Features / Usability

Posted by jamesoftopiya 04 Jun 2006 22:50 GMT-0000 posts: 175

> Hello All,
> It's been an interesting day - or two, playing with Fantastico, TW 185, 192 and 193. The idea was to move a TW 185 from an older server running PHP 4.3 to a newly upgraded server running PHP 5 and Fantastico, which installed TW 192; in a flash, man its a quick install, and it removes TW just as fast when you screw it up.

• OK, first off yes Fantasticio is very neat! As a web host I like to encourage people to use it to get an idea about a lot of different CMS types. However, if you are going to choose a CMS then I reccomend that you upload the latest version rather then use the Fantastico install.

>I have installed and removed the 192 several times, and each time successfully imported the mySql dump, but it, the 192, looks nothing like the 185. No dice with the USERS which I badly want to port over so a large group of people do not have to reregister, and the Wiki page dumps need to be restored, but also a no go. I get an IMPORT PHPWIKI DUMP on the Admin Directory, however, it resolves to a tiki-import_phpwiki.php file in the root directory that does not exist. In fact, the only reference to the file on a search of this website is a very old - TW 1.3 - in 2004 occurrence of the same problem - the file is missing. Any one know anything about this file?

• You do not say much about how you are creating the DB dumps. It does sound like you are using the TW backup and wiki dump feature. THIS IS NOT A GOOD IDEA. Apperenty this does not work well.

• Here is what I reccomend. How ever you install your TW once it is there.
  • Use your phpmyadmin to download the DB dump from the old site.
  • Create a DB or use the Existing DB that has been cleared.
  • Use your phpmyadmin to import the DB dump from your old site.
  • Download the file db/local.php from your old site
  • Change the information from the file db/local.php to match your new DB
  • Upload this file to your new sites db/ folder
    • Note, You can skip the two steps above if you would rather input new info through the TW install page below.
  • go to yoursite/tiki-install.php.
  • log in as admin if needed
  • run the upgrade scripts as needed.
    • Note, you may have to run several upgrades. There is a go back to run more upgrades link. I think you can upgrade from about 1.7 with the default scripts.Others may be avaiable with the mods feature.
  • You can expect to see a lot of error messages in the error box as you upgrade.
• I suggest that you use the "go to site with out running other scripts" link in a new tab or window as you progress so you can see how the site changes as you do the upgrades.
  • Note, You may find that the site looks odd and not with the correct style. If you are upgrading from an older TW the style may no longer be included in the the new files. If this is the case go to general admin and select a new style. Or up load your old existing style to your new site.

>
> And while I have your ear. How can I port USERS and their passwords from one version of TW to another on separate servers?
>
> --bigjet

• I think that the above will fix the User problem. If it does not then perhaps a new question would be in order.

• If you want to get a bunch of users from one site to another but not with an upgrade as we are talking here I think you could do a dump of your User list. You could then upload the list in your admin, users area. You can do a bulk upload there. You must be sure that you maintain the correct input method though.
• IE. user name, password, e-mail — this may not be the correct format!

Hope that helps, James

Posted by bigjet 05 Jun 2006 06:48 GMT-0000 posts: 32

Thanks James,
Your answer is very insightful, and I have printed it out as a handy reference. But I have solved the problem another way. The answer came to me during a restive nap this afternoon. I was actually downgrading to upgrade - that is, attempting to put older files on newer files to cut out a step in moving the installation to a new server.

Fantastico is soo quick and easy, it seemed natural to let it do a fast install, and then import the old database, and presto! instant move and upgrade in one. Only it does not work - old over new never does; try to install Windows 3.1 over XP and see what happens!

I did a clean uninstall, and uploaded all the 185 files to the new server, then imported the mysql dump. Now I have a perfect clone of the 185 running on the new server, and tonight it will be upgraded to 193 in a routine upgrade. Sometimes it just takes longer to save time.

--bigjet