ZRXOC.com Permanent Board Closure

[RHM]

OK, we are currently running vBulletin version 4.2.5 on an indefinite licence I purchased a few years ago along with a bolt-on front end, etc.

The web server is running PHP version 5.6 and is generally tickety-boo, but our web hosts will be upgrading that to PHP version 7.2 for security reasons in a few days' time on February 5th, 2020.

The problem is, our version of vBulletin does not work on version 7.2 and up, so we would have to upgrade to vBulletin 5.x at a cost of $209, because:

"vBulletin 4.2.5 is end of life and will not be receiving any future development. Warning: vBulletin 4.2.5 is not compatible with PHP 7.2.0 or higher"

The upgrade pot long since stopped being topped up and the hosting cost, domain name costs, etc. continue to run on an annual basis at my cost until I turn them off.

If we upgrade, some functionality will also be lost as the calendar, for instance, is not supported.

With the ZRX not being sold outside Japan for the last 13 years, the Board has been slowly in demise ever since. Every time we open it up to new members, we are inundated with spammer sign-ups, so the Admin team have a nightmare to contain it.

At the same time, Facebook has at least two Groups for the ZRXOC - neither are anything to do with the Admin or Mods team on this Board - and with Facebook's popularity, there's really no point in continuing with the ZRXOC Forum as it stands.

So after 20 years, it's time for us to call time and close the Board. In the words of Vinnie Jones in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, "it's been emotional".

[RHM]

Well today our hosting provider upgraded the server to PHP 8.whatever and the site, understandably, stopped working finally.

At well over $200 plus the time to run the upgrade and fix any problems, it's probably no longer worth doing.

For the time being, I'm running a hack to kid the server into running an earlier - but still apparently incompatible - version of PHP but how long this works remains to be seen...

[RHM]

So, the hack is (obviously) working.

That's the good news.

The bad news is that all the hack does is temporarily make the site run an earlier version of PHP, which our hosts then pick up on.

From July 2023 they will be charging me an additional monthly fee for "PHP Extended Support" which, given the low traffic on the board these days, does not appear to be a good investment for zero return.

So - very reluctantly - I will be shutting this board down at the start of July 2023. Other options are available on "social media" for those who want to continue an online discussion, or there's the ZRXOA for people preferring a bulletin board.