[Sticky] eFiction 3.5.7 + Automatic Updating

I am still not giving up on eFiction. I love the software and would love to install it, even if it is just on a local webserver.

I have set up UwAmp with Apache 2.4.69-x64, MariaDB 12.3.3, PHP 8.1.34 and phpMyAdmin 5.2.3.

I downoaded " https://update.efiction.org/v3/3.5/efiction-3.5.72.zip " from the link in the post above, but as soon as I opened the link "http://localhost/efiction/install/install.php" I get what you see in the attached screenshot (it's just a part of the screen).

Can you help me with getting this installed, please?

I have added another screenshot of the homescreen after starting the local webserver.

Posted by: @shikahr

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I am still not giving up on eFiction. I love the software and would love to install it, even if it is just on a local webserver.

I have set up UwAmp with Apache 2.4.69-x64, MariaDB 12.3.3, PHP 8.1.34 and phpMyAdmin 5.2.3.

I downoaded " https://update.efiction.org/v3/3.5/efiction-3.5.72.zip " from the link in the post above, but as soon as I opened the link "http://localhost/efiction/install/install.php" I get what you see in the attached screenshot (it's just a part of the screen).

Can you help me with getting this installed, please?

I have added another screenshot of the homescreen after starting the local webserver.

 efiction.png

 UmAmp.png

This was a bug in our installer, not something you configured incorrectly in UwAmp. The installer was loading language files before initializing the settings they depend on, which caused those PHP warnings.

I've released eFiction 3.5.81 with the fix:

https://update.efiction.org/v3/3.5/efiction-latest

Since you're doing a fresh installation, extract the new package into a clean folder and open  http://localhost/efiction/install/install.php  again. You don't need the standalone upgrader for a new installation.

If you've already added any content, back up the files and database before replacing anything. If you still get errors with 3.5.81, please post the first error and which installation step it occurs on.

hiya! i've been messing around with the new version of efiction (thank you thank you thank you again!) and set up a fresh new site with my old database instead of trying to update from jimmi's 3.5.8 since i've been messing around on my localhost for a year now. i was having some trouble with it but i've mostly been able to get through them, but at the moment i can't get the categories to work. i think at some point the site accidentally switched from multiple categories to one category, which i've fixed, but now when i go to the categories section of the admin panel the sub-category dropdown doesn't work. i can go to the sub-category page and that works fine, but trying to select a sub-category on the admin panel or story uploader just isn't working. the subcategories are definitely all in the database but maybe they're wrongly numbered? i'm not very good at sql. clearly i've gone very wrong here somehow just by looking at it.

after i managed to make my account i checked on my site and saw that you've released 3.5.83 and tried to install it but it threw up an error so i thought you'd like to know. 

@harlequinzzz I've pushed an update out that should hopefully fix this. Let me know if it does. If not, let me know if you run into any other errors or issues.

@ty wow that was quick! unfortunately it's still giving me the same error (even though i tried what the instructions said):

no wait hang on that's my bad i misinterpreted what you meant by replacing includes/updater.php i was trying to rename efiction-upgrade.php and replace it with that which is entirely on me. it's managed to update to 3.5.84 now but unfortunately it hasn't fixed the categories

@ty Thank you so much. The fresh installation went through without error. But when I tried to create a category I get this error (see attachment).

Local webserver (ZeroXV - 15.0.2)

• Apache 2.4.58 VS17
• MySQL 8.2.0
• PHP 8.3

Additional to my last post.

I can add a story, but it's not listed in "stories" folder and is also not shown on the homepage or listed in the site info.

That's with the local webserver ZeroXV as mentioned above.

I will now try the same installation with UwAmp and ... I got this (see attachment).

I think the error message in the screenshot of my last post comes from PHP 8.5.12 not being supported.

I installed it on my online webspace (which runs with PHP 8.2.35) and didn't get an error during the installation. But the same issue as on my localhost with ZeroXV, meaning I cannot create a category. I can create characters. I can also add a story, but although I don't get an error, the story is neither stored in the "stories" folder (with folder permission 777) nor is it recorded anywhere in eFiction, also as mentioned in my last post.

Is that an error because of me or is there another bug somewhere?

Thanks for your effort by the way. 👍 

@shikahr I'll need to investigate that a bit. I also just pushed out a new version, so maybe give that a try instead? You can always find the latest version here - https://update.efiction.org/v3/3.5/efiction-latest  

3.5.86

• Added Continue reading, remembering the last chapter and reading position on the current device.
• Added a private Read later list, accessible from the reader and member account.
• Added chapter and reading-position progress indicators.
• Added estimated chapter reading times.
• Added previous/next chapter navigation at the top and bottom.
• Added Copy story link and Copy chapter link buttons, with a manual-copy fallback.
• Added remembered reading text size and a Back to top link.
• Added optional device-local draft recovery for stories, chapters and reviews.
• Added unsaved-change warnings.
• Added review previews without posting or changing ratings.
• Added collapsible review spoilers.
• Added Save and add next chapter and Save and view chapter shortcuts.
• Added remembered search filters with a Reset option.
• Added an administrator notice about the planned transition from eFiction 3.5.x to the upcoming eFiction 4. No retirement date has been set.

Think I found the bug. Testing locally and will push an update if it works. 

Update pushed. 

3.5.87

- Fixed the administrator input guard incorrectly treating category names as numeric IDs. Scalar category-name values submitted through the category administration form are now accepted, while numeric-ID validation remains enforced for other requests.

- Fixed category creation and editing with names containing spaces, Unicode characters, apostrophes and brackets. Numeric category names remain suported.

- Fixed the subcategory dropdown endpoint loading translation files before initializing the language settings they depend on. Missing or NULL optional settings no longer produce PHP warnings that corrupt the JavaScript response.

- Added scalar-input validation for dropdown parameters so malformed array-shaped requests cannot trigger PHP type errors.

- Improved JavaScript response encoding for category labels and element identifiers while retaining compatibility with existing dropdown callbacks and URL-encoded labels.

- Made category names text-only and strengthened category-description sanitization. Active HTML, event-handler attributes and dangerous URL schemes are removed while configured safe formatting, links and images remain supported.

- Applied safe output handling to existing stored category content and administrator form values without rewriting database records.

- Improved handling and escaping of category image filenames and HTML attributes.

- Added disposable HTTP regression tests covering category creation and editing, parent/subcategory relationships, ordering, authorization, malformed inputs, character encoding and stored-content safety.

- Verified category fixes on PHP 7.4 and 8.3, with additional category-name validation tests on PHP 8.2 and 8.5. Upgrade tests from 3.5.86 passed on PHP 7.4 and 8.3.

- Verified signed-package installation, file and database backups, configuration and content preservation, helper installation, HTTP health checks and repeat-update handling.

- No new database schema migration is required by these fixes.

- Database runtime testing used MariaDB 10.11; MySQL 8 was not directly tested. The existing legacy category CSRF policy is unchanged.
Copy

hi, the new features you listed sound really cool! thanks for your hard work 🙂 unfortunately i wasn't able to update again.

Posted by: @harlequinzzz

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hi, the new features you listed sound really cool! thanks for your hard work 🙂 unfortunately i wasn't able to update again.

The update failed: couldn't write admin.php

Details

 

• Downloading eFiction 3.5.87...
• Checking the package...
• Comparing this site with the published releases...
• This site matches eFiction 3.5.84.
• 19 files to add, 41 to replace, 0 to remove.
• 2 edited files: the site's changes are merged into the new version (reviews.php, stories.php).
• Backing up files and database...
• Installing files...
• The update failed: couldn't write admin.php
• Restoring the backup...
• Restoring the backup also failed: couldn't restore admin.php. The backup is in C:\xampp\htdocs/efiction-updates-SdM6w3bgum/backups/20261114-084908-3.5.84-to-3.5.87; run php cli-update.php --restore on the server, or copy it back by hand.

I'm not able to replicate this in my testing. I can only assume there's some kind of write perm thing going on? I'm working on an update that will provide additional diagnostic information including hopefully the exact step that resulted in the failure. Will push that out as soon as it's ready.