# Current Status of SDMB Upgrade **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [September 9, 2008, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854 "2008-09-09T21:50:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/161 "2008-10-25T06:48:48Z")
I still can’t search. This is what is returned: **Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 134217728 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 9 bytes) in /home/straightdope/boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php on line 1007** ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/162 "2008-10-25T12:53:41Z")
I am concerned that I am still listed as a guest. I can’t extend my subscription at the Charter Member rate, and I have a feeling that if I don’t, I’ll never be able to get it back as has been the precedent here. Returning Charter Member status to those who lost it was supposed to be a priority, but it has been waylaid. Can I please get some reassurance that this problem will be fixed and that I will get my Charter Member status back before I am really in a position to lose it? ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/163 "2008-10-26T22:14:27Z")
With no responses when I posted it a couple of days ago, I’ll repeat it here. Many Dopers run their own message boards. Instead of depending on outside support, most message board operators have learned, often by trial and error and a lot of experimentation, to maintain the server, update the software, tweak the settings, make regular backups, and otherwise perform the day-to-day technical work necessary to keep their sites up and running. I know the work that Jerry has done is often thankless and unappreciated. Still, SDMB maintenance seems low on the list of his duties. The upgrade process seems to have stalled; many members have incorrect titles, it’s nearly impossible to easily browse through older messages, and many of the features of vBulletin 3.7 remain disabled. Since Jerry is always diverted away from the SDMB to work on other projects, and the SDMB is more-or-less Ed’s site, has Ed ever thought about getting underneath the hood himself? If not, why? If ed can restore a battered, century-old house to its former splendor, getting the SDMB running like a well-oiled machine should be easy. Whatcha’ think, Ed? I know you’re busy with many other projects, but again, this is one of them too. ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/164 "2008-10-26T22:26:04Z")
I would be happy to do what Jerry hasn’t been able to. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/165 "2008-10-27T13:23:39Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > With no responses when I posted it a couple of days ago, I’ll repeat it here. > > Many Dopers run their own message boards. Instead of depending on outside support, most message board operators have learned, often by trial and error and a lot of experimentation, to maintain the server, update the software, tweak the settings, make regular backups, and otherwise perform the day-to-day technical work necessary to keep their sites up and running. > > I know the work that Jerry has done is often thankless and unappreciated. Still, SDMB maintenance seems low on the list of his duties. The upgrade process seems to have stalled; many members have incorrect titles, it’s nearly impossible to easily browse through older messages, and many of the features of vBulletin 3.7 remain disabled. Since Jerry is always diverted away from the SDMB to work on other projects, and the SDMB is more-or-less Ed’s site, has Ed ever thought about getting underneath the hood himself? If not, why? If ed can restore a battered, century-old house to its former splendor, getting the SDMB running like a well-oiled machine should be easy. > > Whatcha’ think, Ed? I know you’re busy with many other projects, but again, this is one of them too. As I am completely unconnected with SDMB administration, this is not an official answer, but similar offers have been made in the past, and politely turned down. I believe one of the key reasons was that as this is a commercial board, there would need to be some sort of contract of employment if outsiders start working on it, which is difficult to arrange without some sort of salary, which costs money, and basically ends up being more trouble than it’s worth. There are all sorts of liability issues if you start letting people work on this kind of operation without a contract. I’m not saying that this is necessarily true, or a good reason, just reporting my memory of a reason given last time around. **Ike Witt** , the same caveats above apply, but your Charter Membership should not expire until May 2009 (you should be able to confirm this by looking in your user profile), so it’s not a pressing issue at the moment. Charter Member titles aren’t really working properly at the moment anyway, but we are assured that they will be restored at some point. However, it’s quite low on the “to-do” list. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/166 "2008-10-27T14:15:14Z")
> [@Dead\_Cat](#): > > As I am completely unconnected with SDMB administration, this is not an official answer, but similar offers have been made in the past, and politely turned down. I believe one of the key reasons was that as this is a commercial board, there would need to be some sort of contract of employment if outsiders start working on it, which is difficult to arrange without some sort of salary, which costs money, and basically ends up being more trouble than it’s worth. There are all sorts of liability issues if you start letting people work on this kind of operation without a contract. I’m not saying that this is necessarily true, or a good reason, just reporting my memory of a reason given last time around. I’m not talking about another Doper doing technical work, but rather Ed Zotti himself. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/167 "2008-10-27T14:21:44Z")
> [@Dead\_Cat](#): > > **Ike Witt** , the same caveats above apply, but your Charter Membership should not expire until May 2009 (you should be able to confirm this by looking in your user profile), so it’s not a pressing issue at the moment. Charter Member titles aren’t really working properly at the moment anyway, but we are assured that they will be restored at some point. However, it’s quite low on the “to-do” list. Actually, there is nothing that indicates that I have a subscription at this time. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/168 "2008-10-27T17:37:40Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > I’m not talking about another Doper doing technical work, but rather Ed Zotti himself. Doh - will read before posting next time. AFAIK, Ed does not have the knowledge required to run the technical side of a message board. To learn on the job with a message of this size would likely do more harm than good, I would have thought. > [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Actually, there is nothing that indicates that I have a subscription at this time. OK, just another anomaly that ain’t fixed yet. The rest of my post still stands - all Charter Members should not be due for renewal for another 9 months or so yet. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/169 "2008-10-27T23:37:09Z")
I don’t think y’all quite understand where we really are here. The owners of this message board are in bankruptcy proceedings. We are going to be lucky if the Board survives. The least of our worries right now is how the board is functioning. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/170 "2008-10-27T23:38:53Z")
> [@Dead\_Cat](#): > > Doh - will read before posting next time. AFAIK, Ed does not have the knowledge required to run the technical side of a message board. To learn on the job with a message of this size would likely do more harm than good, I would have thought. It’s the same vBulletin that smaller message boards use, though. It’s really not was if the message board software and server become inherently more complicated as it gets larger. If I describe it in more detail, I’d probably be junior admining, so I’ll leave it at that. ---
**Author:** ![Ed\_Zotti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/fbc32d/32.png) [@Ed\_Zotti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ed_Zotti)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/171 "2008-10-28T21:14:03Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > Many Dopers run their own message boards. Instead of depending on outside support, most message board operators have learned, often by trial and error and a lot of experimentation, to maintain the server, update the software, tweak the settings, make regular backups, and otherwise perform the day-to-day technical work necessary to keep their sites up and running. > > I know the work that Jerry has done is often thankless and unappreciated. Still, SDMB maintenance seems low on the list of his duties. The upgrade process seems to have stalled; many members have incorrect titles, it’s nearly impossible to easily browse through older messages, and many of the features of vBulletin 3.7 remain disabled. Since Jerry is always diverted away from the SDMB to work on other projects, and the SDMB is more-or-less Ed’s site, has Ed ever thought about getting underneath the hood himself? If not, why? If ed can restore a battered, century-old house to its former splendor, getting the SDMB running like a well-oiled machine should be easy. No offense, but I bet Sarah Palin thinks being president and sitting down opposite Vladimir Putin would be easy. This isn’t some basement BBS, and you don’t want an amateur fooling with it, least of all me. It won’t be much comfort, but I have a weekly conference call with CL management about the Straight Dope, and I can tell you two things: (1) a lot of folks’ hopes are riding on TSD, not just yours and mine, and (2) small but steady progress is being made, although I make no predictions on when you’ll see any sign of it. I remind you that the company is in bankruptcy. I’m one of those guys who would have found reasons for optimism on the Titanic, but the real question isn’t whether we’ll get this or that featured fixed, but whether we’ll continue at all. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/172 "2008-10-28T21:41:23Z")
Jeez **Ed** , that’s a rough one. As always good cheer and good luck. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/173 "2008-10-28T21:48:52Z")
TSD must pull in some revenue through newspaper syndication. Any word from Unca Cece on what he might do if the Reader goes under?I mean, I’m sure he’d keep scrawling his words of of genius on used bar napkins every week, but who else but you and Mike would possibly work with him? ---
**Author:** ![Ed\_Zotti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/fbc32d/32.png) [@Ed\_Zotti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ed_Zotti)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/174 "2008-10-28T22:26:07Z")
We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. ---
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/175 "2008-10-28T23:39:33Z")
Wow, I had no idea the company was in trouble. Maybe you should suggest that Cecil squirrel away a copy of the SDMB backup tape so the board can be resurrected by one of the dozens of volunteers that will pop up if CL does go under. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/176 "2008-10-29T02:39:46Z")
> [@Ed\_Zotti](#): > > No offense, but I bet Sarah Palin thinks being president and sitting down opposite Vladimir Putin would be easy. This isn’t some basement BBS, and you don’t want an amateur fooling with it, least of all me. It won’t be much comfort, but I have a weekly conference call with CL management about the Straight Dope, and I can tell you two things: (1) a lot of folks’ hopes are riding on TSD, not just yours and mine, and (2) small but steady progress is being made, although I make no predictions on when you’ll see any sign of it. I remind you that the company is in bankruptcy. I’m one of those guys who would have found reasons for optimism on the Titanic, but the real question isn’t whether we’ll get this or that featured fixed, but whether we’ll continue at all. Thank you for the update Mr Zotti. It is appreciated. I think you know there are many of us hoping that the Straight Dope and SDMB make it through intact and many of us are ready to help if we can. Is it safe to say that we can expect no progress until the Chapter 11 is resolved or might we some additional changes before then? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/177 "2008-10-29T04:24:21Z")
> [@ntucker](#): > > Wow, I had no idea the company was in trouble. Neither did I. You mean the Board could suddenly disappear? :eek: Gee, it’s become so much a part of my morning routine. Coffee and the Board. I’d be willing to up my subscription amount. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/178 "2008-10-29T06:25:41Z")
> [@Ed\_Zotti](#): > > I have a weekly conference call with CL management about the Straight Dope… (1) a lot of folks’ hopes are riding on TSD, not just yours and mine, This section in particular has some surprisingly bright reasons to hope. ---
**Author:** ![leander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/179 "2008-10-29T09:07:44Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Neither did I. You mean the Board could suddenly disappear? :eek: Welcome to reality. At the end of the day there is a chance that this place will disappear overnight. But since it _appears_ they consider this place a growing and potentially valuable asset, it is more likely that it will be sold off to pay creditors if CL goes under. That means whoever buys it can pretty much do whatever they like, including sacking everyone and turning it into anything goes. ---
**Author:** ![Ed\_Zotti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/fbc32d/32.png) [@Ed\_Zotti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ed_Zotti)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/180 "2008-10-29T14:59:29Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Is it safe to say that we can expect no progress until the Chapter 11 is resolved or might we some additional changes before then? I wouldn’t say you’ll have to wait till we’re out of bankruptcy, but that’s as far as I’ll go right now. I’d rather have you be surprised than disappointed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854.md?page=10)