Can't Reach Forum

[jgret]

Thanks again to both of you!

[jgret]

The instructions are very difficult for a lay person to understand 

So far I've:

1. Backed up my files via cpanel
2. Downloaded the "large upgrade"
3. Extracted the files

Now I'm stuck on "upload the files to your website." My cpanel has a file manager where I can upload. So do I go to the extracted files on my computer and upload them one by one? If so, do I choose "overwrite existing files?"

[Sir Osis of Liver]

I've never been able to get cpanel file manager to upload more than one file at a time.  There are over a thousand files in upgrade package.  Use an ftp client (FileZilla), it's much easier and faster.  Have you backed up your database?  That's much more important than the files, it contains all your content.

[jgret]

Yes, I backed up.

These are what I upload?

[Illori]

you can upload the zip and use the extract function in the file manager to extract it over the existing files.

you need to go into phpmyadmin and do a backup, or download the backup from your cpanel if it offers it. those are your files not the database.

[jgret]

I'm sorry, I don't understand. I have zero knowledge of any of this, so I need an explanation for a 5-yr-old.

Do a backup of what?

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Forum consists of two basic components, the files, which are the working parts, and the database, which contains all of your content - members, posts, settings, etc.  Files are expendable except for /attachments, database is critical if you don't want to lose everything and start over from scratch.

[jgret]

Confused... what did I back up originally then?

[jeffreyzone]

Hi everyone! This is an excellent community. I'm pitching in to help here, and it seems like she's at the point of running the upgrading tool. The instructions state:

"The final step in upgrading SMF, is to run the upgrading tool. Navigate with your browser to the upgrade.php file (it can be found in the directory where SMF is located) and run the upgrade, for example: (I am not allowed to post the link that is in the instructions, but it looks like a standard hyperlink)."

The present questions: Does she use an Internet browser such as Chrome to navigate to the upgrade.php file?
If so, will it be obvious at that point about how to run the upgrade?

Could one of you post a screen shot to show us what to look for?

Thank you all so much for helping with this!!!

[Sir Osis of Liver]

You mustn't do anything until you're certain you have complete backups of files and database.  Having that, upload the large upgrade package to forum root, point your browser to www.yourforum.com/upgrade.php, that will load upgrader and instruct you how to proceed.  The upgrader makes major changes to the database to convert it from 1.1 to 2.0, you must have a complete backup before you start the upgrade.

[jgret]

I have no idea if I have a complete backup of everything. I thought I did, but now I'm nervous that there's something else. I'll attach a screenshot of how I made a backup.

point your browser to www.yourforum.com/upgrade.php

What does this mean? Where do I find that link?

[Sir Osis of Liver]

That's a cpanel backup feature, it may be doing automatic daily backups of everything in your account and saving them for a period of time (usually 30 days).  You have the option of selecting and downloading a backup to your computer.  In the worst case, you should be able to ask host support to restore a recent backup if things go badly (they sometimes do).  If you're on a crappy host, things could get even worse.

You link to upgrade.php by typing the complete url in browser address bar.

[jgret]

Thanks for your patience

www.thegoldpost.net/upgrade.php

When I type that into my address bar, I get:

Not Found
The requested URL was not found on this server.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.
--------------------------------------------------------

As for the backup, isn't doing it from my cpanel what I want? This is the email I received once I was done:

[Sir Osis of Liver]

If you've uploaded the package correctly, it should be at www.thegoldpost.net/forum/upgrade.php.  It's not, so you didn't.

[jgret]

The "large upgrade" package you mean?

[Sir Osis of Liver]

 

If you can pm cpanel access (url/user/pw) I'll have a look.

[jgret]

If you can pm cpanel access (url/user/pw) I'll have a look.

I can understand you getting frustrated, but since I have zero knowledge of any of this, I can't make heads or tails of the instructions or your explanations.

Doesn't granting you cpanel access give you control of my entire site?

[Sir Osis of Liver]

I'm not frustrated, but it's difficult to assist you from here if you're not understanding the instructions in the wiki and the followup posts in this thread.  You have to upload the contents of the 2.0.17 large upgrade package to your /forum directory, that's where your forum is currently installed.  On most hosts (not all) that will be /public_html/forum/.  Once you've done that, and confirmed in file manager that the files are there, you should be able to link to www.thegoldpost.net/forum/upgrade.php and upgrader script will run and guide you through upgrade process.  The 1.1 files are still in the /forum directory, 2.0 files are not.

[jgret]

On most hosts (not all) that will be /public_html/forum/.

Ohhhhh. I did not know to put the files there. I'll try it, thanks!

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Going offline, good luck.