PHP Upgrade on May 2nd

Tomorrow we will be upgrading Dave's Garden from PHP 5.6 to PHP 7.0

What does this mean and how will it affect members?

PHP is the main programming language that was used to build the site. This is a back-end update so it does not create any major changes for regular users.

Once the PHP update is complete, the tech team will be going back to weekly scheduled bug fixes for the forum and PlantFiles sections.

Why are we doing this update?

Our current version of PHP will not be supported as of the end of the year, so we need to update sooner rather than later. The newer version of PHP is also optimized to improve loading times throughout the site.

Thank you, alisonrose. I don't know what most of that means, but I look forward to improved loading times - and weekly attention to fixing the bugs still out there.

Thank you for the update.

Thanks Alison! I don't totally understand what it is, but it sounds good. :o)

Even though I don't know what PHP is, I can at least recognize that the numbers at the end (5.6 & 7.0) look similar to updated versions of a lot of different types of software.

Will the site be offline during the upgrade?

We may have some downtime, but expect it to be about 5 minutes or less.

Thanks!

Help!
As soon as the upgrade was done ALL my saved threads disappeared from my home page...every single one is gone!

I thought this upgrade wasn't supposed to create any major changes for regulars. But this is major...I have been saving many of these for years!

My favorite forums are still on my home page so what happened to my saved threads?

Please help!

This message was edited May 3, 2016 2:47 PM

Same here! I have some old saved threads still there from 2012 and before but everything recent is gone.

A lot of DGers are going to be really surprised...especially since no BANNER was put up to announce any changes. I'm afraid this is going to be the last straw for many. I don't even know where to look my threads. What a mess.

1lisac,
What are "saved" threads?

I just checked, and all my tags are intact. Losing THOSE would've been the last straw for me...whew!!!!!

I'm surprised your older threads are still there. I had some really old ones from before I joined DG that I found while exploring threads.

Mine are all gone...old, new and in between. I doubt I'll be able to find even a small percent of them.

Gymgirl, "Saved" threads are threads that you're watching. I guess I should have called them "watched" threads. They're the ones you mark "Watch" or post in as well as any that you marked as "watched" plust "mark as unread".

If some of those are old, we may never find them again.

Thanks for the reminder about tags. I just checked and at least my tags are okay.

I've been attempting to access my "Watched" threads from the main forum page to see if they still exist, but it tries and tries and won't go through.

*thunderous applause*

Good job, IB. Not only will "threads you are watching" not load, but "posts you have made" is now completely blank. Add yet another major screw up to your long list. It almost seems as though you're doing your very best to totally tank this site. It's beyond pathetic.

I was wondering just WHY there were no posts to my "watched" threads.

Nope, won't cause any problems..........har-de-har-har-har.................

Nothing tagged, lost for good. I just didn't think THIS would happen.

OH, NO, LISA!!! NO tags??????

I'd leave this site if I lost my tags!!!!!

I've been here so long and I love DG members but I don't know how much more I can put up with. Many of them I hadn't looked at in a while but I don't like people messing with my stuff,and that's what this feels like. Right now I'm just going to wait and see. Im kind of in shock but not surprised.

I had a lot of threads on my watch list. Maybe that's why I only lost some of them?

I thought (wished) that as new posts were made they would show up on my watched threads but that isn't the case, like it has been when IB screwed up in the past. Guess all we can do is wait and see.

Lisa, are you saying you also lost your tagged "bookmarks" (the ones on your "My Info" page)?


This message was edited May 3, 2016 5:22 PM

No, I never had them. Lol I just kept them on my watched threads list.

I just checked http://davesgarden.com/myposts.php and the only things there are from any comments I made to articles, the last one being in February 2015. When I clicked on the link to go to an article's comments, it said "Not Found
The requested URL /community/forums/t/1385935/ was not found on this server. "

I checked my preferences and the Auto Watch Threads is still check marked.

All my "tags", now called Bookmarks, are in place and I was able to open them.

I wish I'd had them but I never thought my slate would be wiped clean and updates wouldn't happen. Really wasn't expecting this.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1423481/

This is the latest thread I started and I just discovered why I could not use my history to have the thread pop up without having to relocate it via several clicks. I hope I can explain this, I don't have time to make a screen shot.

Even though the title shows up in the list on the main Plant ID forum, it is not any where on the actual thread page. Does this make sense? If not, I'll deal with a screen shot tomorrow. :) (If anyone knows my plant, please post there. I want to get that thing out of the ground while I am in a mood for digging. It's nice outside!)

I have never tagged or bookmarked, just Watched. I suspect they are still being "watched" just hidden for the time being.

Asked, and answered...

For those worried about their "Watched" threads not showing up, take a look at any recent one that you may have been watching - or posted to.

Where the little icon and words for watch and unwatch are located, see if it displays that you are watching. Mine do.

I suspect it is just a display hiccup - your threads (probably) didn't magically unwatch.

My threads are still "watched" but I don't get a notice of new posts.

Teacup: I'm in the same boat as you. I haven't lost anything except that I'm not getting notifications of anything new. I have to go into the thread to look for anything new. Surely getting the notifications back is a minor fix.

Viburnum ~ I think you're right that it may be a display issue. When I go into any of the current threads I'm watching they still show that I'm watching them, but even if I click "Mark Unread" they don't show up on my home page.
Something is preventing them from posting to the home page.

The threads are actually still working and new posts show up. In fact my "Watched Forums" show on my home page and are also updating to show "New" whenever someone posts in the forum.

I suspect the issues are similar for most, if not all, members. Bookmarks (tags) are still working as well. Even the extra stuff like Voting Booth, New Subscribers, Articles, Plants, Bugs, etc., are working.

I can actually see a link on the main forum page for my watched threads, but the page that might have them won't load.

Some of my watched threads are still there but most are gone and no updates.

My Info --- View the threads you are "watching"
^^ Does not work

My Info --- View the posts you have made
^^ Empty
(In addition, selecting a specific forum and clicking submit, returns still an empty page with the dropdown returning to "Show all forums")

This message was edited May 4, 2016 5:54 AM

Thank you for the update. Not! My watched posts are all screwed up and I don't have time to fix them. Hoping when I come back it is where it was. Thanks.

My "Watched" forums were all there this morning and showed a Yes where there were new posts. Whether that will change during the day I don't know. "Latest Posts" also showed with a Yes where there were new posts.

Again, whether that will continue to be the case during the day remains to be seen. I check Dave's a few times during the day as time permits but am not on it all day so what is not a major issue for me may be troublesome for those who spend more time here.

Edited to add that as I was typing here a new post did come up in one of the forums I follow and it showed right away. Ah, the mysteries of modern technology.


This message was edited May 4, 2016 9:07 AM

After reading Eggs_Zachtly's post about the "My Info" page I decided to check my own features on that page (Thanks for the reminder, Eggs).

This is what I found on my own "My Info" page (other members might have something different):

Features that are working
1) D-mail
2) Preferences
3) Bookmarks (tags)
4) Plant Files, Bird Files & Bug Files - comments, images & Zip Code reports
5) The Garden Watchdog
6) Bloom of the Day
7) Local Time, Zone, Birthday, etc.
8) View the Threads I've started (I was surprised this one worked, but it did)

Features that are not working
1) View the threads you are "Watching" - Tries to load page, but can't
2) View the Posts you have made - loads a partial one-page list with assorted dates

I can't comment on some of the features I haven't used.

Are any of you having similar (or the same) results?

June_nmexico,
If yours are there, and working, it means there's hope for the rest of us!

Thanks for that very encouraging post! I'll sit quietly and wait for the fix.

Long as my tags are intact, I am A HAPPY CAMPER!!

I can get back to anything I need from my tags...

YAY...Watched threads are back on my home page!!!
Also the "View the Posts you have made" feature on the "My Info" page is now working.

Watched threads still won't load from the "My Info" page or the Forum main page, but to be honest, that is NOT at all important to me. I never use that feature. You guys could remove it entirely and I wouldn't care.

Thanks Admin. & techs! Really appreciate it!

How about the rest of you? Are your "Watched" threads working?

This thread showed up new, as a watched thread on my home page. I had major problems earlier, but it was not related to here. It took me awhile to realize that as I thought this site was really acting up. "My posts" is a complete list again, so that's fixed too.

Thank you to whoever fixed this.

I SPOKE TOO SOON. The tags/bookmarks cloud is there, but, the tags aren't pointing to the respective page(s) that were tagged...

What shows up is a list of over 16K entries that the system says is that tag. But, the same list of 16k entries shows up for EVERY tag in my cloud...

Please fix this...

This message was edited May 4, 2016 2:05 PM

Wow, I hadn't realized that when I said Tags were working. You're right. In fact even when I went to "Community Tags" I got the same list of a zillion entries.

Gymgirl, does your bookmark "title" list work if you don't go to the cloud?

If I click on entries on my list (the one that shows actual titles) they take me right to the correct. article, post or thread, but if I click on the cloud, I get the same thing you just mentioned. Wow, that definitely needs to be fixed.

Don't know about other people, but I use tags a lot, especially the Community Tags. That's my favorite way of exploring to find interesting threads, posts and articles.

Admin. and Techs...I hope you guys are reading this thread because this problem may not be as obvious as "Watched" threads (until you try to use it), but it's still really, really important.

No, Nuts,
My list does the same thing. Points to a list of 16k entries, none of which points to the respective tagged page...