FGRV not a secure site???

[Janet H]

Originally Posted by Defenestrator

In addition to the danger of the forum software being EOL (which isn't as bad as it sounds, given how many years of revision/fixes went into vBulletin 3.x without major functionality additions), vBulletin 3.8.11 only works with PHP 7.1 or older, which itself stopped getting security updates at the end of 2019.

Unfortunately the owner has his work cut out for him in terms of updating. vBulletin 5 is unfixably terrible, so the most realistic upgrade path is to switch everything over to Xenforo instead. That means redoing a lot of customization in addition to learning a whole new system, plus around $5K in license costs.

The big picture plan for the forum is to move to xenforo. We have kept this version of vB patched even though there are newer version available. We've stayed with this version because it will be easier to move to a new platform from this version.

The other issue here is member displeasure with change. Any small changes are met with howls from regular site users but we are going to have to update, despite this. xenforo has become more robust and is customizable; it's the obvious choice.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by gordon2

The Site info shows the certificate is valid until June, issued by Cloudflair. (One reason websites avoid using SSL is the cost of the certificate)..

LetsEncrypt, a joint venture of Google, Apple, and others, offers SSL/TLS 'host' certificates for completely free, along with a 'ACME' system for automatically updating them. It took me about 15 minutes to set it up the first time on my former webserver (now my hosting provider does it for me)

[Defenestrator]

Originally Posted by Janet H

The big picture plan for the forum is to move to xenforo. We have kept this version of vB patched even though there are newer version available. We've stayed with this version because it will be easier to move to a new platform from this version.

The other issue here is member displeasure with change. Any small changes are met with howls from regular site users but we are going to have to update, despite this. xenforo has become more robust and is customizable; it's the obvious choice.

Thanks for the response. Glad to hear that the plan is to go with Xenforo - after spending a few weeks digging through vB5 trying to get it to work on a forum around this size, I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

I understand the hesitance in terms of user backlash. Conversion can involve some significant downtime as well, plus all the little fixes for stuff that doesn't convert totally cleanly. Hopefully on the cost front the reduced requirements of XF and faster performance on PHP7.4 vs 7.1 will offset the licensing costs.

[John in Santa Cruz]

I pretty much got out of hosting forums and sites a couple years ago, but I'd give extra points to anything thats *not* php for future deployments. python or perl would be my first choice, but I'd also consider node.js.

[k0wtz]

I wish I had a clue what you guys were talking about? I am still in Windows 7 and yes some sights are making it difficult for me especially newspapers and some tv stations!

I am sticking with my 7 until the very end but I can buy a Windows 10 computer for 100bx off ebay!

One day I guess

the best to you guys

bob

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

I pretty much got out of hosting forums and sites a couple years ago, but I'd give extra points to anything thats *not* php for future deployments. python or perl would be my first choice, but I'd also consider node.js.