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IPB 4 Upgrade


DZComposer

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This week, IPB4 entered release candidate stage.

With the RC stage, I finally feel that IPB4 is stable enough to start the process of preparing to move the board over. Unfortunately, my work on the theme will have to be restarted due to bugs in the beta, but I think I can overcome that.

A lot of things are going to change as I am planning on doing a major site-wide overhaul along with this upgrade.

Here is how things are going to go down:

1. This weekend I will be installing the RC on the Dev Site. Once the RC is installed, I will then do major theme development. This process will probably take a week or two. Maybe even three.

2. After the theme is developed, this site will be upgraded** (Though if you guys prefer, I can upgrade this weekend but the site will have to use the default theme while the new one is developed). There may be significant downtime during this process, especially if problems arise.

3. Main Site Content Reorganization, including using the blog engine to drive main site articles.

4. Implementation of IPS Pages database-driven information articles will be implemented. These will be set-up Wiki-style allowing the community to contribute to site content.

5. Re-organization of the downloads section to make files easier to find

6. Implementation of a multimedia system to replace the jukebox.

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Don't worry about upgrading this week DZ. Take all the time you need to get this right so that the theme looks good when you are finally ready. I look forward to seeing how it all turns out.

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So DZ, should we expect to see SF-O go down while you're upgrading?

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So DZ, should we expect to see SF-O go down while you're upgrading?

Yes, though I cannot estimate the time. It depends on how smooth the upgrade goes.

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So, it turns out that the chat module will not be released until IPB4 goes into full release.

The RC versions are going by quickly, though, so it may be possible that final will drop before I finish theme development. If that's the case, then this means nothing to us.

If I do finish theme development before final drops do you want me to upgrade and wait for chat later, or do you want to stay on 3.4 until chat for 4.x is out?

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Does 3.4 clash with the rest of the site if you still use it after upgrading? I'm talking more in terms of functionality.

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Nothing for 3.4 will work with 4.x.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The general feeling is that - we chat regulars don't want to go without the chat indefinitely, but we also don't want to keep you from pushing an otherwise ready site.

In other words, we're stumped. We'll live with whatever you decide.

---

And I might remind you of this while you're under the hood:

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think I've nailed-down the basic look of the IPB4 theme.

BSLMI5N.jpg

"Builder Page" looks like that because the mouse is hovering over it.

I've decided to go with lighter gray backgrounds for content areas. I think it makes things a little more readable and will cause fewer issues with custom text colors and images. It will also make the white background of CKEditor's main text area tolerable in the event I cannot change it as it current is in IPB 3.4.x.

I've also largely ditched the color red. There will be a few red things, but I think I want the new theme to be more Arwing-colored the Wolfen-colored.

And here's the same page as it would render on an iPhone 6:

kTw4DiS.jpg

The tick marks on the left are from Chrome's device screen ruler. Sorry for the shitty crop-job.

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  • 3 weeks later...

OK, so after a year and a half of delays, IPB4 quietly dropped today.

Here is the plan:

I will be updating the site to IPB4 this weekend, but the theme is not complete. I will leave it set to the default while I finish it to a point where there aren't any major issues.

All main site pages will need to be re-created. This will take some time, as I want to build them as wiki-style pages, but that requires using the "database" function which I did not use in 3.x so I need to learn it. Feel free to start contributing by posting in the "Community Content" board.

Downloads will stay as-is for now until I figure out what to do with the sound files to make them easier to access.

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That looks bloody amazing!

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It will probably be a week or so after the upgrade before I push that theme to be the site default.

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The aforementioned custom theme illustrates some exemplary work!

I'm glad to see the division between the username and display name has been ditched with this update.

 

Edited by OneUnder
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Not sure if this is issue, feature, or even the right place to bring it up, but in this new version your own posts show up in "New Content."

 

It also doesn't seem to clear new content when you read that topic or click "Mark as read."

 

Nevermind, filter buttons on the left hand side:

L8Oor2f.png

Edited by Vydrach
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  • Owner/Technical Admin

Took me a a while to figure out how to change Avatar and change cover photo. 

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A bit of a delay on the theme. I'm trying to get the base layout of the site setup before I do the theme, but I ran into an issue configuring something that support is having to look at.

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Update: Back-end woes are continuing. My apologies, but it will probably be another week or two before I can get the theme going.

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Take all the time you need, especially considering that the vast majority of us can't even fathom the intricacies and level of effort involved in the process.

 

Edited by OneUnder
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It's looking like I may have to wait for 4.0.2 for some bugfixes.

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hahaha i logged on this morning and it said i was banned but i got better

CAN'T LET YOU DO THAT, STAR FOX ONLINE

Edited by unoservix
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The new theme will come after 4.0.3 drops, as this update is changing a lot of stuff and I don't want it to break the theme.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The major changes in 4.0.3 were pushed back to 4.0.5. 4.0.5 should drop next week. I'm also waiting on some changes to the theme system. Hopefully they'll be in this update.

These changes are essential because as things are currently every update breaks custom themes.

Edited by DZComposer
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I don't know if it was the lollipop update for android but the mobile version just shitted bad.

 

AlNqKrf.png

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Hmm... I bet it was probably the rank image. They were added to posts in the 4.0.5 update, which I installed last night. I'll look into it when I get a chance.

 

EDIT: Looks like 4.0.5 broke the responsive theme entirely. Will investigate with IPS.

Edited by DZComposer
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I think I fixed it. Let me know if you still have issues, but it is now working on my Nexus 5 running Lollipop.

 

Also, an update on themeing. There are still major issues with the theme system. Unfortunately I do not feel like the will be fixed for a few updates yet. Given the nature of what I want to do, I will keep the default theme up until then. My apologies. Had I know these issues would have arisen, I would have stayed on 3.4. Once they get things ironed-out, though, things will be great. IPB4 really is the best forum software I've ever used, assuming the issues get fixed.

Edited by DZComposer
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