Vb4 Upgrade In Progress

[TracyP]

Steve Coles will be the coordinator for the upgrade to vb4. He has renewed all license necessary to upgrade. There will probably be a couple of days of down time due to the many changes that need to be made. We will keep the staff up to date when these outages will occur. We could be down for two days, possibly more. Steve will be most likely asking for some help from the staff as the upgrade is installed. And especially after vb4 is installed and the tweaks need to be done. This is an important step for North Carolina Woodworker. Lets all give Steve whatever help we can. As announcements need to be made to the members and users I will make them at Steve's lead, depending on what the outage times will be.

Thank You

 

[MikeH]

I'll do whatever I can do to help.

 

[ScottM]

Just tell me what to do and when. I suggest we give the site at least a weeks notice and try not to schedule to close to an event (Charlotte WW Show, Picnic, raffle, etc).

 

[Sully]

Will the upgrade allow us to move posts from the Classifieds section into one of the normal forums? It would be nice to be able to move ads that are selling "Wood" into the normal "Wood" forum. As it currently stands, it's impossible to do that.

Maybe it will still be impossible, but I did want to throw that out there as a request.

 

[SteveColes]

Will the upgrade allow us to move posts from the Classifieds section into one of the normal forums? It would be nice to be able to move ads that are selling "Wood" into the normal "Wood" forum. As it currently stands, it's impossible to do that.

Maybe it will still be impossible, but I did want to throw that out there as a request.

Our old Classified Plugin is NO more. I haven't really chosen its replacement yet, but of the two candidates, I am sure one will not allow that at all. The other, I don't know its internal structure well enough to be sure, but I doubt.

A more likely opportunity, is creating a classified section that is more forum like that the current one. Once we have it up and running I'll let you all what works and what doesn't and what we might do to enhance it.

 

[ScottM]

I know we start on the 27th. Having been an IT PM in my working life I have a couple Thoughts/ Questions. Feel free to tell me to go away but I have seen and lived with the effects of Murphy's Law. Not pleasant.

- How will users know it is OK to resume activity? How do we communicate that?
- Will hits during critical phases of deployment present any risks?
- Can we shut down the front door so only authorized users get in?
- Do we want folks lined up to do "post production testing"? I am talking about more then just the couple staff folks making the change.
- I know we have the notice on our site header but have we proactively notified our paid advertisers? I highly recommend notices to "key stake holders" (oops the IT PM said that)
- Can we "back out" should a critical technical issue arise? If so, roughly how long.
- Back to the back out question, who makes the call?
- Is there a need for check point/status calls?

 

[SteveColes]

I know we start on the 27th. Having been an IT PM in my working life I have a couple Thoughts/ Questions. Feel free to tell me to go away but I have seen and lived with the effects of Murphy's Law. Not pleasant.

- How will users know it is OK to resume activity? How do we communicate that?
That has never been a problem before. Our biggest problem has been keeping people off the site. In the past without anyone saying anything, the site was usually back at close to full activity within hours of it being available. But if there is an issue, we can consider sending an email or PM.

- Will hits during critical phases of deployment present any risks?
Define hits
- Can we shut down the front door so only authorized users get in?
Yes and we will
- Do we want folks lined up to do "post production testing"? I am talking about more then just the couple staff folks making the change.
No - except for a few particular NEW/changed areas of functionality where we may ask staff and/or users to suggest changes. ie, UI decisions


- I know we have the notice on our site header but have we proactively notified our paid advertisers? I highly recommend notices to "key stake holders" (oops the IT PM said that)

I suspect that is not my issue

- Can we "back out" should a critical technical issue arise?

Of course

If so, roughly how long

probably 24 - 48 hours
- Back to the back out question, who makes the call?
but realistically, We have 2 days before we go down. Actually I have started some supplemental things already. Off the top of my head I can not think of a techncial issue that would create a situation that would really mean it is best to stop. However, if a situation comes up. like there is no way the new software can be brought up for months and our only answer is to restore the backup and come back up the first and perhaps only person to know, would be myself and perhaps Ethan. So I guess I would make the call and notify Tracy.



- Is there a need for check point/status calls?

Not really

 

[ScottM]

Thanks Steve. Sounds like you have a plan to cover most possible items.

 

[SteveColes]

Thanks Steve. Sounds like you have a plan to cover most possible items.

Actually, we'been testing this off and on for a while. So the things I worry about most have at least had a peek.
Yeah but there is Murphy's Law