[Slinky Ferret]

Some people decided to "hack" the forums. These forums are written in a scripting language called PHP. The latest version of PHP is version 5 and is alot more secure than the 4.3 version.

The problem with any web based software is that because programmers are humans, they can make errors and write code that can be a security risk. This is known as an bug or security hole and can be "exploited" by "hackers" to gain access to restricted areas or delete files etc etc.

It is hard work keeping up to date with software, especially web based because the internet is changing and developing so fast. Think of the many viruses and worms that are spread due to a mixture of lapse users and lack of time for crucial updates.

For Rog to update the software he will need to backup the database (which holds everything you read on here) and then upload the new scripts, making sure they have the correct permissions. Then he'll need to import the database. This sounds easy and straightforward but it isn't. He has carefully added extras which are known as "Mods" which have enhanced the forums, not to mention the most excellent colour schemes. He will probably have to re add these. Its a time consuming purpose and will probably mean the boards are down for a while.

I hope that makes some sense to you.