Site updates and migration

[chrisplough]

All,

Just a heads-up that the site will be down next weekend (July 25th and 26th) while it is being upgraded and migrated (and anything-else-ated).

I've enlisted the help of a company to both help resolve some existing bugs in the site (like the registration page) and to do the following:

• Upgrade us to vBulletin 3.8.3 (the latest version with new functionality)
• Migrate the site to AWS (Amazon Web Services)
  • On this note - I've been working a lot with AWS recently, to run OTM and various other web apps. So far, I've found it great for general web applications and sites, but not beefy enough for OTM. Moving OTMFAQ.com to AWS allows me to get more experience with it and to be better in tune with Cloud services, since I'm sure they'll be able to run complex apps like OTM in the future.
• Update thesite template, so we have prettier, more functional screens

This week we're going through a test migration and I'm regression testing the new site to ensure it all works.

However - since I have a day job (some little company called Maven-something-or-other), I may also ask for your help once we migrate to identify any lingering bugs/issues, so we can get them squashed.

--Chris

[chrisplough]

Re: Site updates and migration

Bump - Just as a reminder.

--Chris

[chrisplough]

Re: Site updates and migration

All - the migration is complete and the site has been opened back up to the public. I'm aware of the following issues, which should be resolve shortly:

• Registration Page
  • It now shows up (yay!), but there's an issue with the CAPTCHA image verification that we're looking into. Once that's resolved, it should be fully functional.
• RSS Links
  • Due to the DNS change, these won't work until Google's FeedBurner servers get the updated DNS info. Nothing we can do, but wait roughly 8-24 hours.

If you notice any other issues with the site, please let me know, so we can get them fixed ASAP!

Thanks,
--Chris

[chrisplough]

Re: Site updates and migration

Okay - the RSS and Twitter feeds are working perfectly this morning, now that Google's DNS cache has been updated.

We're looking into registration page issue and once that's done, we should be completely good-to-go.

Let me know if you find anything that we've missed.

--Chris

[chrisplough]

Re: Site updates and migration

Okay - the registration page has been fixed. Unless any other bugs are found, the migration is complete

--Chris

[LourensGlog]

Re: Site updates and migration

Chris,

First, thanks for all the effort to keep this site up and running.

You stated as one of your to do's: "Update thesite template, so we have prettier, more functional screens"
Have I overlooked something or is done?

Also, I can't seem to register as blogger: the registration page no longer gives an error, but there's no 'create blog' in my sidebar.

Lourens

[chrisplough]

Re: Site updates and migration

Lourens,

You're more than welcome. Sometimes I feel I have enough time to keep up with the site, other times it can be a challenge

That's part of why I recruited some help for the last migration. Along those lines, I'm glad you brought up the interface. That was the one disappointment I had with last week's migration. I had acquired an updated template that looks cleaner and had more AJAX features, to make the site more functional. Unfortunately, there was some miscommunication between me and the team assisting with the migration -- what we ended up with was essentially the old template, updated to work with the new site code.

All's not lost, though, as I'm planning the next maintenance window, so we can get it customized and installed. As I'll need some help with it (my css and js skills are poor), it may take a few weeks as I find the right resource to help out.

You should also now be able to access the blogging screens. You should have been allowed automatically, once your reputation hit a certain level -- as part of a benefit of being an active Forum member. Try again and let me know if you have any issues.

--Chris