PHP7 Compatability

[Fillip H.]

So true, look how long 5.4 and 5.6 hung around. 5.6 still has very widespread use.

Hell, I still get people every now and again who's still running 5.4 or 5.5.

Especially if they have code of, shall we say, questionable quality running on their forums, they're very hesitant to upgrade.


Fillip

 

[BirdOPrey5]

In support I still see sites running PHP 5.3.x.

 

[mysiteguy]

In addition to quality, a great deal of the installed base of 5.6 applications which are of good quality either do not work with PHP 7.x, are still in transition or have not been fully tested with it. Considering the number of companies who rely on it we'll likely see PHP 5.6 support for some time... even if that means future PHP 7+ apps are written with backward compatibility in mind.

If the past has been any indication, the end of life schedule will be extended beyond the current schedule, and 7.x has a long future.

 

[Snowhog]

This is a huge thread, and I apologize in advance for asking the following given that it's likely been asked/addressed somewhere in the previous 161 posts!

We just upgraded from 4.2.4 to 4.2.5. Our host (forum owner) said that he ended up having to upgrade PHP (I've asked him why; what was requiring him to do so), but regardless, we are now on PHP 7 and we are experiencing minor issues: inline images not displaying; smilies window closing after clicking on a smilie; posts submissions resulting in a blank page, necessitating pressing the URL refresh, resulting in the ubiquitous "
Are you sure you want to send a form again?" and subsequent 'double posting' message. My guess is that we will discover additional issues.

Is 4.2.5 fully compatible with PHP 7? I'm guessing 'no', and if that is the case, is the solution reverting back to PHP 5 (I believe that was what we were running)?

 

[Paul M]

Is 4.2.5 fully compatible with PHP 7? I'm guessing 'no'

With PHP 7.0 - Yes.
With PHP 7.1 - Yes.
With PHP 7.2 - No.

 

[we_are_borg]

This is a huge thread, and I apologize in advance for asking the following given that it's likely been asked/addressed somewhere in the previous 161 posts!

We just upgraded from 4.2.4 to 4.2.5. Our host (forum owner) said that he ended up having to upgrade PHP (I've asked him why; what was requiring him to do so), but regardless, we are now on PHP 7 and we are experiencing minor issues: inline images not displaying; smilies window closing after clicking on a smilie; posts submissions resulting in a blank page, necessitating pressing the URL refresh, resulting in the ubiquitous "
Are you sure you want to send a form again?" and subsequent 'double posting' message. My guess is that we will discover additional issues.

Is 4.2.5 fully compatible with PHP 7? I'm guessing 'no', and if that is the case, is the solution reverting back to PHP 5 (I believe that was what we were running)?

Well you can better ask Paul M or BirdOPrey5 they know the limits of the versions and what you’ll need to do.

 

[Snowhog]

With PHP 7.0 - Yes.
With PHP 7.1 - Yes.
With PHP 7.2 - No.

Thank you. We are now running PHP 7.0.27-1+ubuntu14.04.1+deb.sury.org+1, and as I posted, we are experiences issues.

We do have a lot of MOD's, many custom written for me by vBulletin.org members who are now here. Not sure how many of those MOD's may or may not be fully PHP 7 compatible.

The one issue that I'm sure isn't created by a MOD is the posting problem. Hit the Post button and you get a blank page (the post actually gets posted, but you aren't returned to the page you were on; just a blank screen). If we can get that fixed, I'll then start looking at our MOD's, disabling them all and activating them one at a time and seeing if any issues get presented.

 

[cellarius]

The one issue that I'm sure isn't created by a MOD is the posting problem. Hit the Post button and you get a blank page (the post actually gets posted, but you aren't returned to the page you were on; just a blank screen). If we can get that fixed, I'll then start looking at our MOD's, disabling them all and activating them one at a time and seeing if any issues get presented.

Are you really sure? Better double-check. That sounds like a classical addon-related issue (even a warning printed to the screen prevents the page refresh, due to AJAX you wouldn't necessarily see it).

 

[Sysnative]

We're on PHP 7.1 running vB 4.2.5 with no problems. We hide warnings, but all the site functionality is working correctly.

I would try testing this by disabling all add-ons and see if you still get the same issues. You can disable hooks in config.php as the easiest way to do this.

If the issue disappears, try disabling add ons one by one until you find the problem add-on.

 

[Snowhog]

Are you really sure? Better double-check. That sounds like a classical addon-related issue (even a warning printed to the screen prevents the page refresh, due to AJAX you wouldn't necessarily see it).

You are correct, and not correct.

It turns out that disabling the tapatalk plugin fixed the blank page posting issue, but in fact, it wasn't the plugin that was the root cause; it was PHP 7.0.27-1+ubuntu14.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 that we had upgraded to. Our forum host/owner downgraded PHP to 5.6.33-1+ubuntu14.04.1+deb.sury.org+1 last night, and so far, 'everything' we were experiencing as anomalous behavior appears to have been resolved.

 

[cellarius]

So it was the plugin after all. (of course a PHP downgrade will resolve plugin PHP incompatibility issues - but that's still not a php, but a plugin issue)

 

[Snowhog]

Hehe. Okay, yes, I agree; it was the tapatalk plugins 'PHP incompatibility' that was the problem.

 

[Paul M]

but in fact, it wasn't the plugin that was the root cause; it was PHP

Nope, it wasnt php, its the plugin thats not compatible with php 7. You will likely get that issue with a few older plugins.

 

[Snowhog]

Nope, it wasnt php, its the plugin thats not compatible with php 7. You will likely get that issue with a few older plugins.

Agreed. See my reply to cellarius.

 

[djbaxter]

If you still want to use Tapatalk, upgrade the Tapatalk plugin. The latest version(s) work with vB 4.2.5 and either PHP 5.6.x or PHP 7.1.x

 

[Snowhog]

If you still want to use Tapatalk, upgrade the Tapatalk plugin. The latest version(s) work with vB 4.2.5 and either PHP 5.6.x or PHP 7.1.x

I already updated Tapatalk after we upgraded vBulletin to 4.2.5. The Tapatalk plugin is version 5.6.14, which according to post #167 at https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/tap...n-plugin-release-announcement-t4104-s160.html, posted by MoleDJ, is the latest version for vBulletin 4.*. It's not compatible with the version of PHP 7 we upgraded to. It does work with PHP 5.6 that we downgraded to however.

 

[djbaxter]

Working fine on two forums for me, one 5.6.x and one 7.1.x as stated above.

 

[Paul M]

A few people have asked if I'm still working on making vB3 & vbB4 compatible with PHP 7.2, and how this would work.

The answer is yes, in my spare time (which I dont have much of !).
I'm not in a rush as 4.2.5 & 3.8.11 work with 7.1, so PHP 7 is covered for a while.

When I'm ready, I will have Alpha Versions (most likely as 4.2.9 & 3.8.15).
These will of course be completely unofficial, but would work as upgrades from the current versions.
(Leaving a gap of 3 versions between them and 4.2.5/3.8.11, just covers things in case IB ever release an update).

I would likely make these available as a private update service, which would work as follows.

1. You pay me (!).
2. You download 4.2.5 (or 3.8.11) from your members area, and send me the zip file.
3. I will extract your files, run them through an update process, and then zip them back up.
4. I will return the zipped 4.2.9/3.8.15 files back to you.
5. You use them to upgrade your site in the normal manner.
6. You report any bugs to me, and in time I will look at them.
7. I would periodically make bug fixes available (as zipped updates).

The reason for doing it this way is because I can only edit your licensed files, not supply my own.

A few points - I would not update any version other than 4.2.5 or 3.8.11, for two reasons ;

1. Its just much harder to update older version files
2. It proves you are licensed for the latest version (this is really only an issue for vB3).

The cost would likely be around the $40 to $49 mark (once only).
Support (and bug fixes) would be limited, and only for issues directly related to PHP 7.2

I would stress at this point, I'm still only considering this.
Whether I actually do it depends on my time (and of course, any interest shown).

The "Pay Me" first would not be negotiable.
I dont have time to be chasing people for payment.
If you dont trust me, thats fine, you simply would not use the service.

I hope this answers all the questions people have been asking me in the last few months.

 

[Fillip H.]

I would likely make these available as a private update service, which would work as follows.

1. You pay me (!).
2. You download 4.2.5 (or 3.8.11) from your members area, and send me the zip file.
3. I will extract your files, run them through an update process, and then zip them back up.
4. I will return the zipped 4.2.9/3.8.15 files back to you.
5. You use them to upgrade your site in the normal manner.
6. You report any bugs to me, and in time I will look at them.
7. I would periodically make bug fixes available (as zipped updates).

The reason for doing it this way is because I can only edit your licensed files, not supply my own.

Have you considered supplying .diff/.patch files instead of doing this? It would be easier to offer them for download via an eCommerce system after purchase, and you could include detailed instructions for how to apply them.

For people without SSH access to their server, you could offer a Professional Installation add-on service which is the same as those steps.

 

[djbaxter]

Have you considered supplying .diff/.patch files instead of doing this? It would be easier to offer them for download via an eCommerce system after purchase, and you could include detailed instructions for how to apply them.

For people without SSH access to their server, you could offer a Professional Installation add-on service which is the same as those steps.

I would prefer the zipped edited complete package. You never know when you might need to reinstall.