I'm planning on running several forums in the future, and presently still experimenting.
Issues:
- It's great MyBB fixes security issues and has frequent new releases, but...
- Running several forums won't be easy, or will it?
Questions:
- (Referring to reverting templates back to original, then re-modification, etc)
- The whole process looks easy to learn, and still somewhat time consuming.
- Do upgrades-including proper preparation and theme adjustments-get done real fast once your experienced?
- Any tips on how to prepare to effectively run 5 (or even more) forums?
Any good advice will help.
Thank you very much
Stay away from code modifications if you can. If you keep things as plugins, your board will be easier to upgrade.
If you will run 5 forums, I suggest you gather a team (2 or 3 people) from people you REALLY know and can REALLY trust (don't trust anyone you know from "a few days ago"). That will really help keeping the forums up to date. Why? While you update 1 of them, the other guys can help upgrading the other ones and that will make it a lot faster.
Also, remember to do it with patience. Don't just rush because you feel lazy and then mess things up.
Good advice so far, you guys are fast
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I was reading the section about template changes in the most recent upgrade; Some plugins make template changes, so I'm trying to make an effective plan for staying on top of everything.
If the plugins automatically edit the template, you can usually deactivate the plugin, then reactivate the plugin and the plugin will re-add the template modifications.
Also, it may take some time but it's worth it to make a backup before you attempt any upgrade.
I have 35 mybb installs on 2 seperate boxes. Here is how I do it.
1. Create a local windows folder with the directories where the mybb is installed.
i.e.
/domain.com/public_html
/domain.net/public_html/forum
/otherdomain.org/public_html/mybb
Now hopefully your host allows for a single FTP to access all your sites otherwise this won't work.
2. Now save that folder somewhere safe you will need it for upgrading in the future too.
3. When a new release comes out you download the package and unzip it.
4. COPY your domain structure folder to your desktop.
5. Now open the mybb upgrade folder and COPY the files...all of them.
6. PASTE a COPY of hte mybb upgrade files into EACH directory in your local windows folder. Now you should basically have a folder with all your domains and all the files needed to upgrade.
7. Connect FTP and start the uploading...you can do one site at a time OR you can simply hit upload and go away..come back when it's done and RUN the upgrade.php script on each site if it's required for update.
8. Delete all the install folders and you should be good.
Normally I do ONE test upgrade to make sure it goes smooth and to my liking. I am right now about 20 sites into my upgrade and in about an hour it should all be complete but it's fairly painless for 35 installs.
I also NEVER make core files changes and I try to minimize the template changes I make.
Enjoy my tip of the day.