[Porkette]

Hi Mike,

I'm sorry to hear about your job and I wish you only the best of luck. Thanks for filling all of us in about the update. I wish you the best of luck and I know it can be a pain
doing this but I want you to know I appreciate all the hard work you put into this. Keep up the great work.
Wishing you only the best and May God Bless You,

Sue

[Earth Mother 2 Angels]

((((((Mike)))))) ~

Thank you for letting us know that BT may be down tomorrow and that you are upgrading the software. And thank you for undertaking this major task for us.

I am so very sorry that you have been struggling with employment and financial burdens. During the pandemic, it is so difficult to maintain employment for so many people. With your extensive technical knowledge, are there any opportunities in building, designing, developing, upgrading websites? Or inventing new apps? Or ... I am out of my league here, because I am technologically inadequate. You should be paid for your talents and skills.

What kind of changes will we see after the upgrade? Are there any hints/suggestions/pointers, which you can give us to help us navigate our way here and through any significant changes?

As always, Mike, I thank you so very much for all you've done these many years for BrainTalk. You are in my prayers.

Love & Light,



Rose

*Virtual Hugs Are Germ-Free!

[Mike Weins]

The update is being postponed until next Thursday. Just got a call from work, the guy who was working the closing shift ran over his foot with a loaded pallet jack (ouch!). I'm on my way into work as soon as I send this.

[David Hosobuchi]

The update is being postponed until next Thursday. Just got a call from work, the guy who was working the closing shift ran over his foot with a loaded pallet jack (ouch!). I'm on my way into work as soon as I send this.

Big Ouch!

Thanks for the update.

[Mike Weins]

Update is still scheduled for tomorrow around 1pm pst. Still not sure how long it's going to take :(

Once the site is live again, you will need to re-login due to the switch from http to https so please make sure you know what your password is, or that your email is up to date. I will be able to assist with login troubles after the update as well.

[David Hosobuchi]

Hi everyone,

I just received a text message from Mike asking me to let everyone know that that the upgrades may take a little later today than planned due to some technical issues. Mike is currently working on resolving them at the moment, to try to make sure that the upgrades do get done today.

Thanks for your continued support and patience.

[Mike Weins]

Hello hello hello :)

We are back online finally :) After soooo many years (7ish) of not keeping up to date there was an awful lot that needed to be done. Wouldn't you know it, something as small and simple as a . (yes a dot) is what messed me up for so long

Lots of the modifications and add-ons just don't work with the new forum software. So if there is something you're missing from the old forum, reply to this thread with what it was and I can look to see if there is a version that does work. Some of the mods and add-ons were incorporated into the forum software because they were so popular and well done :)

I will be working on fixing bugs and tweaking things over the next couple of weeks.

[Mike Weins]

Smilies are not working as intended, yet.

[agate]

This is so very impressive! It's a far cry from the old days, when the downtimes lasted for weeks. Many thanks for all of your efforts.

[funnylegs4]

I came online today and saw the brand new updates. Everything seems to be fine as far as the posts themselves but I'll tell you all if I see anything missing. WELL DONE! Very cool update!