Site errors, please check my last posts

[DAVID. D.A]

I know websites have a way of testing out modifications before applying them to the main site, how is this done please?
   I have lots of mods to install on a custom theme, but wouldn't want a situation where after installing, i encounter errors and my members wont be able to use the site for some time, and as such i'm guessing a test site is what i need.

I'm a newbie so please pardon me.
- Will the test site grow as the main site does? i.e if i have 20 new posts, will they be added to the test site automatically?; because i once installed a mod on an empty site and when a post was made, it developed an error.

Just guide me through test sites please

Thank you

[mashby]

One option is a local "copy" or your site. I'm not so verse in that setup. What I've done in the past is create a new database (don't want to muck up my actual database) and a new site. You'll have an admin account. Setup a few other accounts if you need to test membergroup/permission functionality. Put this new site's files in a folder, too. That's your playground. Welcome to SMF, too.

[DAVID. D.A]

Thank you 
  So basically, i should reduplicate the site, probably get a subdomain; testsite.mysite.com install smf again and all my mods and themes, then create fake users and posts, then test new mods on this mock site, editing mock theme, before moving to the original site?
  Seems like a lot of work.

[mashby]

Other option is to not have a test site and just apply the mods/themes on your real site. Perhaps someone else has other suggestions.

[Shambles]

I've been using xampp on my local machine. It contains all the necessaries (database, server etc) to allow you to install an instance of SMF and populate it with a copy of your live data.

All mod work is done on that copy, and tested to destruction, before being applied in live.

And it's free too

[kat]

I have lots of mods to install on a custom theme, but wouldn't want a situation where after installing, i encounter errors and my members wont be able to use the site for some time

In good old BASIC programming terms...

Code Select Expand

10 Backup.

20 Install mod.

30 Check that everything's OK.

40 It works OK! Cheer. Goto 10

50 It doesn't work and it's broken stuff! Restore backup. Goto 20

[Kindred]

dda...

yes. running a website is a lot of work to do it right.

[DAVID. D.A]

Thank you all for your replies, i know about xampp, but from what i think i know, its basically hosting from your pc, same re installation of smf, themes and mods would still be done, am i right?

But i think i'll take k@'s advice and backup immediately before installing, then restore if an error occurs, and if i can find extra time in the day, i'll do the mock website option

Again thank you all, i really appreciate.

[Shambles]

Ok, well good luck. Just make sure you keep good access to your forum files via cPanel, ftp, or whatever, just in case you install something that disables direct forum access

My PC forum "shadow" can do everything I can do in live, without any embarassments. I occasionally take a copy of my live forum and superimpose it there, just for resilience sake.

[MrPhil]

Don't use XAMPP etc. (PC-based local server) unless you're really an expert at this kind of stuff. Even the experts can get tripped up by differences in PHP and MySQL levels installed. Just make a new directory /dev or something more private on your site (real server), and install a copy of SMF there. Don't make any links to it anywhere, and search engines shouldn't be able to find and catalog it. Whether you want to share your existing database, or make a scratch copy of your existing one, is up to you. It's more work to set up a new one and copy over the old one, but it eliminates any chance that you'll damage your working site.

[Arantor]

Don't use XAMPP etc. (PC-based local server) unless you're really an expert at this kind of stuff. Even the experts can get tripped up by differences in PHP and MySQL levels installed.

Actually, that's not really true. The majority of the time the differences are negligible.

[Shambles]

Don't use XAMPP etc. ... unless you're really an expert at this kind of stuff.

Mmm... I knew nothing about this kind of stuff (mysql, php, localhost, servers, html) and to a comparitive degree still don't, yet I consider the 30 minutes it took me to set it all up, locally, as really worthwhile in the context of having a testbed to play with.

So a big fat to that

[MrPhil]

Still, I've seen plenty of *AMPP users have problems due to unfamiliarity with the system or "gotchas" with PHP/MySQL version or configuration differences with their "real" web servers.

I stand by what I said, whether you like it or not.

[Arantor]

As opposed to even more people having issues through not trying stuff out on a secondary site.

I should note, in over 10 years of doing this stuff, I have only run into anything resembling issues with local test sites vs remote sites the grand total of three times. The first time was using IIS on WinXP Pro instead of Apache and dealing with the repercussions there, the second was a year later owing to some interesting configuration with subdomains, and the last was more recent, owing to a misconfiguration on the server where I hadn't added a particular library I was using.

I'd rather see people get into trouble in a safe environment like a local test site than on a public facing one.

[DAVID. D.A]

Guys  I tried the backup method, but cPanel cant restore full backups, meaning i have to make a partial backup of /home or the databases. So another question; do mods affect sql databases or just the /home directory?

Also...
When i get a 'Test Failed' for a mod before installation on custom theme, what exactly can i do to fix this and get 'Test Successful' instead?

[kat]

Only partial backups of the database? That's ridiculous. Have a word with your host, about that.

A "Test failed" is usually, though not always,  caused by a file having been edited, previously. Perhaps by another mod installation.

The usual way, is to backup, then go with the install, making the failed edits, yourself. (Check the parser, on the mod's page, to see what edits are made, to which files)

If you're unfamiliar, with that, it can be a buttock-quivering time. It sure was, for me, the first few times that I did it. BUT, if you keep a copy of the file that you're going to edit, as a backup, you'll get there, in the end.

Just remember that backup...

[DAVID. D.A]

Yeah, it says if i make a full back up, it can only be used to transfer sites, but i can't restore it, i'll talk to my host still tho.
  Managed to manually edit the files, though i didn't find the exact line it said i should find, but after comparing with the default theme i managed to find some identical statements (like '//member approval' in default was something like '//approval from member' in custom) and figure out their uses, and i just put in the code  but no errors so far.

[MrPhil]

Ask for a definition of what a "full" vs. "partial" backup is. Maybe a "full" backup includes a full site image (with database), while "partial" is selected files (and separately, the database). They're probably two different methods, with only the "partial" letting you restore selected files. For SMF you'll need to back up the database and at least attachments, avatars, and other member-uploaded files. Beyond that, SMF files (.php, image files) are nice to have to reduce your labor should you need to recreate your site.

[DAVID. D.A]

'full' is plus databases and stuff, 'partia'l is just individually.
Please:
- If after you close/leave your forum, is it normal for smf to show log in/sign up button and after clicking the log in link you see your profile details, then if you refresh, it doesn't ask you to log in again?

- Is it also normal for packages to delay install? for the past 30 mins I've been trying to install a package, the page just keeps loading but nothing, the package before this did the same but after constant closing of page and trying to install it did at one go finally, but its pretty frustrating having to reload and try to install over and over. No error shows up, just keeps loading 'waiting for mysite.com'

[DAVID. D.A]

First off i'm deeply sorry if i have too many complains.
   I just realized this error while tying to log out of my forum

Not Found

The requested URL /logout/dc1a61a1db1e/05132bfa0ef8e15d007a6a9f809fe193/ was not found on this server.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.
Apache/2.2.23 (Unix) mod_ssl/2.2.23 OpenSSL/1.0.0-fips DAV/2 mod_auth_passthrough/2.1 mod_bwlimited/1.4 FrontPage/5.0.2.2635 Server at threadn.com Port 80lbcwyp

I made a back up before logging out of the forum, so my only backup so far now contains this error, what could have caused it? it's not just the log out link, but also the help icons that guide through forum settings/setup

Mods list

Mod Name    Version    
1.    SA Facebook    2.0.2    [ Install Mod ] [ List Files ] [ Delete ]
2.    Forum Firewall    1.1.6    [ Uninstall ] [ List Files ] [ Delete ]
3.    Bad Behavior mod    1.5.15    [ Uninstall ] [ List Files ] [ Delete ]
4.    PortaMx 1.51 ecl    1.51    [ Upgrade ] [ List Files ] [ Delete ]
5.    SA Twitter    0.6 REV 30    [ Install Mod ] [ List Files ] [ Delete ]
6.    SA GPlus    0.3 REV 9    [ Install Mod ] [ List Files ] [ Delete ]
7.    Pretty URLs    1.0    [ Uninstall ] [ List Files ] [ Delete ]
8.    Simple Audio Video Embedder    2.0.6    [ Uninstall ] [ List Files ] [ Delete ]
9.    KeyCAPTCHA for SMF    2.4    [ Uninstall ] [ List Files ] [ Delete ]
10.    Add Facebook Like to Posts    1.1    [ Uninstall ] [ List Files ] [ Delete ]
11.    Quick Moderation on Quick Reply    1.1.2    [ Uninstall ] [ List Files ] [ Delete ]
12.    ShowBannedMessage    1.1    [ Uninstall ] [ List Files ] [ Delete ]
13.    Remove Index From Title    1.0    [ Uninstall ] [ List Files ] [ Delete ]
14.    SMF 2.0.3 Update    1.0    [ Uninstall ] [ List Files ] [ Delete ]
15.    ENotify    2.0.2    [ Uninstall ] [ List Files ] [ Delete ]
16.    Remove Index.Php In Three Places    2.0    [ Uninstall ] [ List Files ] [ Delete ]
17.    Live Emoticon Library    2.7.0    [ Uninstall ] [ List Files ] [ Delete ]
18.    Stop Spammer    2.3.9    [ Uninstall ] [ List Files ] [ Delete ]
19.    PortaMx 1.45    1.45    [ Uninstall ] [ List Files ] [ Delete ]
20.    Add GooglePlus to Posts    1.0    [ Uninstall ] [ List Files ] [ Delete ]
21.    Add Twitter Tweet Button to Posts    1.1    [ Uninstall ] [ List Files ] [ Delete ]
22.    httpBL    2.5.1    [ Uninstall ] [ List Files ] [ Delete ]

[Arantor]

Pretty URLs or PortaMX (or both) are trying to rewrite URLs and something's wrong with respect to the .htaccess file...

[DAVID. D.A]

Pretty URLs or PortaMX (or both) are trying to rewrite URLs and something's wrong with respect to the .htaccess file...

what do i do? uninstall them? and the .htacess files, is this my hosts fault or mine?

also, there are two other mods that rewrite url, one removes -index from title the other index.php from 3 places. i dont know if this helps

[MrPhil]

is it normal for smf to show log in/sign up button and after clicking the log in link you see your profile details, then if you refresh, it doesn't ask you to log in again?

It's normal after you log out to be invited to log in again. What do you mean by "profile details"? User ID and (obscured) password? Depending on cookie behavior and the amount of time a session is set to live, I've seen SMF automatically log me in (more or less) when I bring up the forum for a little while after logging off.

for the past 30 mins I've been trying to install a package, the page just keeps loading but nothing

No, that's not normal. If your host can't help you with something as simple as a vanilla SMF, you'll be much better off finding a better host. Some of your mods may be fighting each other, but I don't think it would cause this problem.

/logout/dc1a61a1db1e/05132bfa0ef8e15d007a6a9f809fe193/

No idea what that is. It doesn't look like anything I've ever seen in SMF.

[Arantor]

No idea what that is. It doesn't look like anything I've ever seen in SMF.

It is the logout URL rewritten using a friendly URLs option, as the regular URL is index.php?action=logout;firstpart=secondpart (where the firstpart and secondpart are the two aspects of the URL, one is the session id and one is a value unique to the session)

[DAVID. D.A]

Mr phil, it's a bit complicated to explain, maybe you should log in and see, set your log period to forever, then after some mins just close the tab, wait for some mins again, and go back to the site, poof, you're logged out, but if you then click log in link (if you refuse to use drop down) or any other site link, again, poof, you're automatically logged in and see your 'hello ..' at the top of the page (this is what i meant by profile details)
 
      I dint think it was something my host would try and fix, since its a site done by me and modifications installed by me, thought it'd be like me asking them to code for me.

Arantor, you just identified the problem, how about suggesting a fix?   

[DAVID. D.A]

i tried un installing the url rewriting mods, but the problem of delay with package install comes back, this time after some mins brought a page with this error

Fatal error: Maximum execution time of 300 seconds exceeded in /home/threadnc/public_html/Sources/Errors.php on line 252

[Kindred]

you have some very silly mods in there...
pretty urls is a waste and causes problems with other mods.
remove index.php from url is just plain stupid, IMO...   

and as arantor pointed out one or both probably conflict with the portal rewriting.

I'd suggest that you just uninstall those.you also seem to have duplicate mods... two mods that do essentially the same thing
for google Facebook and twitter. If you want all of those, then why install individual mods when there are several that combine them all into a single mod?

I also wonder if maybe you have the firewall misconfigured.

[DAVID. D.A]

I've been trying to uninstall those two mods, but still getting the problem of a continuous page load, and no uninstall

What two mods are those?

I installed the facebook, twitter, and google+ individually because the other mods with all in one don't allow the button to appear in each post, just the first post.

Firewall, just remembered it was tricky configuring it, I'll check after i manage to get these mods uninstalled

Thank you

[DAVID. D.A]

Finally uninstalled them, error continued, but stopped after i unchecked sef urls in the porta settings, uninstalled portamx for the time being tho.

But the login and package install/uninstall problems are still on 

[DAVID. D.A]

fix to the package manager problem found.. guess pretty urls changed paths
FIX: http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=28393.msg1323590#msg1323590

[kat]

All sorted, now, then?

[DAVID. D.A]

Just the theme error involving login sessions, will probably contact the theme author on that

[kat]

I'll mark this as having been solved, then.

If anything else crops-up, just mark this as being unsolved and post away!

[DAVID. D.A]

K@, tried reinstalling the latest portamx, but without backing up  (figured since the previous version worked ok) and got not found error for all site pages, then followed your post here: http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=400356.msg2782585#msg2782585     and now if i try visiting my site it just ends up blank.

[kat]

With the fun and games that you've been having, I think I'd want to kinda start from scratch, if I was in your position.

I must put a doc on the ol' wiki, about this...

Here's what I'd do, if I was in your position:

I'd get the large upgrade archive: http://download.simplemachines.org/index.php?thanks;filename=smf_2-0-3_upgrade.zip (Assuming you're using SMF v2.0.2)

I'd dearchive that and upload all the files to the site, overwriting what's there, now, except upgrade.php.

Voila! You have an almost virgin forum. All your members,posts, etc. will be intact, coz they're all stored in the ol' database.

I say "Almost virgin", because your mods will still be in "Packages" and your themes will still be in "Themes". They'll just need to be reapplied.

But, that's just what I'd be tempted to do, if I was in your position...

[DAVID. D.A]

was just about to re-install before i got your reply, no members yet or anything so i'll just start from scratch and have a test site on a sub-domain

[kat]

Remember the ol' "Backup" thing, woncha?

Have phun!