vBulletin 4-Friendly Hosts

[Outlaw Mantis]

So, my host (DreamHost) is soon phasing out all PHP5 versions so I need to prepare for a move. My forum is completely broken by PHP7. (I witnessed this.) I did hear that the newest version of vBulletin 4 includes PHP7 support, but I recall also hearing that most mods will still not work regardless. Most of the mods that my forum uses are very important.

This would be easier if I just moved to a good host that will listen to a customer's request to keep an older PHP version. Does anyone here know any?

Thanks.

Edit: Sorry, but it seems I accidentally posted this to the vB5 forum. Could a mod move it? Thanks.

[Hostboard]

What version are you currently running?

vBulletin 3.8.11 and 4 will work on PHP 7.1.x out of the box. The majority of addons should work and as long as you suppress PHP errors/warning messages on the outside you should be good to go. Then you can slowly work on trying to resolve the issues at your convenience.

[djvj]

I'm also on Dreamhost and this forced change is messing me up as well. I have so many mods that are only for vb4. I have yet to find a host running older PHP. If you do find one, please post back, otherwise I'm forced to upgrade to vb5 and lose all that work I put into my vb4 forum.

Hostboard, Dreamhost is forcing php 7.3+ in 2 more weeks, which is not compatible with vb4. It's not something you can suppress.

[Hostboard]

First PHP 5.x is EOL as of 1/2019 and no longer support or maintained.

PHP 7 life is shown here:
https://www.php.net/supported-versions.php

The move of your host to PHP 7.3 is very logical.

From a performance perspective you would be amazed at how much faster PHP 7 is that PHP 5 (yes it is that noticeable).

While VB 4 does run under PHP 7.1 which is also EOL, it will limp along on PHP 7.2 but even that is reaching EOL.

Porting VB 4.2.5 to PHP 7.4.9 is really much much less work than you think, and you wont loose your work or abilities offered by the addons. In fact you do not even need a vBulletin developer to make the port. Just someone who knows PHP and can make the necessary adjustments based on the log file. While I am not condoning this there is a copy of VB 4 that is fully coded to work under 7.4.x floating in the wild (not hard to find).

I have been running under PHP 7.4.9 for a few months with zero issues. I am also running MariaDB 10.3 and will be moving soon to 10.5. The next major hurdle will be PHP 8.

[Outlaw Mantis]

You're making the assumption that we would be unaffected by a lack of good mod support. I tried a couple of different versions of PHP7 and get errors everywhere. This is what I get on a thread for example.

(456): vB_BbCodeParser->do_parse('Awesome! And I ...', 0, 1, 1, 1, true, false, 'on_nl2br', false, 1)
#3 /home/username/domainname.com/includes/class_postbit.php(1242): vB_BbCodeParser->parse('Awesome! And I ...', 57, '1', false, NULL, NULL, false, 'on_nl2br')
#4 /home/username/domainname.com/dbtech/thanks/includes/class_postbit.php(177): vB_Postbit_Post->parse_bbcode()
#5 /home/username/domainname.com/includes/class_postbit.php(329): vB_Postbit_Thanks->parse_bbcode()
#6 /home/username/domainname.com/showthread.php(1096): vB_Postbit->construct_postbit(Array)
#7 /home/username/domainname.com/dbseo.php(539): require('/home/username...')
#8 {main}

You can see this is at least partially related to DragonByte's mods. They're essential to my forum, as are a number of other mods I invested into. I don't really mind the fact that a PHP5 site isn't getting the speed boost a PHP7 site would. My board is a small community and runs at a fine speed with PHP5.

I recall hearing about that updated VB4, but I also recall hearing that not everything works. Sure, if it would play nice with my current setup that would be great. But in the meantime the only way around it that I can see is a host that will do PHP5.

This very forum is running vBulletin 3. Think they'll make the jump to the latest vBulletin? I sure as heck wouldn't. I'd rather go with XenForo but I do not want to do that either. My forum works fine. My members are happy. I do sometimes get prodded to move on from vBulletin. And it seems a lot of people at this board would recommend that I stop using vBulletin too. (Well, mostly former vB users who switched to XenForo.)

Originally Posted by djvj

I'm also on Dreamhost and this forced change is messing me up as well. I have so many mods that are only for vb4. I have yet to find a host running older PHP. If you do find one, please post back, otherwise I'm forced to upgrade to vb5 and lose all that work I put into my vb4 forum.

Hostboard, Dreamhost is forcing php 7.3+ in 2 more weeks, which is not compatible with vb4. It's not something you can suppress.

So I have good news. I went through a list of quite a lot of hosts, but it seems Bluehost is one of the most popular so I opened a live chat.

Will you continue to support PHP5 versions? I am looking to migrate from DreamHost as they are ending PHP5 support completely in a couple of weeks. Unfortunately my forum software is entirely dependent on the older PHP version. I use a VPS with DreamHost.

[11:02:19 AM]Manasa Puttur:Yes, we support the PHP version 5.4, 4.6 and higher version 7
[11:03:46 AM]Manasa Puttur:Even 5.2 version is also supported.
[11:04:21 AM]Me:Will you continue to support 5.4 for the foreseeable future? Of course this is important if I'm going to choose you as the new home for my site. I wouldn't want to have to jump ship to another host soon after. My forum is currently on 5.6 at DreamHost, but I think the other PHP5 versions should behave.
[11:06:00 AM]Manasa Puttur:Yes, we do continue supporting 5.4 version.
[11:06:34 AM]Me:Okay, thanks.
[11:06:43 AM]Manasa Puttur: You're welcome. Is there anything else I may assist you today?
[11:06:55 AM]Me:I heard HostGator is owned by the same company. So would their answer be the same as yours?
[11:08:01 AM]Manasa Puttur:I understand PHP is very important for the website so we always support the PHP from 5.2 version because each website is compatible with different versions.
[11:08:35 AM]Manasa Puttur:Yes, HostGator is owned by our company. Regarding the PHP version in HostGator I will confirm with specialist and will let you know.
[11:13:55 AM]Manasa Puttur:I have checked with specialist and they assisted PHP 5 is supported. But to get more information regarding this, you have to contact HostGator support since the server settings are different from Bluehost.

So I also talked to a HostGator agent. The answer was mostly the same. He mentioned that the PHP version I use on DreamHost (5.6) is supported there. I never got a clear answer to that from Bluehost, though they did say "from 5.2", so I guess so. The HostGator agent also said that while he doesn't have any exact time, they will support PHP5 versions for "a very long time".

I decided to send a message to Hostinger too. They don't have live chat so I'll eventually get an e-mail reply. So it seems that a lot of popular hosts will continue to support older PHP versions despite them being EOL. Which is really what I need if Hostboard's suggestion doesn't work so well with my customised vBulletin setup. I probably don't have the time to fiddle with that anyway if DreamHost is going to pull the plug in a couple of weeks.

Edit: I got a response from Hostinger. It was just: "Currently we do not have any plans to end PHP 5 versions support."
Those are three options already to choose from, then. It's a shame I'm having to move the hosting from DreamHost as I've been a customer for 13 years.

[Hostboard]

I am not assuming there is ANY mod support what so ever. Especially since the development scene for VB 4 is primarily dead since IB took over the helm.

In fact you do not even need a vBulletin developer to make the port. Just someone who knows PHP and can make the necessary adjustments based on the log file.

I am not arguing for or against, I am clearly just stating facts. VB 4 is said to be compatible with PHP 7.1. Paul who made the changes while still employed by IB has also noted that it should limp along under 7.2 without to much drama.

You need to turn off PHP error reporting as warnings/depreciations are just that and have no effect of the working of the site. It is the errors in the log files you really want to concentrate on.

The VB version (both 3 and 4) in the wild that is modified to run under PHP 7.4.x does work 100%. I know several users using it. I am also using its code modifications with no issues. In fact there is also a .diff file from the the German .org site. I think it was posted here by someone as well.

this very forum is running vBulletin 3. Think they'll make the jump to the latest vBulletin?

.ORG is running on 3.8.14 This has been noted over and over that it is an internal release and NOT available to the public. It has also been noted that the amount of customization makes moving to VB 4 or 5 impractical.

DB stuff should work under PHP 7.1 as it is supposed to run on what VB can. I own most of DB products and we had to tweak a few things to get them to run under 7.4. However while under 7.1.x I had no issues with VB or DB. The issue I had was with the other modifications I ran.

As for IB, IPB, Xenforo or the other numerous platforms, they are under current development and should support current PHP releases. Supporting PHP 5 would be silly for any company at this point. As for hosts and PHP 5, it really comes down to a resource issue as well as security of their systems. PHP 7 is really just that much better and much less taking on the hardware.

In respect to Xenforo and everyone saying that is the way to go. At first they took off like a rocket ship. Now some time has passed and I have seen a few post about the speed of development and releases has slowed considerably. I think they lack a few components to round out their package, I would lean more towards IPB from the little I have looked at.

Personally I get it. I would have jumped ship myself but like .ORG the customizations on my site make it impractical as the quotes alone to re-write my system is in the 5 digit realm.

While you have found a host that supports PHP 5, you have to remember that at some point they will move on, and you will be right back where you left off here. I really think, between the code adaption of the already existent PHP 7.4.x compatibility and hiring a PHP developer, will just set you up for a longer window and not break the bank in doing it.

And, yes even those of you that are already on 7.4 will face this exact same problem at some point unless you are on a private/dedicated server and can control the environment.