Disappearing Posts using BBCode Formatting

Hi everyone,

This is my first experience with Phorum software so please bear with me :) Any help is greatly appreciated.

Background:
PHP = 7.4
Phorum Admin = 5.2.7
PHPmyAdmin = 4.9.5
BBCode Version: ??? (<--not sure how to find this)
Phorum install is in its own directory alongside a WordPress installation, hosted on WPEngine.com. We recently moved from an antiquated web host. I do not know if this issue occurred on the old web host.

Issue
When a user creates a post with formatting (bold, italics, URLs, etc) using the BBCode toolbar, then submits, the admin is notified to moderate the post. However, the body text of the post is blank.


Discovery
All messages regardless of formatting appear in the database in phorum5_messages.

If I create and submit a post with no formatting at all, body text will always appear.

I've tested ~20 posts using various formatting from BBcode and no body text will appear during moderation OR after approving the message to be posted.

If I turn off the BBcode module from siteexample.com/admin.php, then all body text will appear

Checking Chrome > Inspect > Elements there is no text to view as if it never existed.

Checking Chrome > Inspect > Console there are no errors on site.

Hi,

I am experiencing a very similar issue. All of a sudden, any messages on my Phorum installation that contain BBCode (so a URL, bold text, etc.) are making the entire message show as blank.

To recreate this, I can post a message with just plain text (say just the word "test") and the message displays fine. If I edit the message and make "test" bold and save the message, it then shows as blank. If I edit the message, you can see the contents.

If I turn OFF the BBCode module in the Phorum admin, the messages all show properly (but obviously without any of the formatting).

My web host is running PHP version 7.3.6 and I'm not sure exactly when this started or when PHP was last updated.

Is there a fix for this from Phorum? I also can't find a version for the BBCode module itself to see if a newer version is available, but I don't see that module available separately anywhere.

Thank you!

That is a problem with php7.x.
There were many changes in the 7.x version of php that are not backward compatible, and broke code that has worked well for years.

Thanks Scott. Is there a fix planned for this?

Hi everyone, thanks for your replies.

Scott, do you know of any documentation or notes regarding problems with php 7.x? I've searched and cannot find anything.

Thanks again.

Quote

documentation or notes regarding problems with php 7.x?

Easiest way to start is search all dates using the advance tab, and search on my name. (not exhaustive answer(s))

As far as a fix goes, I had planned on going through all of the code, mods, etc., and at least documenting the problems. Unfortunately life, and sick family member has taken nearly all of my free time.

Go to php.net and check the "backward incompatible changes" version by version.
You might also check [github.com] and [github.com] for reported issues.