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  4. Upgrading may have been a bad Idea

Upgrading may have been a bad Idea

1 Jan 12, 2008 21:42    

I was using 1.10 and decided to upgrade to 2.3 and even though I really like the new version, I'm afraid I should have waited.
The reason is that there is too much confusion with plugins that work and those that don't. There are two lists of plugins that work and don't: http://manual.b2evolution.net/Upgrade_from_1.10.x_to_2.0.x#Skins_Upgrade and http://forums.b2evolution.net/viewtopic.php?t=13514, in one, for instance, Democracy Poll is shown as compatible but in the other it isn't and until now I can't make it work. Star rating hasn't worked for me although it is in both lists.
Maybe thos plugins need some changes made to the skins, but now the skins have changed too, Before you could make nearly all changes in one place; _main.php, now there are several files and I'm not sure where they must be modified.
There is a great new widget called Free HTML but there should be one for modifications to the sidebar such as adding a Contact Link. In this manual: http://manual.b2evolution.net/Upgrade_from_1.10.x_to_2.0.x#Skins_Upgrade , it says that you can add a link to a contact form at the sidebar using the following code:

		<?php
			// Display a link to contact the owner of this blog (if owner accepts messages):
			$Blog->contact_link( array(
					'before'      => '',
					'after'       => '. ',
					'text'   => T_('Contact'),
					'title'  => T_('Send a message to the owner of this blog...'),
				) );
		?>

Well yes, you can, but I'm still figuring out how to format it or puting it as a Menu Botton at the Top Header Menu.
The new version is great but its a great leap from the 1.10 and it has resulted, at least for me, very confusing.

I need help with: Democracy Poll, it just won't show. Star Rating, neither. This for the moment.

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2 Jan 12, 2008 22:00

Welcome to the club :(

It's been killing me to figure all the new stuff out, and I've been looking at 230RC1 since the day before it officially hit the streets. The changes are drastic and dramatic. At this point I'm pretty much on board with the new way even though I still find some things that ... well ... suck. Overall though I wouldn't downgrade if I had a backup to downgrade to :)

Do you have a backup of your database and files when they were 1103? If so perhaps you'll want to 'downgrade'? It's not the best idea, but it should be out there for you to consider.

On plugins you will just have to figure out which ones work for you. Two locations with what should be the same but are different information is a drag. But I do recommend you move slowly. Perhaps a plugin you use has been upgraded for the 2.* generation? On a case-by-case basis you will have to see what is compatible, what is upgraded, and what simply isn't playing nice anymore. :(

There are some funny things going on in widgets, but for sure there is a simple contact form widget. You can use the code, or the widget.

Styling widgets is ... tricky and easy but I haven't tinkered with the easy version yet. Each widget automagically includes it's own class, so you can use a widget and simply add the classes to your skin's style.css file. http://forums.b2evolution.net/viewtopic.php?t=13639 is supposed to help you take advantage of this feature.

Anyway welcome to the "upgrading hurts" club ;)

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3 Jan 12, 2008 22:20

Well, there is a third list: http://plugins.b2evolution.net/
Do have a look if you find a newer version of the plugin there. I have seen the Starrating plugin alive on a 2.2 blog and the Democracy plugin is maitained by AstonishMe, so if that isn' t working, it' ll take 'm only a few days to fix.

I do try to maintain both lists, but since one is a Wiki and everybody can change that, it is possible both lists are not synchronized.

Good luck

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4 Jan 12, 2008 23:56

EdB, thanks for the welcoming; I think I'll stay with the club. I have a backup but since this is the future of b2evolution I might as well start learning, even with some pain, what seems arrived to stay.
Thanks for the advice, I will go slowly with changes.
Afwas, I'll keep an eye on that list too and hope that plugins get updated as fast as possible.
Some plugins worked for me as I upgraded. Gallery did, but only on the old posts. It doesn't work on new ones. Maybe, just maybe, that is the case with the Star Rating you saw on 2.3 version.

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5 Jan 13, 2008 00:08

gcasanova,
I know it seems overwhelming, but let's just take each problem one at a time and you'll be up and running in no time. I don't think you'll need to downgrade.

I'm using Democracy Poll on my site in 2.3.0. The widget and voting are working, but I just discovered that the Admin Tools page isn't working. So, I can't change my poll. I'll be fixing that shortly. If you're having other problems, too, please post them here or on AstonishMe.co.uk and I'll get them fixed.

I thought Star Rating was working, but if you're having trouble, please describe exactly what's going wrong and I'll fix it.

A widget for adding a contact link is a good idea. But, like you said, you can add the link using the free HTML widget.

Danny

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6 Jan 13, 2008 01:59

personman, as you say, it may be overwhelming; but I'm not turning back...

First, for the Democracy Poll. In prior versions you had to edit part of _main.php, wasn't it so? Is it the same this time or should it work automatically when you add it as a Widget to the Sidebar?

Second: Since I had it installed and running, could the Database have anything to do here? I've looked into MySQL and there's only one related to this plugin, the old one is gone as I've installed and uninstalled the plugin.

As for the Star Rating. Is there any part of the index.main.php that has to be edited? Or any other file?
What is happening is that, although installed, I can't make it work at all.
I'm using the glossyblue extension...

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7 Jan 13, 2008 19:16

personman;

I'm upgrading from 1.1x to 2.3.0 rc1 and I have this previously mentioned error message:

Notice: Trying to get property of non-object in /var/www/html/blogsDEV/plugins/democracy_plugin/_democracy.plugin.php on line 456

Notice: Trying to get property of non-object in /var/www/html/blogsDEV/plugins/democracy_plugin/_democracy.plugin.php on line 473

Didn't see the answer here (or I've missed it) and the last post at [url=http://b2evo.astonishme.co.uk/democracy-plugin?page=1]astonishme.co.uk[/url] was from about four months ago.

Thanks.

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8 Jan 14, 2008 00:52

I think I've fixed the admin section problems. I'm testing it in 2.3.0 and CVS and it's working. Could both of you grab [url=http://www.brendoman.com/dev/evocms-plugins/democracy_plugin/democracy_plugin.zip]this file[/url] and try it out? You'll need to at least reload plugins.

gcasanova,
You can add the poll to your sidebar the old way, by editing your skin, or just add a widget from Admin.

BaileyWTNH,
Where do you get that message? Admin or while looking at your blog or voting? Try the new file and if you still get the message, give me some more detail and I'll get it fixed up.

Once we're sure it's working I'll update the README and make a release.

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9 Jan 14, 2008 01:46

I forget when and where I saw the previous error. After overwriting the old files with the new files and reloading the plugins I don't see that one now, but now I get the following error after I vote:

Total Votes : 1
<a href="
Fatal error: Call to undefined function bloginfo() in /var/www/html/cp/plugins/democracy_plugin/_democracy.plugin.php on line 945

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10 Jan 14, 2008 02:00

Hmm, maybe THAT was some other issue. I moved that poll to another position and it doesn't seem to cough up an error. I'll keep an eye on it and report back.

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11 Feb 09, 2008 13:37

Hi Personman:

Democracy Poll, the latest version, is working on 2.4.0rc-2 but, when you want to see the results without voting you get this error:

Fatal error: Call to a member function get() on a non-object in /home/.../public_html/plugins/democracy_plugin/_democracy.plugin.php on line 945

I believe the error happens because of something in these lines:

	<?php /* if they are just looking at the results and haven't voted */
          if (empty( $_COOKIE['b2demVoted_'.$poll_question->id]) ) { ?>
                                        <br />
				<a href="<?php $blog = $params['blog']; echo $Blog->get('url') ?>">Vote</a>

Other than this error, I haven't found nothing wrong.

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