Our upgrade is done! After 3 days of trying (and a week after my first attempt), I have succeeded in updating the database and files to the latest version of phpBB. This means that we have a more stable and more secure platform at forumosa.

A bonus is all the stuff I learned (and had to re-learn) since the last major upgrade last year. The downtime we experienced during Typhoon Morakot last weekend taught us to use Server-side Backups to quickly get back up to speed should modifications and changes to the software become too complicated to continue. I’m very grateful to HostExpress for their round-the-clock support, although I am sensitive to the 12 hour time difference we have, so have to schedule backups and restorations around that.

I learned the value of disabling new registrations while doing the sensitive upgrades. We lost 15 to 30 new Forumosans, which led several people to write us about their confusion days afterwards.

Personally, I’ve also learned more about the precarious connectivity speeds I have here in Shanghai – and have been forced (ahem, encouraged) to map out faster, more stable Wifi spots. My favorite now is City Diner – a long-time American diner in the Jing’An CBD – which was virtually empty most of the morning I was here

You may have noticed some little changes that were added in the interim, from the Google and Bing search boxes to the Quick Reply form now at the bottom of the topic pages. I also added “AutoMod”, which will help add future modifications.

The upgrade, while apparently successful, may have disabled our RSS capabilities. So I’ll be testing these and may need to reinstall them as well. If you see any problems, please drop us a line at admin at forumosa dot com