Upgrade worthwhile? phpBB 3.09 to 3.3 - biggest benefits?

[ttfan]

I'm currently running an almost 20year old phpBB forum (version 3.0.9 with subsilver2 and some mods) under PHP 5.3.29.

Membership is declining due to other forums more feature-rich and other competing platforms, but still has a solid decent membership due to niche discussions and lots of technical information. The forum is mostly a hobby with some advertising to cover part of the hosting cost, so I don't want to spend a fortune on upgrading, although I would certainly consider paying limited amounts for expert help.

I'm trying to decide if it's worth updating to the latest version, or let it die a slow death.

I know 3.0.9 won't run on later versions of PHP, and the current version may not be around for much longer. The upgrade would likely be time-consuming and some of the MOD data likely be lost. I'm not programmer and self-taught, so my skills are limited.

My question is what are the major benefits of phpBB 3.3 over the old 3.0.9 that would perhaps make the upgrade worthwhile?

[warmweer]

...
My question is what are the major benefits of phpBB 3.3 over the old 3.0.9 that would perhaps make the upgrade worthwhile?

One really major benefit is that 3.3 uses up-to-date technology. (both PHP and phpBB).
Another major benefit is extensions, thus avoiding the hassle with re-modding ( in your case, if you decide to stay with 3.0 then you should really update to 3.0.14 and do a 1-time re-modding)
Also, support for 3.0 has terminated which almost implies that if something goes wrong you could have difficulties in finding (free) support.

Fact is that if you want to continue the board for a couple of years upgrading is the logical option.

[Kailey]

I know most of my post below will be how to upgrade, but still worth mentioning.

but still has a solid decent membership due to niche discussions and lots of technical information

If membership is still active, I would recommend leaving it up especially if the content is a niche area of interest.

so I don't want to spend a fortune on upgrading, although I would certainly consider paying limited amounts for expert help

Upgrading yourself is free, and we have Upgrade Guides on how to upgrade along with our Support Forums if you get stuck. Due to your board being 3.0, you will need to make incremental upgrades.

• 3.0 to 3.0.14
• 3.0.14 to 3.1 - Make sure you run the database cleaner BEFORE upgrading to 3.1. More information can be found on the Support Toolkit page.
• 3.1 to 3.2
• 3.2 to 3.3

some of the MOD data likely be lost

Not some, all. However, if you provide a list of what MODs you have installed, we can tell you if there are extensions available that provide the same functionality as your MODs (some 3.0 MODs were actually converted from the original).

[P_I]

old phpBB forum (version 3.0.9 with subsilver2

Adding to the other comments, 3.3's default prosilver style is responsive and therefore looks quite good on mobile devices, i.e. smartphones and tablets.

You might also want to look at testing the upgrade process offline. There is good information in Installing and Setting Up Your Own Web Server and Transferring Your Board to a New Host or Domain on what is required.

[warmweer]

Due to your board being 3.0, you will need to make incremental upgrades.

• 3.0 to 3.0.14
• 3.0.14 to 3.1 - Make sure you run the database cleaner BEFORE upgrading to 3.1. More information can be found on the Support Toolkit page.
• 3.1 to 3.2
• 3.2 to 3.3

Not necessarily. I've done a couple of upgrades from 3.0.14 to 3.2 , also directly to 3.3 (but I've always done the initial update from 3.0.x to 3.0.14 before upgrading.
On a medium-large board (300.000+ posts) doing incremental upgrade is probably recommended.

some of the MOD data likely be lost

Not some, all. However, if you provide a list of what MODs you have installed, we can tell you if there are extensions available that provide the same functionality as your MODs (some 3.0 MODs were actually converted from the original).

Data from ABBCodeBox and Gallery (both on 3.0) can be kept when upgrading to 3.2 or 3.3 . Some old bbcodes however need to be edited (in which case the STK (for 3.2 and later 3.3) came in very handy.

As to the Gallery, there are a couple of issues but AFAIK these have been fixed : see https://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/exte ... 6?start=60

[Marek Muc]

You might want to hire someone to handle this upgrade for you - see viewforum.php?f=656

It's of course a matter of available budget but remember that for an experienced phpBB developer this will be much more straightforward task than for you, so the time and cost involved might be lower than you expect.

Also, try to reduce the number of MODs expected to be functional after the upgrade to the bare minimum to make the whole process easier (and cheaper).

Good luck!