Web updates break stuff that I then fix
Tramping New Zealand has finally been updated to the latest Textpattern 4.9.1.
This website was created in 2013, and webpages have been added over the years. There are now 632 huts and campsites and 67 multi-day tramping expedition blogs, which are the main areas of continuing expansion.
I’ve generally kept up with the Textpattern updates over the years. These deal with various security vulnerabilities and provide additional features. Textpattern is the program where I create all my webpages and photos, and it organises what you see on your screen. It uses basic HTML to find the appropriate information from the large database that web pages run on, in super concise code that loads very quickly compared with other apps that can add big libraries and unnecessary mega-complexity required by drag-and-drop functionality.
Technology moves on, and I’ve been forced into a major upgrade with the server software going from PHP 7.4 to PHP 8.4. The server software is what produces what people see on their screens. It’s the publisher of the content I’ve formulated. The older PHP version lost support in 2022 and hadn’t received security patches in the last four years. The new PHP 8.4 is also considerably faster, as it is more efficient.
Unfortunately, PHP 8.4 is also much stricter, and a few older functions no longer work. Parts of a webpage that relied on old code ceased to function. This was mostly on the administrative side, rather than breaking the public website.
Because, unlike most legacy Content Management Systems, the Textpattern CMS is written in PHP and produces straight HTML, it has actually had very few issues. You would think a lot has changed in the past 13 years. The breakages that have occurred have been due to plug-ins that haven’t received maintenance upgrades to deal with the stricter PHP rules, or have all been due to do with my administration page to give additional functionality. One plug-in makes life easier, such as having the 10 most recent pages listed with forward and back buttons. That’s broken, and I should look at restoring those.
Upgrades to the program I use to create and assemble my content have changed the way images are produced, and I no longer need one major plug-in that was once important. However, weeks went by while resolving these issues.
The site is now up to date regarding unmaintained legacy code, so it should be good for the next ten years. Still some aspects to finesse with the visuals and some behind-the-scenes improvements to improve SEO: Search Engine Optimisation.