I had a few vacation days free, so what did I decide to do?  Upgrade my NAS's operating system!  Yay!  Or not.

It didn't go smoothly.  A while ago I had to downgrade from Maria BD 10 to 5.  I had thought it was an issue with symbols being forced to be used as passwords and Joomla not being able to handle it.  Maria DB 5 didn't have that issue, so that is what I used.  Nevertheless the new operating system for the NAS did not support Maria DB 5 so I buckled down and figured out how to upgrade it and then upgraded the NAS OS.  It was educational but there was more documentation on how to get the settings right for operability with Joomla.  I am no expert but I am now far more comfortable setting up the database than I was.  So, while it was time-consuming, it wasn't too bad.  

However, the upgrade of the NAS OS failed.  The data wasn't lost but for awhile, I couldn't access it on the local network.  Synology has a backdoor that allows it to connect to your NAS and reset or even re-install the operating system.  I'm somewhat ambivalent about it but it saved my butt from having to just do a complete wipe and start from ground zero.  I did lose all my settings though.  So off I went to reconnect to the network, then the ISP/WAN settings.  All the settings were wiped, including the SSL certs.  This is an incredible PITA.  Suddenly your own browser won't allow you to connect your website because it isn't trusted. No one else can get to your website either.  Synology has software that will automatically generate a license but it is only for their own backdoor connection, not your alias domain.  The method used for general certificates kept failing, stating the ports weren't open.  They were.  

So I go to another provider and find out that the CNAME method of verifying domain ownership isn't working.  They offer email verification, so I dive deep into a rabbit hole to install a mail server, that I can't get to work.  I actually know a lot more about mail servers than I ever did before!  Apparently not enough to get it working though.  The third option is pretty simple... FTP to your site and leave a text file at a specified location.  It verifies you have access to the domain's server and you have your license. This was pretty easy and I should have just done this in the first place instead of being dazzled by the possibility of free custom e-mail addresses.  Though I will figure it out someday.  Yesss, my precious...

So I finally get my license and after some issues with HSTST, my website is declared safe.  The world can rest easy.  Of course, then I go onto my website and find out that several web pages won't load!  Coincidentally it is the same pages that use the module 'Minifrontpage Pro".  Tah Duh!  It must be that module's fault!.  Not so.  Apparently, those pages also use a carousel module to display images and it got borked.  Maybe from the newer PHP 8.  It is an old module from about 15 years ago, so it seems possible.  Anyway 'Minifrontpage Pro" isn't the guilty party and that's good!  This module can be configured in several ways and one of them is a carousel display.  So now it pulling double duty!  I didn't reach that realization instantly.  At first, I thought the template was having issues.  It's old too.  Then a filter problem with a zero return crashed it and I had to figure that out.  It was a lovely time.  You'd think a program that has been around for decades (with updates) would figure out how to gracefully handle errors, especially a simple filter where there are no results.  Does Google crash if it can't find what you're looking for?  No!  It just blushes and looks shamefacedly at the ground!

Anyway, I am done for the moment with my 'tech spa experience' (TM).  Everything is up to date... or as up-to-date as Synology will let it get (they are a few years behind the rest of the world.  PHP 8 is NOT the newest version, nor is their Maria DB 10 the newest revision).  I think the next big thing on the horizon is figuring out how to update to Joomla 4.  One of my integral extensions, K2, is not compatible.  The very thought of writing my website from scratch makes me nauseous.  I dived deep into the rabbit hole that is "Community Builder" and since I haven't used it in years I would have to re-learn all the parts I set up (and then no one ever wanted or used).  If I truly had to do that I think I would just leave that out.  No one needs my integrated chat, messaging, forums, chat rooms, or all the other things that were cool... but useless.  It's the Sunk Cost Fallacy.  I spent so much time setting it up I can't bear to give it up even if it's truly useless.