CAA's getting a code upgrade; what YOU need to do!

Get the scoop on the changes happening here at CAA. You may also suggest changes or additions to the site and provide feedback about the board.

CAA's getting a code upgrade; what YOU need to do!

Postby Mithrandir » Tue Nov 20, 2012 9:23 am

Hi everyone,

What's up:
We're going to be performing a massive code upgrade at some point over the next week or two. This will result in pretty much every piece of code on the site being modified, including the back-end database.

What you need to do:
When you first log in after this upgrade, you will be required to reset your password. This just means clicking a link, then checking your email and following directions - but that means your email address needs to be up to date!!! To ensure everything goes smoothly for you, please go to your User CP, then click on "Edit Profile" and then the "Edit Email & Password" button. Be sure you have access to the email address you find there! If that's an old email address, be sure to update it. You will also probably want to download your Avatar and Signature graphics - just in case things go sideways and you need to re-upload things.

What to expect:
We expect this upgrade will result in about 6 hours of down time, during which visitors to the site will see a notice about the upgrade. We're going to try to process the upgrade this coming week, but if things aren't working in time, we may have to move the upgrade out to next week. You also may notice that some forums are being consolidated for better organization.

Things will look different, and some features (reviews, chat, etc) may not work properly for a few days or weeks while we attempt to figure out what's broken and repair things.

Boring Details:
Here at CAA, we've been wanting to do this upgrade for about 5 years now, but we've been putting it off for various reasons. However, the recent security hole and resulting bot flood (you know, the one that's forced us to disable new user registrations) has turned this into an emergency and we're going to have upgrade quickly.

We're taking this opportunity to radically alter the way code is structured. For those of you who are professional programmers, we're implementing a revision control system to allow better collaboration and quicker security patching. We've wanted to do this for a long time, we first deployed this code so long ago, there literally wasn't really any feasible way to do it. Even though we're in emergency upgrade mode, we want to make sure we take advantage of this down time and make things even more awesome!

This weekend, we've been working really hard behind the scenes and going through all the steps of this upgrade several times (on a backup copy of the server) - to try and make sure there are as few problems as possible when we migrate the live data. We think we've got a pretty good handle on the scope of the upgrade, so we're making the announcement now. If things change, we'll make any announcements we need to here.

Thank you to everyone for understanding,
Mithrandir
User avatar
Mithrandir
 
Posts: 11071
Joined: Fri Jun 27, 2003 12:00 pm
Location: You will be baked. And then there will be cake.

Postby Lynna » Wed Nov 21, 2012 3:58 pm

I have a question! Will CAA still have a dark background? I like it...it's kinder to my eyes late at night.
I Believe in the Sun/Even when It's not shining/I belive in Love/Even When I Don't Feel it/And I Believe in God/Even when He is silent/And I, I Believe ---BarlowGirl
@)}~`,~ Carry This Rose In Your Sig, As Thanks To All The CAA Moderators
DeviantArttumblrBeneath The Tangles
Avatar (lovingly) taken from The Silver Eye webcomic
User avatar
Lynna
 
Posts: 1374
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2009 9:38 am
Location: The Other End of Nowhere...

Postby mechana2015 » Wed Nov 21, 2012 4:04 pm

Yes it will. We are doing our best to keep CAA looking like CAA while integrating new features and updates, and the backgrounds and color scheme are based of the CAA we know and love.
Image

My Deviantart
"MOES. I can has Sane Sig now?"
User avatar
mechana2015
 
Posts: 5025
Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2003 12:33 am
Location: Orange County

Postby Banana Lobster » Wed Nov 21, 2012 7:05 pm

Does this "upgrade" mean I'll stop seeing banned people logged in? I've seen people in the "currently active" part of the forums section with their names crossed out, and when I click on them, it says they've been banned, but they're in the "logged in" part, so...it's a little confusing.

And I've noticed this "banned people logged in" thing before, and I've been meaning to PM a mod about it, but I tend to procrastinate like crazy, (a habit I've really been trying to break) so I've never gotten around to it. Sorry guys.


A total Rise of the Brave Tangled Frozen Dragons fangirl and proud of it
User avatar
Banana Lobster
 
Posts: 306
Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2012 2:57 pm
Location: Arendelle

Postby mechana2015 » Wed Nov 21, 2012 7:54 pm

If they have a line through their name, they can't see most of the site and can't do anything. Banning doesn't prevent login just all actions on part of the user. this will most likely still be present in the future version.
Image

My Deviantart
"MOES. I can has Sane Sig now?"
User avatar
mechana2015
 
Posts: 5025
Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2003 12:33 am
Location: Orange County

Postby Banana Lobster » Wed Nov 21, 2012 8:13 pm

Okay, thanks Mecha, it was just a little confusing for me. Thanks for taking the time to answer, and sorry about the procrastinating thing, the next time I see something odd, I'll let you or one of the other mods know right away. :)


A total Rise of the Brave Tangled Frozen Dragons fangirl and proud of it
User avatar
Banana Lobster
 
Posts: 306
Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2012 2:57 pm
Location: Arendelle

Postby acgifford » Sun Nov 25, 2012 11:13 am

Thank you guys so much! This is going to be awesome! I'm excited! You and your staff are what makes CAA such a wonderful and safe place be! :D I would love to hug all of you!
[color="Lime"]"Do or do not, there is no try." Yoda[/color]
[color="DarkOrange"]Psalm32: 1 Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.[/color]
Proud member of MOES!! You better believe I have no scrolling.^_~
[color="Blue"]Doctor Who fan!! [/color]:jump:
[color="Yellow"]"Dare to read, think, speak and write." John Adams[/color]
[color="Pink"]Proud Member of the SisterHoos! ^^[/color]
[color="Red"]Vash the Stampede: I meditate diligently every morning. The subject is Life and Love. I quit after three seconds.[/color]
User avatar
acgifford
 
Posts: 576
Joined: Mon Nov 16, 2009 7:58 pm
Location: Achaea

Postby Crossfire » Sun Nov 25, 2012 10:31 pm

Any plans to reorganize sub-forums?
Image
User avatar
Crossfire
 
Posts: 691
Joined: Sun Jul 31, 2011 5:02 pm
Location: "British" Colombia

Postby mechana2015 » Mon Nov 26, 2012 2:10 am

Some reorganization may occur.
Image

My Deviantart
"MOES. I can has Sane Sig now?"
User avatar
mechana2015
 
Posts: 5025
Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2003 12:33 am
Location: Orange County

Postby TheMewster » Mon Nov 26, 2012 6:45 pm

I'm excited to see how the new CAA will be. Are old forum topics still going to be here or will they be deleted in the process of upgrading?
Image
So the poor has hope, and injustice shuts her mouth. ~Job 5:16 WEB~
For you are my hope, Lord Yahweh; my confidence from my youth. ~Psalm 71:5 WEB~
User avatar
TheMewster
 
Posts: 1129
Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2011 5:34 pm
Location: In a house...

Postby Furen » Tue Nov 27, 2012 8:51 pm

TheMewster (post: 1599852) wrote:Are old forum topics still going to be here or will they be deleted in the process of upgrading?


I'm curious about this myself.
And this I pray, that your love would abound still, more and more with real knowledge and all discernment. Be prepared to preach the gospel at a moment's notice. Do you know the gospel well enough to do so yourself? Be ready.
User avatar
Furen
 
Posts: 2695
Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2010 9:39 pm
Location: Mostly at my PC, but meh, I can be wherever.

Postby mechana2015 » Tue Nov 27, 2012 9:23 pm

At this point it seems like all threads and discussion areas will remain, unless we deliberately merge some of them.
Image

My Deviantart
"MOES. I can has Sane Sig now?"
User avatar
mechana2015
 
Posts: 5025
Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2003 12:33 am
Location: Orange County

Postby Mithrandir » Fri Nov 30, 2012 7:53 am

Hi everyone,

We are planning a to take this opportunity to do a tiny little bit of re-organizing, but nothing hugely unexpected. It is our assumption that these changes will not have a major impact on anyone, but if anyone gets lost, I'm pretty sure you'll let us know. ;)

As you can probably tell, this did not happen last weekend, due to a variety of reasons. I'm really hoping that I can get through everything this weekend, but I've got some health issues (and a really weird back-end bug that's proving a bit harder than expected to squelch) that may cause a bit more delay.

Just keeping you guys in the loop.

- Mith
User avatar
Mithrandir
 
Posts: 11071
Joined: Fri Jun 27, 2003 12:00 pm
Location: You will be baked. And then there will be cake.


Return to Announcements and Feedback

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 70 guests