Important update of forum and discussions

[AB]

Hi folks,

I'm a little bit freaked out by doing this due to the size of the forum but we need to update the forum to a newer version for many reasons...

1. Without getting into too much detail on a public forum Tapatalk are now taking over full control of their apps and putting their own advertising on there meaning MC will also be effected. By upgrading to a newer version of our forum software we can have our own built in mobile version of the site similar to TT which we have full control of rather than relying off a third party which is very important for the direction and growth of the forum.
2. I have never updated the forum and the site could be vulnerable to attacks, which it has been in the past and is hard for me to resolve. By upgrading we can eliminate the majority of that in one shot.
3. More plugins and options to grow features of the software and not be left behind like many forums do.

My main concerns are loosing the Thanks tallys and the video section plug ins. The person who designed the Thanks plugin has vanished and all of the forum owners who used his plugin are left on their own with no support.

I really don't know if it will work properly when we upgrade. Actually, I know it will work but I am very concerned people will loose their Thanks tallys.

I will of course back everything up before I do anything in case it falls apart and we can go back to this software until we work it out.

Any other comments or important add ons we have made that I have forgotten about or anything I may have forgotten then feel free to let us know below.

No ETA yet, just found out I have to do this so will spend this week researching the best way, safest way and umm....How to do it...lol