Upgrading ... again
It's time for another of these major updates of the tech behind the Global FlyFisher
Nerd alert
This is NOT about fly fishing or fly tying, but about site development and nerdy stuff.
A little job to do over Christmas ... or maybe a big job and a bit more than the holiday!
The system that runs the Global FlyFisher is destined to die January 5th 2025. Not like it stops working, but it won't be updated or maintained anymore, and I will need to move the site to a newer version (Drupal 7 -> Drupal 11 for those interested).
It's a pretty daunting task. I have been through similar conversions before, but the site is more complex and has more custom made functions than ever, and all these will have to be upgraded to a vastly different system. It's close to starting from scratch.
Such is life, and I actually have the base of new system up and running on my local development server, so now I just need to:
- Convert all content and users to the new system (tens of thousands of elements).
- Transfer all files (images mostly).
- Recode all custom functions (hundreds if not thousands).
- Create a design in the new system (it will be much like the old one).
- Redo all pages, menus, blocks and what else builds the site.
- Get it running on a server that's accessible to the public.
- ... and much, MUCH more ...
Quite a bit of work, but well ... that's bound to be needed once in a while on a 30 year old site.
Luckily the base system is so called open source, meaning that it's free, so there are no direct extra costs involved in the upgrade - just my time, which is kind of "free".
The server requirements are also the same, and even though I will very likely upgrade the excellent server GFF is running on already in order to get that up-to-date while I'm at it, the old one will be cancelled, so the expenses will remain the same. And they are generously covered by a lot of loyal supporters, whjo each chip in a small amount each month - or, in some case, a large amount as a single donation. Again I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support! It means a lot. Should other readers feel like chipping in, the option is still there.
Again I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support! It means a lot.
The image shows the site as it looks right now in the development version - a header and two articles!
0.005% done ... yay!
I have been moaning about this before in The threat of Drupal 8… eh… 9... eh… 10!. And now it's actually Drupal 11.
Read more about why you should register.
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Since you got this far …
The GFF money box
… I have a small favor to ask.
Long story short
Support the Global FlyFisher through several different channels, including PayPal.
Long story longer
The Global FlyFisher has been online since the mid-90's and has been free to access for everybody since day one – and will stay free for as long as I run it.
But that doesn't mean that it's free to run.
It costs money to drive a large site like this.
See more details about what you can do to help in this blog post.
Comments
Changing Web Sites
The internet is live an ever changing river. We need to adapt to the changes. Good luck!