I get the error Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in components/com_fireboard/template/default/view.php on line 509

and

Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in components/com_fireboard/template/default/view.php on line 1037

after I’ve upgraded to PHP 5.3 within my Fireboard Joomla! component when viewing a forum entry.

NOTE: The following versions of Joomla! and Fireboard I had installed when this error occured.

  1. Joomla! Version 1.5.22
  2. Fireboard Version 1.0.4

Please view my answer for what I did in order to resolve this issue

  1. Open the file components/com_fireboard/template/default/view.php

  2. Edit line 506 from

    $params =& new mosParameters( '' );
    

    to

    $params = new mosParameters( '' );
    
  3. Edit line 1037 from

    $params =& new mosParameters( '' );
    

    to

    $params = new mosParameters( '' );
    
  4. Save the file

  5. Refresh your page, and the error message will be gone.