Cannot enable extensions after upgrade

rus bowden

On the other hand, I wonder about moving on to another version when there are bugs unaddressed in previous ones. It can compound problems. But what else is there to do, I suppose.

rus bowden

Until this problem is addressed to the point of being understood, I really don't think I should be experimenting with new releases. And if it is not going to be understood, I need to move on (regretfully) to another, better functioning, forum software. What looks like a related problem is creeping up now. Below is what I am getting at the top of the page, most of the time when I load the page. Upon reloading, it may or may not be there. Thanks. Yours, Rus ~~~~~ Notice: Undefined index: top_posting_user in /hsphere/local/home/rusbowde/pochapocha.com/captiva/forum/Vanilla.1.0.1/extensions/Statistics/default.php on line 87 Notice: Undefined index: top_discussion_starter in /hsphere/local/home/rusbowde/pochapocha.com/captiva/forum/Vanilla.1.0.1/extensions/Statistics/default.php on line 88 Notice: Undefined index: categories in /hsphere/local/home/rusbowde/pochapocha.com/captiva/forum/Vanilla.1.0.1/extensions/Statistics/default.php on line 94 Notice: Undefined index: categories in /hsphere/local/home/rusbowde/pochapocha.com/captiva/forum/Vanilla.1.0.1/extensions/Statistics/default.php on line 111 Notice: Undefined index: discussions in /hsphere/local/home/rusbowde/pochapocha.com/captiva/forum/Vanilla.1.0.1/extensions/Statistics/default.php on line 94 Notice: Undefined index: discussions in /hsphere/local/home/rusbowde/pochapocha.com/captiva/forum/Vanilla.1.0.1/extensions/Statistics/default.php on line 111 Notice: Undefined index: comments in /hsphere/local/home/rusbowde/pochapocha.com/captiva/forum/Vanilla.1.0.1/extensions/Statistics/default.php on line 94 Notice: Undefined index: comments in /hsphere/local/home/rusbowde/pochapocha.com/captiva/forum/Vanilla.1.0.1/extensions/Statistics/default.php on line 111 Notice: Undefined index: users in /hsphere/local/home/rusbowde/pochapocha.com/captiva/forum/Vanilla.1.0.1/extensions/Statistics/default.php on line 94 Notice: Undefined index: users in /hsphere/local/home/rusbowde/pochapocha.com/captiva/forum/Vanilla.1.0.1/extensions/Statistics/default.php on line 111 Notice: Undefined index: newest_user in /hsphere/local/home/rusbowde/pochapocha.com/captiva/forum/Vanilla.1.0.1/extensions/Statistics/default.php on line 94 Notice: Undefined index: newest_user in /hsphere/local/home/rusbowde/pochapocha.com/captiva/forum/Vanilla.1.0.1/extensions/Statistics/default.php on line 111 Notice: Undefined index: top_posting_user in /hsphere/local/home/rusbowde/pochapocha.com/captiva/forum/Vanilla.1.0.1/extensions/Statistics/default.php on line 94 Notice: Undefined index: top_posting_user in /hsphere/local/home/rusbowde/pochapocha.com/captiva/forum/Vanilla.1.0.1/extensions/Statistics/default.php on line 111 Notice: Undefined index: top_discussion_starter in /hsphere/local/home/rusbowde/pochapocha.com/captiva/forum/Vanilla.1.0.1/extensions/Statistics/default.php on line 94 Notice: Undefined index: top_discussion_starter in /hsphere/local/home/rusbowde/pochapocha.com/captiva/forum/Vanilla.1.0.1/extensions/Statistics/default.php on line 111 Notice: Undefined index: unique_guests in /hsphere/local/home/rusbowde/pochapocha.com/captiva/forum/Vanilla.1.0.1/extensions/Statistics/default.php on line 94 Notice: Undefined index: unique_guests in /hsphere/local/home/rusbowde/pochapocha.com/captiva/forum/Vanilla.1.0.1/extensions/Statistics/default.php on line 111

rus bowden

The problem is now about 4 weeks old, and there is no answer to how the original problem could be happening, and now another issue has cropped up. My thought is that this is the end of the road, that Vanilla is a good concept, but simply does not work yet. I appreciate the responsiveness that I have received. But I need to be real practical about this. Is this community forum the only way to get bugs in the Vanilla software addressed?

Minisweeper

The thing is that the bug you seem to be experiencing isn't one I've come across before and I dont personally see the point in working through bugs which may or may not be present in the current version of vanilla, especially when if you do pull through it you're then gonna have to spend more time again upgrading and possibly working through new bugs. My best suggestion to you would be to do a FRESH install of v1.1.2, then point it to your existing database. If that works, then start reinstalling your extensions one by one and work through bugs as they come...

y2kbg

Since this is an isolated problem it is most likely due to: a combination of extension and themes that don't like each other. Vanilla definately works well for many people. try a fresh install of the newest version and see if you cn get that to workHint if using local host dont allow cookie domain tobe localhost.

rus bowden

I appreciate what you are saying. But, this is what I mean. It might be this. It might be that. Try this. Try that. Back on the day, I was known as a computer whiz. This is no way to approach a bug in the program. By trying this and that and hoping. Isolating the problem, and fixing it, is the way to go. That's how it should be done. It's like I shopped for a car, did my homework, and got one, say a Discovery. It wasn't ideal, but the best out there, as far as I could tell, to serve my immediate needs and those for the future. I even love the dealer and hanging around the customers in the waiting area while the Discovery gets maintenance and such. Now it keeps breaking down, and no one knows why. Telling me nicely that other people have Landrovers that don't break down, does not address my situation, and does not make the problems go away. We have lemon laws to prevent people from saying "Try this, and try that, maybe this maybe that" for cars. And we used to not tolerate such unrigorous thinking in computer programming. I think it's time to trade this baby in. Yours, Rus

WallPhone

/me cheerfully refunds Rus' money. All joking aside, according to http://getvanilla.com/changelog.html , Vanilla 1.1.x fixes some extension activation alert bugs. I agree with Mini that updating is the best route. To go with your car metaphor, if some combinations of components of your Discovery were recalled, and the dealer gave you the option to either troubleshoot the parts to figure out which ones were faulty and replace them, or just give you the latest model year--which would you pick?

Minisweeper

The other thing about the discovery is that it's been round as long as I can remember (my parents had 2 in a row when I was younger, our first one was a H reg which I believe was around '94? You can bet that that model had more bugs or problems than the model which followed, which presumably had more bugs than the new model which was brought out recently. Now with modern cars these days they just plug them into a laptop and hope it tells them what's wrong. If it doesnt then you either hope that one of the engineers has come across the same issue in the past or you leave the new kids to second guess the problem and hope they get it sooner or later. Talking from personal experience and having both inexperienced and very experienced friends in the motor industry I'd say that that was a fairly accurate representation. Particularly having footed the bill for a £460 service on my Clio last year, the bulk of which was paying for the garage to try various different parts in an effort to fix it before suggesting i swap out the entire gearbox at a cost of £1.6k (i told them where to go, unsurprisingly. low and behold the problem is solved anyway) I also told them to fix the sunroof but they didnt because they couldnt find the problem. Sure I considered buying a new car but i decided to just live with the problem for the time being. Anyway I'm heading kinda off track here and reading too much into a metaphor. Sure this is the only place to get help unless you want to personally commision Mark and I've no idea how much that would cost you. Probably about the same as sending your discovery to one of the top discovery engineers in the country. It doesnt particularly help us that the only information we have to work off is the information provided to us by you and we have no direct access to look into other details ourselves. I dont know what you mean by 'back in the day' but I'm pretty sure I've never been aware of a flawless piece of software (though I have only been into computers for about 10 years now and only in detail for less than that)

rus bowden

The interesting thing about the money, is that I was not necessarily looking for free forum software. That 1.1X addresses some problems with extensions is news to me, so a little late coming to this thread as communication. However, that it addresses the particular bugs is not certain. You guys are very rah-rah about Vanilla--which is okay, I want to be too--but do not address the metaphor for all its worth, trying to argue it by contrived extension. I know you guys didn't write Vanilla, and did not address the problem here, but if that were to be how it would be addressed, this would explain the logic problems that the programmer is having. Let's say I were to go with the upgrade, because we all figured (using advanced hunch-statistics, because we are all smarties) that it would probably fix the bugs--and the bugs went away. Then--I stick with Vanilla, and go up with it on all the forums I have planned, and another problem comes up, say next year, and we all take this hunch-statistics approach, instead of isolating and addressing the problem, and it does not work--then what? Or, let's say it does work, and the following year something else comes up, and we do the same. Sooner or later, this hunch-statistics approach to programming computers is going to take me down. Now, let's extend the metaphor where there can be concern. If I am having trouble with a Landrover Discovery, and I am so rich that money is no object, but functionality is important, why would I go with another Discovery? I'll look at Landcruisers and Tahoes again. There's that saying of fool me once, shame on you, but twice? Now, Discoveries, Landcruisers, and Tahoes all can have problems. And here's an interesting thing. I just had a problem with ezBoard and went through their "help" procedure. I don't know if you can get in or if it is private, but here is the thread: http://helpdesk.ezboard.com/index.php?_a=tickets&_m=listview&_i=XWV-11332 It took a while, and I had to get past their idea that there was no bug in the first place, but once the communication got going, and they let their pride in their perfection become pride in being human with both frailty and smarts, the problem got resolved. And it was a little trivky. I had been globally banned, misidentified as a spammer. And then they could not keep the de-banning to stick. But in the end we worked it out. But, they zeroed in on the problem they were having, and filled me in on what was going on. Now, I don't think that ezBoard is the answer for me. But I give them a B+ in how they address and handle a problem once it is given. B+ ain't bad. I can live with that. Yours, Rus

WallPhone

I would say there are probably a dozen or so people who regurlarly visit the boards and offer help. A bunch more are silent but chime in every once and a while, and the vast majority don't show their face at all. I personally skim the discussions and if one seems to float towards the top for a while, maybe I'll take a peek. Minisweeper is dedicated--he offers assistance in most every discussion you will find here. I guess what I'm saying is that Vanilla is still in its infancy. Other boards have millions of users with thousands offering support, but we have thousands (hundreds?) of boards with a dozen members offering support. Many of that dozen visit once a week. On the flip side, Vanilla's code base is so concise, so clean, its like a swiss watch. PHP is known for encouraging sloppy code that is difficult to maintain, but Vanilla isin't written that way. Vanilla's back-end functions are separate, and logically located so you don't have to look for your battery or your wiper fluid refil in the wheel well, they are right under the hood, up front so you don't have to reach to access them. This makes it very easy to diagnose problems and extend the codebase. Compare a PHPBB mod to a Vanilla extension and you will see what I mean. If you have any inclination towards programming, or did so in the past, Vanilla woud be a great way to learn PHP. Then it would be much easier to 'change the oil yourself' when the time comes. If you want a board with a large community, go try PunBB or pay for Vbulletin, and then come back to Vanilla next year when you need something they can't do, but Vanilla can. I would love to help further and will keep a eye on this discussion, more than once a week :-)

rus bowden

Thanks, Wallphone. I'll consider what you say. That is well-put for me. I agree about Minisweeper. Yours, Rus

Minisweeper

Perhaps the best thing for you to do if you're unhappy with the current state of vanilla would be to choose an alternative forum software for 6 months or a year then reconsider vanilla in the state it's in then. I feel it worth commenting that (as far as I can see, feel free to correct me) ezboards is a hosted service and I'm sure you can appreciate that makes the product MUCH easier to support as it can be tuned to the hardware it's running on and any issues they do have are likely to affect a lot of users so become much more important. As free alternative I'm sure Mark would not be offended at all if I suggested you check out punBB - it's regarded very highly among a lot of users here and I understand it to have just taken a few leaps and bounds (though that ofcourse brings its own problems due to fresh code)

On the other hand, if you do decide to stick with vanilla in the here and now, as stated earlier I'd suggest a fresh install with the latest version, let us know of any bugs and we'll work to flatten them from here on - locating and fixing bugs on an out of date platform I still think is slightly worthless as the methodology used now may be different even if the underlaying bug does still exist and can be uncovered using a different method - clearly you have your own opinion on that and with sound reasoning. I cant tell you what will happen a year down the line (I'd love to meet someone who can) and I know you're being philosophical to make the point but I personally choose not to live my life like that (then again i should probably start to - in the meantime I'm just a kid).

I'm sure you realise by now that there a lot of supporters of vanilla on here. That's to be expected. We are a bit rah rah but hopefully with good reason. I like to believe vanilla is a sound product - i dont doubt there will be more bugs uncovered in future but I think they'll be dealt with pretty effectively. It seems like I'm trying to sell something here when I really dont need to; I'm sure you'll come to your own suitable result.

rus bowden

Thanks, Minisweeper. BTW, back in the day, I was a kid too.

y2kbg

you still wantiong to try to figure this out? delete interior of extension.php? What theme are you running? try using default if you are not.

rus bowden

I was hoping to get some time to go to 1.1.2 today. I cannot get started for about an hour, and may have to get to work for 10:00 (It's 8:20 here). If that's the case, then I won't do it today because I won't be able to address any issues that may come up. I'll need to figure how I want to back everything up, and make sure I can go back to 1.0.1, which is where the software worked last. I have been keeping the malfunctioning 1.0.3 up--which was the current version when Vanilla went sideways--so that the problem could be determined. I am running the default theme. Yours, Rus

Minisweeper

Just out of interest did you ever try doing a fresh 1.0.3 upgrade? Incase some files messed up in transfer?

The only folder which should need backing up is the conf folder but it wouldnt hurt to make a copy of everything and do a database dump too.

rus bowden

Last month, I simply followed the instructions given to go from 1.0.1 to 1.0.3. That's what I was considering, a data base dump--something I already have from when I went from 1.0.1 to 1.0.3. I just don't know what type of issues may arise. For instance, I was surprised by the Attachment issue going to 1.0.3. Completing this process would allow me to put Attachments back. I am pondering whether I should go back to 1.0.1 before going to 1.1.2, so that I have a functioning starting point, then dump from there; or simply dump what's up now, into a different folder from last month's saved files, and start fiddling. What I am prepared for, is to either complete the process with an up and running 1.1.2 and a period, or least have 1.0.1 up and running with a question mark.

Minisweeper

I'd go from 1.0.1 to 1.1.2 if you're not convinced that your 1.0.3 install went smoothly.

rus bowden

I can no longer go back to 1.0.1. I have updated to 1.1.2, but cannot enable extensions. The message has changed to this: "The file could not be opened. Please make sure the PHP has write access to the /hsphere/local/home/rusbowde/pochapocha.com/captiva/forum/Vanilla.1.0.1/conf/extensions.php file" It used to be simply: PARAM 'SMILE' I called my web hosting service and all is well as far as PHP having write access. I tried a completely new install of 1.1.2 (twice) to see if I could simply start clean. After all, I would be starting clean if I went with a different forum software. And I cannot sign in. On the first install, I was logged in long enough to delete the intro discussion, but after I uploaded the extensions, I got signed off. When I went to sign on again, it said there was no such user. When I then went to attempt to create that user again, it said it already existed. That's when I deleted everything about the new installation of 1.1.2, and re-installed. This time, however, I was unable to sign in the first time.

Minisweeper

Dude something is *really* messed up somewhere in your world...would you be willing to let one of us have access to an account on your server to do some deeper debugging?