Yikes! Deprecation!!

[Rumil]

What's happening, avatars disappearing, general weirdness and wobbly stuff, and being deprecated by the good old Downs??

Run around panic and freak out!

Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in /home/barrowwight/public_html/forum.barrow/includes/init.php on line 48

Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in /home/barrowwight/public_html/forum.barrow/includes/init.php on line 96

Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in /home/barrowwight/public_html/forum.barrow/includes/init.php on line 100

Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in /home/barrowwight/public_html/forum.barrow/includes/init.php on line 108

Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in /home/barrowwight/public_html/forum.barrow/includes/init.php on line 119

Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in /home/barrowwight/public_html/forum.barrow/includes/init.php on line 123

Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in /home/barrowwight/public_html/forum.barrow/includes/init.php on line 131

Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in /home/barrowwight/public_html/forum.barrow/includes/init.php on line 200

Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in /home/barrowwight/public_html/forum.barrow/includes/init.php on line 413

Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in /home/barrowwight/public_html/forum.barrow/includes/class_core.php on line 2381

Deprecated: Function set_magic_quotes_runtime() is deprecated in /home/barrowwight/public_html/forum.barrow/includes/class_core.php on line 1538

[Galadriel55]

It's happening to me too! :( And the box around my typing is white! It's supposed to be black! And the Downs is now larger than my screen, so I have to scroll horizontally - this only ever happens on threads with huge pictures in them.

The deprecation and the whie box and the screen were there in the morning (and now it's night), but now I can't see Rumil's avatar either. Panic!

ETA: ...But I can see Legate's and Sally's and Agan's and some others' avvies. Weird. But the quote function is also weird - it outlines quotes in white. And the titles of the threads look like I'm in compatibility mode (ie there is no underlining, only bolding). Very weird.

Just testing out the quote function

See? It's white!

Panic!

[Morsul the Dark]

Me too. No nerwen avvie lots of depreciation and white box etc etc...

[Estelyn Telcontar]

The admins are aware of the situation and are looking for solutions. If any member/s know how this can be fixed, please post your ideas here. Thank you!

[Morsul the Dark]

I don't know much about computer but it seem to be an issue in the cript for the page... I notcied everyone is getting the same numbers:

Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in /home/barrowwight/public_html/forum.barrow/includes/init.php on
line 48
line 96
line 100
line 108
line 119
line 123
line 131
line 200
line 413
line 2381
line 1538

Don't know if that helps...

[Inziladun]

Well, I asked our IT guy at work about this. Unfortunately, website design is not his forte, so he was pretty much at a loss.

I know hardly anything about the matter myself, but I guess it's not as simple as looking at the indicated lines and examining them for errors. :(

[Aganzir]

Actually, the only avatar I can't see is Rumil's. :p

The forum looks normal to me, apart from the deprecation messages.

[Aganzir]

Sorry for the double post, I submitted before thinking of trying to find a solution myself. I'm not familiar with php and you may already have found all this, but here are some links (in chronological order from newest to oldest) just in case they're any help.

http://php.net/manual/en/migration53.deprecated.php

http://wordpress.org/support/topic/fixing-deprecated-assigning-the-return-value-of-new-by-reference-is-deprecated

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/forum/vbulletin-3-8/vbulletin-3-8-questions-problems-and-troubleshooting/362166-deprecated-assigning-the-return-value-of-new-by-reference-is-deprecated-in-home-car?

[Inziladun]

Some of those lines appear to affect color, so that could account for the changed backgrounds and so forth.

[Aiwendil]

I know hardly anything about the matter myself, but I guess it's not as simple as looking at the indicated lines and examining them for errors.

I think the problem is larger than those lines. It looks to me like the server has been upgraded to PHP5, while the version of vBulletin we're running was written for PHP4. The 'deprecated' warnings just mean that at those lines, there is a PHP4 usage (in this case, an ampersand for passing a reference) that - while it still works in PHP5 - is no longer recommended (and may be unsupported in future revisions of PHP). The other problems (missing avatars, etc.) are probably due to code that is actually no longer compatible with PHP5, rather than just being deprecated.

[Inziladun]

I think the problem is larger than those lines. It looks to me like the server has been upgraded to PHP5, while the version of vBulletin we're running was written for PHP4. The 'deprecated' warnings just mean that at those lines, there is a PHP4 usage (in this case, an ampersand for passing a reference) that - while it still works in PHP5 - is no longer recommended (and may be unsupported in future revisions of PHP). The other problems (missing avatars, etc.) are probably due to code that is actually no longer compatible with PHP5, rather than just being deprecated.

That would make sense. Can we upgrade to the new version? I'll be happy to contribute. :)

[The Barrow-Wight]

Upgrading is the likely solution to this problem. I'll see what that would cost and what steps would need to be taken to do it and reply here. In the meantime, I hope everyone will have patience.

[Rumil]

I'm as much use as a chocolate teapot at these sorts of things so can only wish the mods the best of luck!

For me (in Explorer 10 for my sins) the colours are all right (except while writing a post strangely where the frame for the text box is white ?!) but everyone's avatars are missing.

[Inziladun]

For me (in Explorer 10 for my sins) the colours are all right (except while writing a post strangely where the frame for the text box is white ?!) but everyone's avatars are missing.

I use Google Chrome, and for me, the main difference apart from the lines at the top is the color of the typing box. The avvies are usually present.

[Galadriel55]

Actually, the only avatar I can't see is Rumil's. :p

I can see most people's, but not Rumil's, BWH's, or Thena's.

A cucumber would be able to figure out the issue faster than I would. Anyone who I've skyped/chatted with online can probably testify to how computer illiterate I am ("Why isn't it working?" "Because you didn't turn it on!" "How do I turn it on?" "You press the button that says [...]!" "Where's the button?"...) Like Rumil I wish the mods and admins luck with this, and I'd gladly help so long as it's something I can actually do.

[The Barrow-Wight]

Upgrading is the likely solution, and I think I could work it out. I've figured it out before.

The upgrade costs $209.

Shall we have a bake sale?

[Inziladun]

Upgrading is the likely solution, and I think I could work it out. I've figured it out before.

The upgrade costs $209.

Shall we have a bake sale?

I don't have a PayPal account, but I can send something the way I did last time.

[Morsul the Dark]

I don't have a PayPal account, but I can send something the way I did last time.

What way is that because I too have no pay pal...

[Morthoron]

Shall we have a bake sale?

Whom shall we cook?

[Galadriel55]

Ditto about paypal, but I have some cash put away, and I don't mind sending a couple bills for the Downs' sake...