Forum not working

[ruskan]

My forum has been working well for years. I have not made any recent modifications. The forum is now not able to be accessed. When trying to use the link "https://www.emclear.com/forum/" the message appears:"The www.emclear.com page isn't working. WWW.emclear.com is currently unable to handle this request."

I tried searching the FAQ but didn't see any relevant postings. Help will be appreciated, but please keep in mind that I have not tinkered with the forum probably for 5 years, and my SMF technical know-how is minimal if not almost zero. I'm sorry to say I don't even remember the version, but it was an older one, I believe. I will need explicit guidance.

Thank you!

[Aleksi "Lex" Kilpinen]

If you truly are using SMF 1.1 then most likely your host has updated your PHP to a version that 1.1 does not support.
1.1 has been EOL for a long while. You should be able to confirm this though, by looking at your error logs - something should be logged when that error message is shown.

[ruskan]

Thanks so much for the reply. However, I do not know how to access the error logs. And this will be able to reveal what version I am using?

[ruskan]

Should I contact Earthlink (my internet service provider) and ask them if they have updated PHP?

[Aleksi "Lex" Kilpinen]

Thanks so much for the reply. However, I do not know how to access the error logs. And this will be able to reveal what version I am using?

Usually where you host your forum, you will have access to a control panel of sorts (most commonly cPanel or Plesk) that will include some way of looking at the server error logs.
The logs might not reveal your PHP version, but they will tell you why the forum is not showing up.

Should I contact Earthlink (my internet service provider) and ask them if they have updated PHP?

If they are who host the forum, then yes if you are not able to figure this out yourself it might be best to ask your host.
Once you know what PHP version you are running, you can plan the next steps to fix this.

[ruskan]

On the Earthlink site, I found the message that PHP 7.2 or older have been removed, and I should update to 7.3 or later. But you said that my version of SMF might not support higher versions. So I'm stumped. Should I update PHP in the SMF settings, or update PHP on the Earthlink site? I have looked through the Forum folder that I uploaded to Earthlink and don't see any reference to PHP there.

[shadav]

smf 1.1 will not work on newer version of php
you really need to upgrade your forum to smf 2.0.18 which will work on newer versions of php, not to mention all the security issues that have long been fixed.

if you are not using mods you can just do the large upgrade

if you are using mods you can do the patches however since your host removed older versions of php you won't be able to do this on that host...and honestly as outdated as you are, your best bet is just to do the large upgrade and then redownload the mods you were using making sure that you download the latest versions of them as well and reinstall them.
mods and themes that were made for smf 1.x won't work with smf 2.0.x anyways so you'd need to find updated versions of them that work with 2.0.x

[Sir Osis of Liver]

You can't patch from 1.1 to 2.0.  Do the large upgrade to 2.0.18, it will update your database so you won't lose any content.  As noted, you'll have to reinstall 2.0 versions of mods and themes.

[ruskan]

I am not certain that I am using v1. It's possible I did upgrade to v2, but its been so long that I can't remember. Is there a way to determine the version if I  can't access the forum?

If needed, can I upgrade to v2 without being able to access the forum?

Thanks to all.

[Aleksi "Lex" Kilpinen]

Correction, no patching from 1.1. to 2.0. The large upgrade is the only way to go. (Edit: I was slooow.... )

Your settings.php should contain the SMF version number I think, if you take a look inside it.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

If needed, can I upgrade to v2 without being able to access the forum?

Yes, you just need access to cpanel file manager or ftp.  Upload the 2.0.18 upgrade package, if forum is already at 2.0 it should come up running, no need to run upgrade.php.  If you're currently at 1.1, you'll get an error, then you can run upgrade.php to update the database to 2.0.  Backup your files and database before you start.

[shadav]

You can't patch from 1.1 to 2.0.  Do the large upgrade to 2.0.18, it will update your database so you won't lose any content.  As noted, you'll have to reinstall 2.0 versions of mods and themes.

my bad, I thought there was, but just checked and nope only large upgrade between major versions (files that away for future use)...sorry about that

and yes once you upload the large upgrade files you should be able to access your forum since smf 2.0.18 is made to work with up to php 7.4 and doing as Sir Osis of Liver pointed out above

[ruskan]

Guys- thanks so much for the helpful replies. I determined in settings.php that I do indeed have 1.1. I found the upgrade instructions on your site and will do the large upgrade. I have to leave this for now, but will get back to it tomorrow, and hope that I won't have to trouble you again, but there's always that possibility....!!!

[Aleksi "Lex" Kilpinen]

Do make backups before you attempt the upgrade, just in case - and let us know if you run in to any trouble

[ruskan]

I've made the backup, removed the old 'forum' folder with my Fetch ftp app, replaced it with the new 2.0.18 folder after renaming it 'forum' into the Fetch app and uploaded it into the Earthlink hosting location. I'm getting stuck with the upgrading tool. I see upgrade.php in the 'forum' folder, which is in the public folder, in ftp.mysite.com. When I clik on upgrade.php, nothing happens. Thanks.

Maybe I'm in the wrong place. if I try to go to https://emclear.com/forum/upgrade.php, I get an error message:


Warning: require_once(/services2/webpages/e/m/emclear.com/public/forum/Settings.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /services2/webpages/e/m/emclear.com/public/forum/upgrade.php on line 89

Fatal error: require_once(): Failed opening required '/services2/webpages/e/m/emclear.com/public/forum/Settings.php' (include_path='.:/usr/share/php73/pear:/usr/share/php73') in /services2/webpages/e/m/emclear.com/public/forum/upgrade.php on line 89

[Sir Osis of Liver]

If you deleted everything in the /forum directory, upgrade.php won't run.  It's looking for Settings.php in forum root so it can connect to the database.  The proper way to use the upgrade package is to upload the files into the existing install, it will overwrite the old files but needs Settings.php to run the upgrade.  Copy Settings.php and Settings_bak.php from your backup to /forum, then run upgrade.php.

[Mick.]

I looked you up in web archives and yes, you use 1.1.20 as of January this year.

[Kindred]

you also don't want to "remove everything" since by doing so, you will break avatars and attachments.

restore your site from your backup...    and then put the 2.0 files by OVERWRITING....

or, replace the files in Sources, Themes and the root directories (excepting Settings.php -- never overwrite Settings.php)

[ruskan]

Looks like it's working!!! Thanks to all.

[ruskan]

Sorry, but again I'm stuck. The forum shows up ok, but when I enter my moderator id data to log in, it seems to recognize me and lets me in, but does not show any moderator options in the menu bar at the top. The only item showing there is 'my messages.'

Then, there's a big warning in pink: MAJOR SECURITY RISK upgrade.php has not been removed. Can you pls advise how to do this? thanks.

[shadav]

are you using a custom theme? you will need to update the theme to 2.0.x or use the default theme
any themes for smf 1.x will not work on smf 2.x

in your forums root folder make sure that all files named upgrade are deleted, there may be 6 of them.

[Aleksi "Lex" Kilpinen]

You can delete it through your hosting control panel or FTP, if it wasn't deleted at the end of the upgrade.

[ruskan]

I have deleted all the upgrade files.

I am using Esintiler, which I guess is a custom theme (?) . How do I upgrade that to 2?

[Gary]

From the look of things, you'd have to recreate it in 2.0 from scratch as there doesn't seem to be a 2.0 compatible version. (ref).

That or hire someone to do it for you in the Help Wanted board, indicating if you want it done for free or paid.

[ruskan]

When I go to the forum page, it is showing in Esinteler. However, there are no options in the menu bar for me as the administrator to go deeper into the guts of the program. So how would I recreate if from scratch?

[ruskan]

Or if Esentiler is not available in 2.0, how do I get the program to work in default theme? To reiterate, I have entered my admin data into the login, have gone to the forum page, but there are no options in the menu bar except for 'my messages'

[shadav]

https://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/Repair_settings.php
download and upload the repair settings tool to the root of your folder and run it
make sure to set
Set SMF default theme as overall forum default for all users
this will revert the forum to the default theme

[ruskan]

Ok, that all went well. I'm back in the default theme with all the admin options showing. Now I would like to install a mod which I previously used. Its the verification where a simple question is asked of the registrant. I'm looking in the mod packages, and can't determine which package is the one I want. There's no explanation of each. Is it 'anti spam verification questions' If so, theres no install command next to it.

[shadav]

any mods that you previously used would need to be updated as they won't work on smf 2.0.x since they were made for smf 1.x and the few that were made for both have probably had many updates since you last download them

as for asking a question at registration, that is a core feature of 2.0.x
in your admin under configuration go to security and moderation then go to anti-spam
Number of verification questions user must answer
(0 to disable; questions are set below)
Verification Questions

[ruskan]

Thank you - that worked. I'm now trying to replace the default theme Anone with Esentiler. I see Esentiler is an option in the Themes and Layout Settings window. I change the overall forum default from Anone to Esentiler and hit save. The Esentiler theme now shows, but the admin options are now gone in the menu bar across the top . All I see is the 'my messages'  I'm still in the admin configuration page however. I'm afraid to get out of this page since I don't see the admin options at the top. I am able to back out of here and return to Anone.

[shadav]

again you can not use a smf 1.x theme on smf 2.0.x
you will need to either update the theme to work for smf 2.0.x or download a new theme that does work for smf 2.0.x

set your theme back to default
then in your admin under configuration go to themes and layouts then go to theme settings and click the red x on all of your old themes to delete them from the list (do not delete the default curve theme)
then in your hosting file manager or via ftp in your themes folder delete those themes (do not delete the default curve theme) because they will not work on smf 2.0.x without A LOT A LOT of work and for that you'd have either see if the theme creator made a 2.0.x version or hire someone to do it if you really really want to keep that theme

[ruskan]

ok, thanks. I didn't realize that it still refering to the 1.0 Esentiler. I may try to change the theme in the future, but have to leave it for now. Thanks so much for the help/

[Steve]

So your questions are resolved then and you are no longer on version 1.1?