Dizkus

Hi PostNuke Team,

Great system, I'm looking forward to .8!

I have set up and run a number of PN sites for friends and family in the last 5+ years and most of my sites are Phoenix 0.7.2.6 since they were cloned in one way or another after setting up complex customizations on modules, blocks, themes, etc and not wanting to start from scratch. In most cases, the third party modules like AutoTheme, photoshare, pnOpenRealty, etc., are the focus of these sites. For the last five years they have been hosted on a virtual dedicated server with early PHP 4 and Fedora Core 2.

Recently, my host informed me that they were upgrading servers to Fedora Core 7, PHP 5, etc. Running PHP 4 is an option, by I will need to install it myself. I've read through the forums and understand that my sites are already vulnerable because of the old version of PN and I understand that the right thing to do is to upgrade to the latest version.

So obviously, I installed a copy of the site and database at the new host and I already have grief (some of which I expected, some of which may prove devastating). I can't log into the site, some images are not working in OpenRealty, AutoTheme .8 calls not working, News module is broken, Testimonials bloc is not working, etc.

Here's my Catch 22: As I've said, these sites are for friends and family and the extensive modifications I made took time but for little money. The sites work great right now, but they must be moved (preferably to my new server), but I have read that if I upgrade to 7.6.4, that some of my third party modules may not work at all. Plus, upgrading the 10+ sites I built will take hours of time I don't have and my friends and family don't have. And like with all decisions, there is the right thing to do which isn't always possible, as well as the simplest solution.

Is there a minimal security patch or hack I can apply to a 7.2.6 site so that I don't have to mess with any third-party or even core module, yet have the bare minimum in security and operation on my new server? (I heavily modified the news module and don't want to change it)

Can I install PHP4 and hope to see some of my problems resolved?

And if these options are not possible, can I move to another host to resolve this issue, or will I have this problem in a few months again?

I appreciate your work on this system and any help you can lend me please. When version .8 comes, I will undergo a precess to upgrade each site one at a time, but 10 sites in 2 months will seriously kill me. Thanks!

I'm not sure how to put this lightly so I'll just out and say it... you're toast.

First of all shame on you for keeping outdated sites on the net. There are quite a few security issues that can compromise your sites and your hosts. As a webmaster it's irresponsible of you to allow your control scripts to become outdated.

Ok now that you've been properly chastised I'm afraid there is no easy way out of your situation. To update your sites you're going to have to document the functionality of each site, attempt to run an upgrade (following the upgrade instructions to a "T"), then try to find current modules to match any lost functionality, set them up, and then figure out the php/sql to import the old tables into the new. If your attempt to upgrade does not work, you're going to have to create new installations, find current modules to match any lost func... etc. etc.

Personally I'd start from scratch redeveloping these sites from the 0.8RC2 codebase, although 0.764 should serve your purposes with the help of Pagesetter to replace OpenRealty (which results in only 2 google hits BTW, one of which is this thread) if you're in a hurry.

That all being said I'm no pro, but I know PostNuke well enough to know that once you start hacking the core you're screwed unless you document your changes and keep up with security patches and upgrades.

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Under Construction!

Topiatic,

Thanks for the frank and honest truth. In reality, I have not edited the core of PostNuke at all, with the possible exception of the pnAPI.php file perhaps. My biggest fear is not so much that I lose the functionality of pnOpenRealty (wow, that term really has been purged from the net. I guess I have one of the only copies and both were customized beyond belief), I can probably edit it to wor with the latest version of PN, but that I will have to figure out how to convert all of my AutoThemes to Xanthia. I tried this process once before in the past and ended up blowing it all away to start with a fresh version of PN. I'm not sure I have the time to go through this process with 10+ sites again though... Ugh!

I've been waiting to see .8 come out for years, so I'm wondering how it compares to Joomla! for example. Has the wait been worth it?

I'm with Topiatic here.

I have never used pnOpenRealty before, so I have no idea how it's being used.
With PN 0.7.6.4 and Pagesetter in addition with multisites you could merge all sites to one. Easy upgrading, no hassle with core alterings and secure to the latest release. Security patches should be followed up if any should occur. That way only one PN installation to worry about, it seems it's only for your friends, so no big server loads I forsee.
Mark West has a converstion tool from AT to XTE, so that could be a big help.
That way you could hold on for a while, and wait untill pagemaster, the follow-up for Pagesetter is ready for the 0.8.x release [still in pre-alpha release, so it could take a while].

Comparing 0.8.x to Joomla is difficult, since 0.8.x will be more of a frame-work then an actual CMS [although CMS modules are foreseen].

I hope my post is any help here...

- Igor

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Have a nice day

zikulapro.be is currently running
Zikula 1.0.2

Thanks videokid,

Yep, Mark West has helped me climb down off the ledge several times in my brief career. I'll definitely check it out. In fact, PN has an excellent support community. Thanks guys!

I'm going to bite the bullet and start with a fresh install of 0.7.6.4 like you said on the new server, convert each Theme, and then bring in each module, block, etc., and finally pass over the data. The sites aren't huge and it would be a good chance to excersize my "responsibility to update my control scripts".

Thanks guys. What's the next stage after Denial? Anger?

regard it from this perspective: You saved a lot of time by not updating to 750, 760, 761, 762, 763 - so now the point is reached where you have to do things. Putting things online is never only a one time job. You always have to update things - be it content or software.

But the first time you started without a concept: You build your site. And friend asked you for a similar site - you set it up. And then you set up one site after another.

I suggested you don't make that mistake again. This time you know that there are a dozen sites with similar installations that you will have to update once in a while. And because of all the new stuff in PostNuke you won't have to hack too much, I am sure.

1. Reduce your installations. If you have a proper server you should have shell access and be able to set dynamic links. Set up only one site in a central directory and only place links to the other sites. This way you will only have to update one installation for all. Only the config file and the theme files should be stored in the sub-site's folder.

2. No Hacking. The templating allows you to store theme- and module templates inside the theme folder. So if you update a module, it will still look the same. If you need changed and customized functions, you don't have to hack the files anymore. You can simply place your custom functions in an extra file: /modules/myModule/pnuser/myFunction.php - if you want to add a function called myFunction to the pnuser.php of the module called myModule.

3. If older modules don't work in .8 it's often related to smaller problems which can be fixed quickly. But using a module which hasn't been fixed for 5 years is maybe not too good a basis. What exactly does pnOpenRealty do? Maybe there's a nice alternative around.

4. I am not sure if there's an AutoTheme version for .8 - but if you want to switch to Xanthia, I wouldn't try to convert the original files. Simply call your site, grab the HTML and use that as basis for your master.htm

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best regards from Kiel, sailing city

Steffen Voss

Member of the PostNuke Steering Committee
Read The Zikulan's Blog

Taksimikut Steffen!

I never really thought that was possible. I'll have to look into this method. Thanks for the other suggestions. You guys have given me so much to think about and plan for. I appreciate it!

You are welcome!

And if you want to compare PostNuke with Joomla try these PostNuke modules:
Profile (.8 RC2)
Content (NOC)
Mediashare (www.elfisk.dk)
ElementBB (www.invalidresponse.com)
pnForum (NOC)
pnClickedMe (NOC)
Buddies (NOC)
pnMessages (NOC)
Pagesetter (www.elfisk.dk) - needs some practice
pnUserPictures (NOC)
MultiHook (NOC)

And you should evaluate the power of pnRender templating not only for the themes but also for every up-to-date module.

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best regards from Kiel, sailing city

Steffen Voss

Member of the PostNuke Steering Committee
Read The Zikulan's Blog