OK, the Portal is back. Gallery uploads are still knackered, but I've at least resolved the Portal issues.
I suppose I should bring everyone up to date on the future of the Portal. We are currently running on Invision Power Board 3.1.x software. IPB 3.2.x software is already far enough along in development that Alpha testing has begun. When 3.2 has gone through Alpha and Beta testing and reaches Release Candidate status, the Portal application will no longer be part of the package. Remember, hate the message and not the messenger.
A member of the IPB community has offered to take on development of the Portal, to keep the application alive. I have to admit I get concerned when a key application is left in the hands of only one person, who is working as a volunteer. Invision is in the process of developing a tutorial on how Portal functions can be replicated by using IP.Content, the same software that drives our Tech Library.
From an SEO standpoint, the Portal is a bad deal. I know there are several of you using it, which is why I have left it in place as long as I have. I would have happily ditched it, months and months ago, had I felt you would not hunt me down and neuter me for it. I know one of the popular functions on the Portal page is the Today's Active Topics feature, in the site navigation module, but I have duplicated that function in the navigation module located on the main forum page. To be frank, had I not visited the Portal page to see if it was still displaying a random Gallery image after the Gallery upgrade, I would never have known the Portal was knackered. (That was what was causing the issue, by the way, so there is no random image being displayed at the moment. I had to peel the random Gallery display code out of a Portal template, to make things work again. ) I just don't visit that page at all, simply because there is not a single stitch of information or content on that page that is not already available on the forum index page.
It's a guess, but I am betting IP.Board 3.2 won't be released for another 3-5 months, at the very least. It could be longer. When it is released, I will look at using the IP.Content application to drive a Portal page. If we can generate some unique content on the page, I will give it a go. If it is going to be the same, old, tired duplication of content that is already available on the forum home page, I'm probably going to lose the Portal, entirely. OK, now you can hate the messenger. :shrug: Like I said, this isn't something set to happen tomorrow, but it is a possibility.
