Re: AACA Forums?

Posted by BigKev On 2007/6/15 14:15:48

For awhile now I have not relied on any outside software (or its developers) for the Forums or any other part of the website. So the forum is safe from Upgrade Hell.

I took Open Source software, and modified for this website. If you were to download the latest open source version of this Forum, you would see that it wouldn't have Spell Check, or have the ability to jump to the newest message. Those were features I added myself.

The Model Info Pages, Parts X-Ref, and Owner Registry were custom written by me. All of the content was of course from you guys.

All of this was done to provide a unified login to the website, very little downtime, and only one throat to choke if there is a problem, mine. The only service blips I have really seen is when my ISP is having actual server or switching problems. But that is pretty rare.

When making any updates, I back up all the PHP files locally. Make the changes, and test. If something goes south, I simply put the backup PHP back in place. No harm, no foul. Most of the time, this is done in the late PM California time, so there are very few people online at that time.

The fact I am a Software developer by trade allows be to make beneficial improvements to the website without having to resort to major upgrades and the problems that come with them. Relying on outside software is a nightmare, so I feel for the people that have to.