Elxis CMS Forum
Support => Technical support => Topic started by: Sunlight on August 22, 2016, 00:22:57
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After 6 (Six !) Attempts to make Elxis' Updates to Newer Versions, Hoping that, at last, the "Converter" Software would have made that as Easy and "User-Friendly" as in most Other CMS Softwares, as promissed, on the Contrary, the Results were, until now, all Negative, despite a lot of Efforts during Many Days (!), with Various Unexpected Obstacles in real Practice...
The Main Problems were of 2 Kinds :
- (A) In at least 2 Cases, when we Managed to get through All that Long "Elxis Converter" process, (and, once, even to Udpate -manualy via FTP- to the Latest, 4.4 and 4.5 Versions), suddenly, we saw that ...almost ALL Published ARTICLES (and we have Worked for More than 1.400 !) were largely DAMAGED, and/or Seriously DISFIGURED :
F.ex. almost Nothing had its Original Text Saved in Full, but Only a Small Tiny Part of it, All the Rest having Curiously "Disappeared", in the Final Result, (looking almost as a .. heavily "Censored" Article) !
Several had even their Heading grossly Disfigured, among others, also by the Strange Addition of some Parts (or Headings) from Differend Other (absolutely UnRelated) Articles, (etc)..
- (B) At anOther 4 Attempts, the overall Update process, through that "Elxis Converter", was Repeatedly Interrupted by Various Obstacles which HINDERED the Access or the Use of ADMINISTRATION PANEL :
F.ex., either a Sudden Claim of a so-called "Security" Problem appeared, Blocking that Access, or the (initialy Visible, as usual) Aministration Login Point "Disappeared" (without any Previous Warning at all) from the Normal First Page of Elxis CMS, (etc), and, in Many Cases, (even After Finding anOther Access, through a File located Out of that First Page : "estia" : See, f.ex. https://forum.elxis.org/index.php&topic=8733), suddenly, something UnKnown pushed the Site to Block any Entry, by Anouncing (withOout any Visible reason at all) that the Website Owner (i.e. the "Admin" himself) would have ... "No Permission to Access" (sic) his own Site, which was "Forbidden" !
=> After being Exhausted by all those unexpected but obviously Serious Obstacles, (without any clear Previous Warning), which Wasted several Days of Life and Work, (Desperately Trying to Work even OverNight, Sacrificing Sleep and Health, in order to Catch up with Precious Time), the Question Raised is Obvious :
>>> Can, at last, anyone Help Ensure a "User-Friendly", Simple and Safe, Crystal-Clear and Efficient UPDATE process for "Elxis", (withOut Too Many Unnecesary Complications and/or Strange Obstacles), as it's routinely done with Many Other CMS, Forums, etc. Softwares all around the World ?
Or, on the Contrary, are People who (perhaps Naively, but Sincerely) Believed in "Elxis" Potential, since its very Beginnings, (already Many Years Earlier : f.ex. 2007-2016) been atrociously TRAPED, with all their Work Risking to be taken "Hostage" of some Old and UnProtzected Versions, or be seriously Disfigured, even Largely Destroyed, if not also "Refused Access" (sic !) by its own Creators (See concrete Examples cited Above) ?
In this regard, we (and several Other Experienced People) were Astonished to See that, Recently, (Contrary to "Elxis" ' initialy Good Principles in the Past), some have pushed these years to Insert unprecedented "Warnings" inside the "Update" Patches, Threatening all Users with a supposed Need to ... Pay (and Lose Time, perhaps even Safety of sensitive Personal Data both of themselves and many other People who have enTrusted them) in order to Pass through Previous Demands for so-called "Specialists" to take over !
Such strange, UnUsual pre-Requisitives (which have Never been seen Anywhere Else in the World Wide Web's "Open Source", "Free Software", and "User-Friendly" Democratic, Moral and Intellectual, Popular, Historic Internert Movement !) obviously Risk to be inevitably Interpretated as a very Bad Omen, (particularly if they are Added to so Many Obstacles for even Experienced Internet Users, as f.ex. cited above), and Threaten to definitively place "Elxis" at a serious DisAdvantage, compared to most Other CMS and various Softwares, whose Updates, on the Contrary, are generaly as Simple as a "Click"...
(F.ex., for anOther Software, as an Internet Forum, etc., we have managed to make Many UpDates -between 8 and 12 !!!- just in a Few Minutes, merely by Providing the necessary User's Names, Passwords and Data-Bases, after a Simple, Clearly and Fully Explained Short series of "Clicks" by pushing a few buttons, without having to Change anything in our (initialy Modified) Templates, and withOut any "Bad Surprise" at all !).
We don't know, yet, if all those unusual Obstacles and Incidents about "Elxis" UpDates might have been Provoked, in fact, by some Cyber-Crime Aggressions of Sly Hackers on-line, or, whether they are Only Due to a Curiously and Exceptioaly Too Cumbersome and Uselessly Complicated Process of "Elxis"' UpDating mechanisms.
But, at any case, one thing is for Sure :
=> Crystal-clear, Sincere and Efficient, Practical and Simplifying Answers are obviously Needed on that Crucial Point for "Elxis" History, its Present, Future and Legacy, as well as for the Sake of all those People, otherwise Risking to be slyly "Traped", with all their Work threatened to remain Closed inside a Dangerous, practicaly Non-UpDatable Software, (See above), but also in order Not to Lose "Elxis", otherwise, Potential, (which Could be really Important,n IF it became really "User-Friendly" and Easy to Use).
Thanks, in advance, for any Kind and Crystal-clear, Practicaly Useful and Realy Helpful Technical Advise and Help, (withOut any eventualy Degrading or Insulting Aggressions of any kind, to the Detriment of People who Honestly Believed in "Elxis" original Creators' and Community's Good Intentions, Capacities, and Great, Noble Ambitions).
As the Ancient Greco-Roman Europeans notoriously used to say ; - "Hic Rodus, Hic Saltus !"... Indeed, that above-mentioned, Long Series of various, UnWarned "Technical" Problems suddenly Opposed to a "User-Friendly" Update of "Elxis", is obviously Too Much for any CMS Softaware which would Like to Merit a Dignified status inside the "Open Source", "Free Software" and "Free Internet", Moral and Democratic Worldwide Movement.
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Hello Sunlight,
I have used the converter and it worked with no problems.
The thing to understand about it, is that the way it works is to help combine multi-lingual pages and that is part of the reason as to why it may appear to have a strange method of working. The method is to pair similar pages from different languages.
As for articles being "damaged or disfigured" that might depend on what was in them. I do know that it may not convert some aspects of the older version of Elxis.
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I can't read your whole post because it is too big. I will only say you a few things:
Update from Elxis 2009.x to 4.x IS NOT POSSIBLE because the 2 versions are not compatible. I, personally, have developed Elxis converter which transfers data from an 2009.x installation to a 4.x one. It doesn't makes you the new site as it was the old one. It only transfers the data (categories, articles, menus and some more). I developed this tool to help old users switch to the new version easier. The Converter works excellent and in most cases the convertion rate is more than 90%. After the convertion you need to work on the new site. Elxis and the Converter are free software. We have spend thousands of hours developing them. If you like them use them and if you wish say a thanks for receiving such a software for free. If you need help ask here or hire a professional to build your site. This is the spirit of open source software.
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Hello Sunlight,
I have used the converter and it worked with no problems.
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Thanks for your Reply, Dear "xmanhattan".
But the Fact is (as also Many Digital and Other Documents easily Prove) that we have also Tried to use Elxis' Converter for more than ... Nine (9 !) Times in a row Now, carefuly Following all the relevant Technical Instructions published at Elxis.org/net, etc., Resulting only in 5 Cases of Grossly Disfigured or Partly (often even almost Entirely) Destroyed Articles (often ... Empty Pages, with All their Text Erased, only a Heading remaining !), and in more than 4 Cases of Various Obstacles to simply Access our Admin. Panel (See above), without Any Satisfactory End Result at all, Until this Moment !
=> If it's really so Largely Differend for You, then, it could Probably be a quasi-Systematic sly Cyber-Aggression of some thorny Hackers which might Explain such a Huge (almost Total) Contrast, and this may also explain an Astonishing Series of Various Other, abnormal and unprecedented, unwarned Negative Incidents which have Hit us during several Days Scandalously Undermined Efforts, (Comp. f.ex. : https://forum.elxis.org/index.php&topic=8733.msg55801#msg55801), which would, Otherwise, indicate that, for Strange Reasons, "Elxis" Update Methods are Not "User Friendly" at all, and/or that there is something very "Fishy" about it Recently...
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... The thing to understand about it, is that the way it works is to help combine multi-lingual pages and that is part of the reason as to why it may appear to have a strange method of working. The method is to pair similar pages from different languages. ....
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That sounds, indeed, Interesting, (and it might, eventualy, explain at least some special Parts of Elxis Converter's Long Procedure. F.ex. that which is supposed to "Assign" so-called "Translations" to Dozens of Selected "Original Articles", (in a way which is Not explained Cleary enough, at least Not for Ordinary -even Experienced- Internet Users), etc.
But this has, Obviously, Nothing perceptible to do with All those astonishingly Gross Problems cited above...
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... As for articles being "damaged or disfigured" that might depend on what was in them. ....
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Nothing more than, Simply, plain Texts, certain Photos, and, sometimes, a Few Videos, as usual at the World Wide Web, that you can see also in Many Other Sites.
There was Nothing "Special", at least Not from a Technical point of view.
May be Only from a ...Socio-Political point of view, Depending on the Views (and/or the Integrity) of Each Person. Could all these Facts, perharps, Explain a possible Motivation for some Sly Hacker, hanging around "Elxis" Recently, to have so Systematicaly and Repeatedly Aggressed, attempting to Destroy all our Work of Tens of Years ? (Comp. above). We don't know what to think about so Many and Astonishingly Negative Facts which Hinder us to make an Elementary UpDate of our "Elxis" CMS - powered Website, at least for the moment...
At any case, UpDates are Notoriously much more Easy, Simple and Crystal-clear in the case of Most Ordinary CMS, Internet Forums, and Various Other Softwares for WebSites accross the World ! It's Obviously Strange why Only Here, so many Problems and Obstacles, suddenly appeared, mainly during Recent Years.
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... I do know that it may not convert some aspects of the older version of Elxis. ...
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Thanks for Noticing... But this Elxis' "Converter" is Supposed, precisely, to "Bridge" the Distance between the "Old" (in fact : Pioneer, as "Datahell" and other Faithful "Elxis" Users have often Observed) Versions of Elxis "200.x" Series, and the, Comparatively much more Recent "4.x" Series, Promissing to Facilitate a useful and even necessary Historic Continuity, Between a Glorious Past which had initialy Started to make "Elxis" quite Famous Worldwide, inspiring Hopes in an apparently Important Potential for the foreseable Future to Many Thousands of Internet Actors, (simply See the Data about some quite astonishing Numbers, particularly concerning the 2008-2009 "Olympus" landmark Version), and its more Recent Follow up.
So that, Normaly, it Should Not Risk to Exclude at all those "Older Versions of Elxis", as you call them, But, on the Contrary, provide User-Friendly Tools in order to Integrate them sheamessly into Boosting the Further Development of a Software which could be Proud of its Long History.
Otherwise, such a "Converter" would be practically Useless...
+ By the way, Curiously, someone has Recently made ... "Disappear" also All of Elxis' Older UpDate Patches, Previously easily Available at its Main Website, at least in the "Download Center", (where, on the Contrary, remain Only the "4.x" Series Update Patches, with the Unique Exception of Only 1, the Latest "200.x" Series Version Alone, all the Others having "Vanished" !).
=> In Consequence, the most Faithful and Experienced "Elxis" Users, (i.e., those who have Actively Contributed into the Collective Efforts such a Long Period of Time, even until Today), are ...Paradoxicaly "Punished" or kind of Discriminated Against, instead of Being, on the Contrary, fully Supported (particularly with a Strong "Elxis Community" Human and Intellectual Feeling of Solidarity, as it happens Usually at Internet's long History)...
What's the Real Reason for such a Negative "Paradox" ? Why should such Honest and potentialy Useful, Faithful "Elxis" People be so Slyly and Atrociously "Traped", with all their Hard Work of a whole Decade Threatened to be so slyly Destroyed ?
All these Exceptional and Unusual Obstacles, Incidents, etc., (See above), are so Blatantly Counter-Productive, provoking an Unbelievable lot of Awful Waste and various Damages and UnJust Human Sufferings, that any really Logical Person would Wonder about Who or What might be, in Fact, slyly Pushing People to such Negative Extremes, (which may also have some Immoral and/or Illegal Consequences, at least vis a vis the more Seriously Affected and "Traped" Victims : Comp. above),
Instead of Developing some Simplified, Crystal-Clear and Efficient, as well as User-Friendly UpDate Tools, for a United "Elxis" Community, which could be, on the contrary, Thriving from its Long Experience, and Gain more Added Value as its already quite Long History would unfold even Further into the Future.
And Here, it's Not Only "Some Aspects of the Older Version(s) of Elxis" which are "Not Converted", as you said, but, on the Contrary, almost ALL among More than a Thousand of Articles, almost Entirely Disfigured, Destroyed and/or Traped (See Concrete Facts already cited above), Even after as Many as now ... 9 (Nine !) Careful Attempts to Use that "Elxis Converter" as the Only Available Hope to, at last, make the Necessary UpDates...
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... Elxis converter .... doesn't makes you the new site as it was the old one. It only transfers the data (categories, articles, menus and some more). ... After the convertion you need to work on the new site ... (NDLR : if one wants to simply Keep its Presentation as he/she had Already Worked in the Past to Build it)....
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This unusual Limitation (contrary to most Other CMS) is, naturaly, Regretable, But you had already Explained that Clearly Before, and we Can Cope, OK, IF it really Works, at least for Elxis' Contents in terms of Data.
But, here, the obvious Problem is that it has Not Worked (for 9 Times in a Row !), not even for that, since Something has Hindered that "Data Transfert" for Now more than Nine (9 !) careful Attempts (See Facts cited above) !
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... Update from Elxis 2009.x to 4.x IS NOT POSSIBLE because the 2 versions are not compatible. (Therefore) I, personally, have developed Elxis converter ...
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Thank you for Noticing and even Underlying the (Otherwise Uknown or Neglected, and Usualy Inexistent for most Other CMS) Fact, that this Converter is THE ONLY Hope for "Elxis" Users Not to be "Traped" in the "Old" (or, rather : "Historic Pioneer", but Now Dangerously OutDated) Versions.
It Obviously reveals that this Issue is Very Important,
given also the much Bigger Number of People who had initialy Adopted the 200.x "Old" ("Pioneer") Elxis' Versions, Compared to the quite Smaller Number of those who Downloaded the Recent, 4.x Versions, (as Everybody can easily See at "Elxis" Websites, and we have already noted also in the Past at this Forum, without being contested at all).
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... I developed this tool to help old users switch to the new version easier... (NDLR : In fact, as the Only Available Tool which could meet that Need : See Above)... Elxis and the Converter are free software. We have spend thousands of hours developing them. If you like them use them and if you wish say a thanks for receiving such a software for free. ...
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Certainly, (and much More than that : See f.ex. https://forum.elxis.org/index.php?topic=8733.msg55802#msg55802),
.... IF it really Works !
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... The Converter works excellent and in most cases the convertion rate is more than 90%. ....
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However, it's also a Fact, (Easy to Prove by a lot of Digital and various Other Documents), that this "Elxis Converter" has NOT Worked efficiently at all, During at least Now ... 9 (Nine !) Careful and Time/Energy exhausting Attempts to Use it, (See Facts cited above and elsewhere)...
=> Such Astonishing, Repeated Facts might be Due, Either to some eventual Insufficiency/Error in "Elxis Converter", and/OR to a Possible sly Cyber-Aggression by one or another thorny Hacker recently hanging around at least certain "Elxis" long-time Users, (Comp. several relevant Facts, already cited above and at : https://forum.elxis.org/index.php?topic=8733.msg55801#msg55801).
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... Elxis converter ... transfers data from an 2009.x (Only ?...) installation to a 4.x one. ....
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=> Do you Mean, Now, that "Elxis Converter" may, even, NOT "Transfert Data" from the Pioneer, Landmark 2008.x Versions, (which Notoriosly were the Most Popular Worldwide, and that you have also Praised, even Recently, Yourself, at one of our Earlier Public Debates in this Forum), Contrary to "Elxis" Website and several Other Documents' Repeated Claims that it would Convert from ALL 200.x Versions to the 4.x New Series ?!...
+ And, by the way, Why have All usable Links to Downloads of Update Patches between those Historic, most Popular and Landmark 2008.x "Elxis" Versions and the Following one of 2009.x, curiously ..."Disappeared" recently from almost all well known Main "Elxis" Website relevant pages, (f.ex. at the Central "Elxis Download Center"/EDC, at the Only relevant Link at "Elxis" Website's FrontPage, etc) ?
Such Recent Facts, Obviously would Risk to "Trap" many among the most Faithful "Elxis" Users in Dangerously OutDated Versions (Comp. also with the Numbers reminded above) !
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... hire a professional (sic !)
to build your site ...
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Astonishing, (and Honestly UnExpected from Your Side, that we Believed to be Entirely and Genuinly Committed to the "Open Source"/"Free Sofware"/"Free Internet" Popular, Historic and Modern, Democratic Worlwide Movement)...
Among Many More Things to Reply on that, very Important, Point (that we have Both Widely Discussed in Public Debates with some Other People, also at Earlier Occasions in this Forum), let's Simply evoke/remind Just a Few main Points :
(1) We have Already "Build (our) Website", with a lot of Personal Work, Time and Efforts, from the scrap, (including also with some Help from "Elxis" Commuity's practical Public Infos, for which we are Grateful), since Many Years Earlier.
(2) Normaly, a Simple "UpDate" of a CMS in a One among Many New Versions, which all Concern the Functioning of its "Core" Machinery, Instead of its External Appearance, should NOT Dismantle the Layout and/or the Template and its possible Modifications chosen and set up by the Internet Actors. And that's, Indeed, the case for Most Other CMS softwares, Internet Forums, etc.
Otherwise, a simple UpDating would Obviously Risk to become a too Cumbersome and uselessly Complicated Business...
(3) If People were Always Obliged to Pay "a Professional" even for Only a mere UpDate of a Pre-Existing and Fully Installed Website, then, this would obviously Oblige them to Spend a Lot of Money all in all, since this would be inevitably Added to Many Other, much More Serious and Important Technical Expertise Needs, which often are also More "Greedy"...
And Poor People, Students, Unemployed Persons, Families, Social and/or Religious Groups, even some Political Actors, Small and Medium Businesses, etc., (even if they might be quite Efficient and Performant as useful Internet Actors or Creators of Substance badly Needed also in order to "Feed" the Internet), would Risk to be inevitably and UnJustly Discriminated against, if not totaly Excluded, i.e. Aggravating the already Infamous "Digital Divide", AppartHeid-like Jungle, which reminds a Bad Remote Past.
(4) In fact, it's Not Only about Money, But Also about Other Risks, f.ex. of Spying and/or any kind of Irresponsible Betrayal or (even Involuntary) "Leakage" of PERSONAL DATA, which, as it's Well Known (mainly in this Era "After Snowden"), on the Contrary, Need Protection, (Both for the Internet Actors themselves, and for their Collaborators, Friends, Sources, Clients, Supporters, Readers, etc), particularly when it might even concern "Sensitive" Data, (f.ex. on Human Rights, Private/Family Life, Religious Beliefs, Courts' a.o. Legal Cases, Health, Economic Assets, Political Affairs, Security Issues, Foreign Policy, etc).
Naturaly, such eventual Risks are Minimal (but Not always Inexistant) If it's Only about a Local Club of "Ping-Pong" Players or just in order to go "Fishing" at a Tiny Pool...
(5) But it's also about Power : Whoever doesn't even Know how to make a Simple "UpDate" (among Many that are Usually Needed) of his own Website, risks to be Condemned to be Always Depending upon Others in order to run his own business... Sooner of later, there will inevitably be Various Much More Important Things to Repair, Maintain, Secure, Change of Ameliorate in a Website's long "life", and he wouldN't be able not even to Judge If, when and how this should be done, always by Strangers, (including, perhaps, even at Emergency times, but also during Fast-Growing Today "Cyber-Crime" Aware Security Issues, which are becoming Constant, and almost an Everyday Concern), so that he/she would be Loosing Ground in a notable part of precious Autonomy.
(6) Last, but not least, and even, perhaps, More Important of all, as a matter of General Principle, Oblige People, and/or be oneself Obliged, to go run ..."Hire a Professional" (sic), with Everything that it might mean (Comp. Supra), whenever there may be even the Slightest Difficulty to Overcome in Using a CMS Software as "Elxis" or others, would be Notoriously Against the most Basic Rules, Principles and overall Philosophy of "Open Source", "Free Software" and "Free Internet" Values of the Historic Democratic Worldwide Popular Movement which has Inspired and still Fuels, Drives and Develops the World Wide Web's International Success, that would Risk to be Seriously Undermined and Compromised if it Lost this Spirit.
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...If you need help, ask here ... This is the spirit of open source software....
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Nice to here such Good Music.
Obviously, that's Exactly what we have been Trying to do...
=> If, perhaps, You didN't Notice, then, let's Cry it Aloud : - "HELP !!!"
In General, the Best "Guides" are those who are Able to Build the Capacities of their Followers to Find by themselves their way. And Whoever has Inspired a Collective Movement, is somewhat Responsible for its Fate...
(Beatles' World Famous "Classic" Song : - "HELP !", might, perhaps, be quite ..Helpful here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDU8xr5jArQ . Let's Try to Use any Legitimate Means for a Good Cause)...
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Your Long-winded Answers Don't Look Like a Person Seeking Help but More Like that of a Troll.
The answer to me is that for all of the problems that you are having, it sounds like you don't really know what you are doing.
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.... Troll (sic !)
The answer ...for all the problems that you are having.. .
= ... you dont' .. know what you are doing" (re-sic !)
Bournias.net
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"Wonderful", Mr. "Bournias" ! What a "Kind", "Friendly", "Useful" and "Helpful" "answer" !
Apparently it's the "Best" that you are "able" to provide ...
Many "Thanks" for your "Kind" "Help" to a Long-standing "Elxis" Forum Member, in a Difficult Moment.
It really "Honors" you...
Several People already saw that, and others Remember, quite well, the Harassment by 1 or 2 individuals back on 2012, which had Provoked Serious Damages.
Since, Obviously, you don't like to Reply to Facts and Logic Arguments, with other Facts and Logic Arguments, in a Peaceful Democratic Public Debate,
"Best Wishes" for your notorious Business with Turkish outlets as in the Past. Nothing keeps you in Our Thread,
Good bye !
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Psycolight, one more post like this and you are banned from the forum.
I warned you in public.
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Psycolight, (sic !) one more post like this and you are banned from the forum.
I warned you in public.
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Just for the History, in a few words :
- The Problem is that, curiously, even after Eleven (11 !) now Careful Attempts to UpdDate "Elxis" by using the "Converter", astonishingly, ALL our Work was Hindered, either by Erasing almost all the Content of Articles which had been Published, or by Various strange Blockades of Acces to our Admin. Panels !
Many converging Facts clearly indicate that the main Cause is, most probably, Either a Technical Problem with "Elxis Converter", and/or some very probable Cyber-Aggressions by a sly Hacker,(who might have some Shady Motives for not wanting to let us Update our Long-standing, Pioneer "Elxis" Website : F.ex. because of some Socio-Political or other hidden diiferences).
=> Why it's so Difficult to Find, all this Time, a Good and Efficient Solution ?
The International "Open Source/Free Internet" popular Movement's Principles, as you know quite well, are based on Sharing Knowledge and Cooperation in a Friendly way, treating Internet Users with Respect of their Human Dignity.
"Elxis"' Original, Historic Community used to be like that, several Years Earlier.
What might Hinder that Now ?
(We had even offered to Help Boost "Elxis"' notoriety at a European/International level, in view of some interesting, wider forthcoming moves, into which we could be personaly associated with some other Friends : https://forum.elxis.org/index.php&topic=8733.msg55802#msg55802)...
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there is always one option - backup before doing anythng. What can be done, without a backup , can be replaced easy
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@bully! You reply to a post almost 3 years later!
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It' still true and the converters are still out :)
Make a backup if you can't afford to loose
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haha! ;D