New Owner

[PirateBiz]

I see the forums here are quite specific so I wasn't sure where to post? If this thread get's moved please pm or email me and let me know where to find it.

I recently purchased an internet community which is dragonfly cms. I am no expert on software and have a guy who works for me in my ear telling me I need to convert to vbulletin right away. Apparently the site I bought has the version just before 9.2.1. Whatever that might be? The past owner told me he hasn't upgraded because the forum is so customized many aspects would have to be hard-coded after an update and many aspects would never work again after an upgrade. I of course found this out, after I bought the forums. but am terrified to upgrade.

Looking through the admin panel I can see there are many modules with the same name such as store, forums etc, so it goes without saying new modules were loaded right beside old modules with little regard for organization. Not to bad mouth the past owner, he just hired so many independents to do different things it's pretty much a mess.

Complaints aside it's a very nice and active website and overall I find the admin panel very easy to use in spite of my almost nonexistent experience in running a forum based website.

My real question is DragonflyCMS with Forums Pro still an actively supported software? Many googles I've attempted have come up with dated information which makes me question if the software is on it's last legs and everyone is moving on to something else? Please do not be insulted, the cost of moving to vbulletin is substantial and a last resort this soon after the purchase. If I am to stay with Dragonfly my questions will be many. I need a new skin. I need to update the latest version. I need everything to work. I need support.

Thank you for your time and again, please don't be insulted. I would be very interested in links to other active sites that are Dragonfly with Forums Pro to see their layouts and modules if anyone would like to post links to their sites?

[Dylert]

I use Forums Pro: hellasforum.net/

[layingback]

Let's establish what version you are on. If you are on 9.2.1 and you have Update Service enabled in Systems > Main Settings, then it should tell you on either of those screens. If not, Systems > Systems Info certainly will.

If you are on 9.2.1 you are up-to-date. If you're on 9.1.1 the update is not too hard, but your theme may not be compatible without changes (but you say you want to change that anyway).

DF is still actively supported. ForumsPro is no longer being actively _developed_ but is still supported. ForumsPlus _is_ being actively developed, attempting to add many of the features found in ForumsPro while remaining much more compatible with the underlying Forums software. So long term you could convert from ForumsPro to ForumsPlus, but I wouldn't rush into do it until a) you've learnt more about what - if any - ForumsPro hacks are present (possibly none) and a few others have explored that path ahead of you - but there is a possible path out when/if you need it. But there are lots of DF/FPro sites.

So you may not be in as deep a hole as you thought.

[PirateBiz]

layingback wrote:

Let's establish what version you are on. If you are on 9.2.1 and you have Update Service enabled in Systems > Main Settings, then it should tell you on either of those screens. If not, Systems > Systems Info certainly will. If you are on 9.2.1 you are up-to-date. If you're on 9.1.1 the update is not too hard, but your theme may not be compatible without changes (but you say you want to change that anyway). DF is still actively supported. ForumsPro is no longer being actively _developed_ but is still supported. ForumsPlus _is_ being actively developed, attempting to add many of the features found in ForumsPro while remaining much more compatible with the underlying Forums software. So long term you could convert from ForumsPro to ForumsPlus, but I wouldn't rush into do it until a) you've learnt more about what - if any - ForumsPro hacks are present (possibly none) and a few others have explored that path ahead of you - but there is a possible path out when/if you need it. But there are lots of DF/FPro sites. So you may not be in as deep a hole as you thought.

Thank you.
CMS Version 9.1.2.1
PHP Version 5.2.8

[layingback]

PirateBiz wrote:

CMS Version 9.1.2.1

Then the issue with the theme is essentially the "Blocks" one, in which the way blocks were enabled/disabled changed. See this link for details.

So unless your theme was upgraded by someone, you'll either have to upgrade it yourself, or switch to a different one.

[PirateBiz]

Good Lord.

[chris5000]

I am wondering why the need for an upgrade anyway? I have 9.1.2.1 and see no reason to change it.

[PirateBiz]

The real need comes from server/software issues like imagick. I suppose I could clean the forums up and keep what I have for now but we are a pic based forum and members complain about not having clickable thumbnails. The video allownance is a clusterfck also. I'm not sure how to set the extensions and extension groups. Summer is coming and we'll get about 85-90% of our pic content for the year between now and September. I've included my extension and extension groups settings, maybe you guys can see what is wrong with it. I think the extension groups is the problem. All the video extensions are in the images group. I'm afraid to delete anything for fear of losing the images already posted. I would also be interested in a way for the quick reply to be the same as the post reply (same functions). And to further add to a possible answer, I would be thrilled if we could embed youtube videos in the forum with a simple bbcode function. And a way to batch upload pics onto a thread would be great too.

[PirateBiz]

I will try to post the screen shots of my extension settings again. Thought I did last time?

[layingback]

For youtube there are several ways to do it, mostly covered in this thread, but this particular post within the thread offers the simplest method.

[NanoCaiordo]

Upgrading a theme will seriously take no more then 5 minutes, there is DIY wiki page as well.

Upgrading core and data to 9.2 will require more attention, all depends what modules are or were installed.

There are lot of good reasons to upgrade but I would suggest you to wait for the next stable version.

If thumbnails are not working is probably because the previous owner did one change too much. Fix may be quick and easy.

[PirateBiz]

NanoCaiordo wrote:

Upgrading a theme will seriously take no more then 5 minutes, there is DIY wiki page as well. Upgrading core and data to 9.2 will require more attention, all depends what modules are or were installed. There are lot of good reasons to upgrade but I would suggest you to wait for the next stable version. If thumbnails are not working is probably because the previous owner did one change too much. Fix may be quick and easy.

Any idea how to determine what the fix might be? So far we have tried tweaking all the settings in the forums confid and added imagick to the server. Some older pics are clickable thumbs but the newer are clickable links.

[PirateBiz]

layingback wrote:

For youtube there are several ways to do it, mostly covered in this thread, but this particular post within the thread offers the simplest method.

I have tried that as adding video, adding flash, adding an image, adding bb code and just writing the code in the post area and none of them worked. Do I need to enable html in posts? I have been told that is a security risk although I am not sure why?

[greenday2k]

No, BBcode should be enough.

[PirateBiz]

greenday2k wrote:

No, BBcode should be enough.

Thank you. I was missing the right hand slash on BOTH sides of the "v".