Topic: Top navigation missing after upgrade.

[mack]

OK, I understand.

I'll work through a 'pristine' version and the other things you've suggested over the next week or so and see what happens on a test site (so my main site isn't touched). If I discover anything useful (or get the same issue) I'll post back here.

I'm off to sacrifice a goat to the forum gods now .. pray for me

[AngelinaBelle]

OK.  I will look for your response here when you have had a chance to try it.

[mack]

OK .. here's what I did.

I installed a fresh version of smf 1.1.2, and sp 2.3.2 on my test site (leaving my main site well alone). Everything was going OK until I got to the same point I'd been at on my main site .. I got a clash when installing sp, specifically in the subs.php file (I didn't notice any other clash). Once I applied it anyway the buttons were removed on both default templates and any other themes .. just as it happened on my main site. Even when I removed sp from my test site, ensuring it was completely removed as i had done on my main site before the problem remained .. again, just as it happened on my main site.

Just to double check that the default files were being effected I went back to my main site and took away the theme I use, and even on the default template that comes with smf the buttons are gone. Something I think I mentioned before. I also wasn't able to fix the issue with my gallery and the images appearing on sp articles, or the article part of sp translating bbcode properly to display images from my gallery or more basic bbcode like tables. Also the 'news and newsletter' content (which used to appear underneath the header image) is still not showing. All of these were working before as I've previously mentioned.

I'm not sure what more I can do with this, but it's starting to get frustrating, especially as it's quite a minor thing but fairly fundamental too considering it seems to be effecting core files/themes, and not specific to custom themes.

I'm attaching my subs.php file from my main site in case it sheds any light what on earth is going on .. although this is the one that Nathaniel suggested I copy on to my site (on page one of this thread). Please also let me know if you want me to give access to my site to look at the set-up/files a little closer, as I did once before.

[AngelinaBelle]

Thank you for verifying that the problem still occurs even after you verified that you had completely removed all traces of any previously-installed version of SimplePortal from all of the files on your site.
 
At this point, we can say that no lines of SimplePortal code are causing your problem. That narrows things down considerably. The only thing remaining of SimplePortal is the data on the database.
 
I would now like you to find out if that SimplePortal data is causing you any problem.
-------------
 
There are two approaches.
 
The simplest approach is to get rid of all SimplePortal data. An easy way to do this might be to install SimplePortal, then do a "complete" uninstall -- tell the Package Manager to also get rid of any SimplePortal data.  This would get rid of all of SimplePortal's tables.  It would also get rid of the values SimplePortal puts on the settings table.  The settings table is used to store the $modsettings settings that many mods depend on.
 
The second approach would be to go through the install php file (install-1.php for your SMF 1.1.12 installation) from the SimplePortal package, find the names of all the tables SimplePortal creates, and the names of all the values Simple adds to the settings table (find these at

Code: [Select]

$defaults = array(
 'sp_portal_mode' => 1,
 'sp_disableForumRedirect' => 1,
 'showleft' => 1,
 'showright' => 1,
 'leftwidth' => 200,
 'rightwidth' => 200,
 'sp_enableIntegration' => 1,
 'sp_adminIntegrationHide' => 1,
 'sp_resize_images' => 1,

 
Next, find out if any other of your mods uses tables or modsettings elements with the same key/name.  The sp prefix is designed to prevent problems, but you can see it is not used on all of the key names.
 
Whichever of the two approaches you decide to use -- you will know, after you are done, if any of the tables or modsettings created by SimplePortal are affecting your SMF forum in any way, and you may even know which ones.
 
Once you know that, you can figure out what to do about it.
 
-------------
I'm sure it seems like I am ignoring the long list of other errors you reported from your log. That is because I am ignoring them. They are more examples of stuff that should have been loaded, probably by one of the functions in Load.php, but did not get loaded. Whether that is because these values were removed from the tables they should be on, because the functions to load then did not get called when they ought to have been, or because the values got put in the wrong place (some type of problem with the scope of the global variables).

[mack]

But we've been through this step before right? I think it was something on one of the links Nathaniel posted a while back (maybe on the manual sp guide or whatever it was called). I don't understand why I have to do this again and editing core files.

The thing that's bugging me is that everything was fine with smf 1.1.2 and sp 2.3.2 .. and because of the 2.3.3 update (despite you saying "we can say that no lines of SimplePortal code") I can't even roll back to the working version by downgrading because of what's happened. I'm getting the distinct feeling that the easiest thing might be to start all over again (something that I really, really didn't want to consider doing, especially as smf is so good at maintaining integrity when adding/removing mods including ones like sp). This is the first error I've had on my site and with other sites for years using smf.

I'm not an expert coder and am more worried about adding further errors on to the ones that are already there, and some of these measures are getting a bit beyond me.

[AngelinaBelle]

I know this is frustrating. And I don't know the reason for your problem.
 
You are proposing uninstalling all mods and their associated data, keeping all your users, posts, permissions, etc, starting with a pristine copy of SMF 1.1.12, and installing selected mods from scratch? That might work. The nice thing about that solution is that can be done automatically, which leaves risk of error.
 
----
If uninstalling all mods and their data is unappealing, I'll re-suggest simply uninstalling SimplePortal and all of its data. That would certainly narrow things down. If SimplePortal is solely responsible for your problem, then completely removing it and all of its data will certainly stop it from having any effect at all on your website.
 
----
 
It's your decision. I'm still here to help you work through it.

[mack]

You are proposing uninstalling all mods and their associated data, keeping all your users, posts, permissions, etc, starting with a pristine copy of SMF 1.1.12, and installing selected mods from scratch? That might work.

But that's the step you asked me to do a few posts ago though .. a pristine version etc, which I did on both my main and test sites over the past week or so - although not with all the editing of files you're suggesting now (just db and files). As I said this resulted in the same issue? I feel like I'm going in circles here hehe.

If uninstalling all mods and their data is unappealing, I'll re-suggest simply uninstalling SimplePortal and all of its data.

Which is what I've already tried too.
 

It's your decision. I'm still here to help you work through it.

I know you are, and I honestly do appreciate your help and patience .. but we seem to be going in circles a bit. I'm not sure this is getting to where the problem is really.

It is frustrating, yes, but I'm trying to walk a difficult line between breaking my site completely because I'm not a coder, and not wanting to just give up on it. I know you're trying to help, but I'm starting to wonder whether all of this is worth it given the circumstances.

[AngelinaBelle]

I did not know you had removed all the data on the uninstall.
 
If that is the case, then, in the moment when you had
* 0 files with any SimplePortal content
* 0 SimplePortal data on the database,
 
Then you had 0 possibility for SimplePortal to cause anything at all to happen to your website.
 
In that moment, when SimplePortal was not affecting your website at all, did you still have the problem with the missing buttons and the other stuff that was not loaded?
 
 

[mack]

I've answered this before.

.. it depends when you're talking about ..

When I removed all traces of sp from my main site a week or so ago, after the upgrades and problems, then yes the buttons were still gone on both custom and default themes. This is because whatever happened in the upgrade process changed core stuff, so even once I removed it the problems were the same.

If you mean on the pristine version (on my test site) you asked me to set up, I've already answered what happened there. It was fine until it came to me installing sp.

I can't see why I have to forego all my mods and themes for the sake of a portal that used to work perfectly for me.

Don't worry .. I think I have to start again or live with what I have, we're not getting anywhere really. It's been a while now and we're no closer to finding where the problem is or a solution without me getting into dodgy territory .. time for me to move on.

Thanks anyway.

[AngelinaBelle]

I'm sorry I've had a hard time following what you've done where, and in which order.
I think it makes sense to do the testing on the test forum, rather than muck around with the real forum.
If you choose not to use SimplePortal any longer because of the trouble you are having, I can understand. This is your choice.
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you are considering continuing to use SimplePortal, I am willing to continue to try to help.
 
Here's my reason for asking you to scrub all traces of SimplePortal from your test forum.  If you remove all traces of SimplePortal from your forum, it can't have any effect on the forum. So, if SimplePortal is affecting your forum, then there must be some trace of it on your forum. If it is thouroughly removed, no trace of it should remain, and it cannot do anything at all, for good or ill.
 
Anything weird happening on your forum after SimplePortal has been removed must be caused by something that is not SimplePortal. There is only one way I can think of that SimplePortal can be involved if it is not there -- if, in removing all SimplePortal data, you removed data that some other mod also depended on.
 
Assuming the uninstall went correctly, of course.
 
Once you uninstalled SimplePortal and verified that there was no SimplePortal code remaining, you were assured that no SimplePortal code was causing the problem.  That left only the data.
But here's the thing -- Only SimplePortal should be using any of the SimplePortal data, anyway.
Out-of-the-box SMF should not be using the SimplePortal data.
 
This is why I asked Do you have any other mods installed on the forum? If so, which ones?
 
If SimplePortal is mucking around with settings that another mod is also using, then that might mess something up. And, as long as the other mod is installed, the problem could well continue, even after SimplePortal and all its data had been removed -- if you remove data that another mod needs to do its job properly.
 
This kind of interaction between two mods is the only way I can think of that SimplePortal could affect your forum even after every trace of SimplePortal has been removed from your forum.
 
----------------------------------------
 
One other remote possibility is uninstalling one or more SimplePortal edits to SMF files removed some code another mod needs, resulting in a bunch of settings not getting loaded. This seems even less likely than the data-conflict scenario.
 
-----------------------------
The bad-cache hypothesis is my favorite so far. Too bad it turned out you have SMF caching turned off.

[mack]

Well over the time I've used smf I've tried a few different portal solutions, and for me SP is the best. Since using SP I've had so few problems (like zero), and I've found the support and the community very good for getting any minor issues sorted quickly. I certainly want to continue using SP .. but I have to find a way to get some of these recent issues since 2.3.3 fixed, and it seems to me that I'll need to set up a shadow site with as few mods as possible and move my data over to it once I get everything working. Regardless it's unlikely I'll have a site without any mods, so I have to find the right balance which is a little frustrating as it takes aspects away from what I want to achieve.

Considering all the steps I've gone through so far it seems the only reasonable solution is to rebuild, as the errors that are still happening with the navigation, news and newsletter content, and images from my gallery appearing in articles aren't going away - even on the default theme. It's weird how/why this update caused some issues, especially as I've found past updates have applied without any issues what-so-ever, but that doesn't help so much as things stand right now. Sadly I'm not confidant enough with coding to mess around with my main site and risk it being totally broken and losing the few visitors I have, let alone my efforts being a waste of my time.

Hope that makes sense .. but I don't feel I have much choice now, especially as we seem to be going in circles and not really getting closer to a solution.

[AngelinaBelle]

OK.  I'm with you.
I agree that setting up a copy of your main site is the best way to go.
That's the way I always do it -- test on the test site, then copy the changes over to the real site.
 
 
 
 
 

[mack]

OK.  I'm with you.
I agree that setting up a copy of your main site is the best way to go.
That's the way I always do it -- test on the test site, then copy the changes over to the real site.

I appreciate the help though AngelinaBelle, even though we might not have got to the bottom of it. Thank you nonetheless.

[AngelinaBelle]

I'm not exactly sure if I follow you.
Just let me know when you are ready to go on, or mark this topic solved if you decide to drop it.
 
Thanks!
 

[mack]

I'm not exactly sure if I follow you.
Just let me know when you are ready to go on, or mark this topic solved if you decide to drop it.
 
Thanks!

Lol ..

I'm saying there's nothing more we can do on this problem .. as we're going in circles now. So I'm moving on and try to do whatever I can rather than fix the problem.

I can't mark this thread as 'solved' because it wasn't solved.

[AngelinaBelle]

It's up to you.  If you respond, I will see it on the list of "topics that need support".

[[SiNaN]]

This looks like a very long topic for me to read to figure out what's going on. Could you please summarize me the issue you are having?

If you are okay with it, I could check the issue for you if you provided me with temporary admin and ftp access to your forum. That would speed up things a lot.

[AngelinaBelle]

Here's the summary:
mack began with SMF 1.1.11/SP 2.3.2 at http://www.macksites.co.uk/GameBank/index.php and was using a custom theme.
He reported that he had replaced his default theme with a custom theme, but it seems that he is actually using /Themes/ciziksehir
 
Then he upgraded to SMF 1.1.11 without first uninstalling SimplePortal -- so far so good.
Then he installed SimplePortal 2.3.3, and many of the navigation buttons disappeared.
He attempted uninstalling SP 2.3.3 and installing 2.3.1, but the problem persisted
 
Nathan pointed out that 2.3.2 => 2.3.3 upgrade does not alter index.template.php. I am not sure how that information applies in this case.
 
Nathan also asked for errors, and mack replied with a long list of missing indices:
unread_messages  /Sources/PortalBlocks.php  Line: 208
messages  /Sources/PortalBlocks.php  Line: 207
in_maintenance /Themes/ciziksehir/index.template.php Line: 284
etc.
 
mack attached index.template.php, which looked ordinary. He did not specify which directory (Themes/default or Themes/ciziksehir) it came from.
 
I could see that, though the [search] button was not displayed, ?action=search was allowed

It seems that $context['allow_search'] is not set properly at the point in time where template_menu is called.
The problem is not in index.template.php.  The problem is setting that context element.

mack uninstalled SimplePortal, but the problem persisted, along with other problems (news rotator, gallery display on Portal page)
 
I asserted that, if SimplePortal has been removed, it is not causing the problem, or anything else.
mack was not convinced, so I recommended that he make CERTAIN there were no bits of SimplePortal code remaining in any of the files.
 
Finally, mack started with a fresh copy of 1.1.12 in a test version of his forum, and tried installing SimplePortal again.
It seems that some install test failed in Subs.php. He did not report which mod was responsible for the nonstandard line in Subs.php (or even which line failed).
 
I advised him start testing with 1.1.12 and no other mods installed, but he preferred not to try it that way.
 
It is strange that the buttons disappeared directly after the SimplePortal install, but did not return after the SimplePortal uninstall.
But I think that some other mod (or mod collision) is responsible for the undefined indices.