Help and/or advice, please

[Pam Drake]

I am a dummy with software, so I asked my IT chap to upgrade the forum. Alas, things did not go smoothly and almost a month later, we still have issues. The email received from my IT chap this morning did not inspire me with confidence, (see below) so may I have your opinions, please?

Unfortunately the case is that we quoted for two hours work when starting this upgrade, and I do not believe that the problems are necessarily our fault. There is a HUGE amount of incompatibility between xenforo plugins, and many people have add all of these problems when upgrading, some have lost their site simply upgrading one plug-in. We are now in a situation where we are fixing problems with the xenforo code. The blog upgrade has a lot of bugs that can make the whole site inactive.

I know you don't see why upgrading the forum should affect the layout on mobile devices, but the fact is that we are unable to upgrade the mobile layout plug-in, so we have to assume that it is now incompatible.

 

[tajhay]

Please sack your 'IT chap'. They are making excuses for their inability to do their job.

Upgrading xenforo should be a painless one click excercise.

What is your website and your list of addons?

 

[Pam Drake]

I didn't build the web site (www.genealogy-specialists.com) but it is/was optimised for smart phones and had a blog added.

 

[Sheldon]

Someone should be fired.

 

[Pam Drake]

I do not have a clue about software which is why I asked the chap to upgrade it for me. I just do not know what to do now.

 

[Pam Drake]

Even the link to the chap (different fellow to my IT chap) who built the site is now missing.

 

[Pam Drake]

Just received this from my IT fellow. Is he correct?

The forum is working, and there are a few remaining issues. After reviewing the list, I think we can fix at least some of them today.

Unfortunately, it was a big forum jump and there have been a number of compatibility issues with plug-ins.

We are almost there, but we have seen on several occasions that simply enabling a plug-in (that has known issues) can break the whole site, so I question whether it is stable.

No data has been lost, everything has always been backed up.

 

[tajhay]

Just received this from my IT fellow. Is he correct?

The forum is working, and there are a few remaining issues. After reviewing the list, I think we can fix at least some of them today.

Unfortunately, it was a big forum jump and there have been a number of compatibility issues with plug-ins.

We are almost there, but we have seen on several occasions that simply enabling a plug-in (that has known issues) can break the whole site, so I question whether it is stable.

No data has been lost, everything has always been backed up.

Pam,
He is being fairly vague with what he is having issues with. His statements seem to be full of excuses and blaming everything/everyone else. That would not be the type of person I personally would hire. Xenforo is a great software, and there are some great addons. Have you got customised addons that he creates for your website? It doesnt seem to be the case. I would highly recommend getting rid of the whiner, and getting someone like @oman to look after your website. A respected member of the community with great reviews, he will also be able to explain things more clearly on what the issues are etc.

 

[Sheldon]

From looking around on the site, I can't see ANY reason why it can't be upgraded. I was browsing on my phone earlier, a S3, and it is definitely not optimized for mobile. It's not even responsive.

A simple upgrade seems enough. The blog is by XenFluence (which seems to be having major issues at the moment, although nothing stopping an upgrade from happening). I see the Online/Offline add-on, XenAtendo, Articles (maybe Waindigo)... and the theme was designed by Richard R. (who is a member here as well, it links to his profile here).

I certainly don't think you'd have any issues updating, and that style seems as if it'd be easy enough to replicate (on an off chance it actually needs edited).

Anywho, take the plunge, there are plenty of members here capable of giving you a hand with explanations/help/etc.

 

[Sheldon]

Oh, and before I forget...

Just received this from my IT fellow. Is he correct?

The forum is working, and there are a few remaining issues. After reviewing the list, I think we can fix at least some of them today.

Unfortunately, it was a big forum jump and there have been a number of compatibility issues with plug-ins.

We are almost there, but we have seen on several occasions that simply enabling a plug-in (that has known issues) can break the whole site, so I question whether it is stable.

No data has been lost, everything has always been backed up.

xF is stable.
All the add-ons I have seen from viewing your site are stable.

I'm gonna have to chalk this up to their user error, or a simple run-around.

 

[Pam Drake]

Thank you so much for all the help and advice. It is very much appreciated.

My IT chap has apologised for the mess, says he is working through the errors and should have them all corrected in a few days. He also tells me the site is now optimised for smart phones. I am not happy about this happening (possibly) every time there is an upgrade, so will be looking for someone else to do this work for me. Any idea what I shall need to be paying for upgrades, please?

 

[Pam Drake]

Okay, more news from my IT chap! On the front page of the forum, I used to have red arrows instead of hard to see crosses & minus signs. Also, it now lists sub forums instead of all the headings that used to be there. My chap said that is because the Xenforo upgrade set them like that. Is he correct as I do not care for the way it looks at the moment?

 

[Paul B]

I can only echo what others have said.
Get someone who knows XenForo and knows that they are doing.

The arrows are from an add-on.
The sub forums can be configured to show inline or as a dropdown.

 

[Pam Drake]

Thank you.

 

[Pam Drake]

My IT chap has finally got everything back the way it should be - took a month, but hey, it is now done. Thank you all for your help and advice. I was starting to pull my hair out with worry and you saved this lady from going bald. You are all fantastic and a very Merry Christmas to you.