UBB.threads PHP Forum Software Community Forums UBB.threads 7 Importer Support "General Discussion" Problem

I dropped my tables and am importing again with much greater success than when I had categories and some test forums/posts filled in already (it didn't overwrite what was in there already).

However - My Categories are being mis-assigned because a "clean install" of the db includes Category 1 "General Discussion" -- My Category 1 is different. But thru phpMyAdmin I should be able to correct that once the import is complete.

I would think it would be easier to start again?

Make a new DB

I did that time, from scratch. And it took 8 hours to import, and this time it went smoothly. It shouldn't take more than a few moments to fix things in phpMyAdmin (but, I don't think we should have to "fix things" after a clean install...

Hmmm. Besides the default Forum 1 that I should've deleted before importing, I think my problem was that I had deleted some Classic forums in the past, so there were some gaps. I had to fix all the Forum #s in phpMyAdmin, as well as some mixed-up forum descriptions and such that got mixed up somehow. The importer apparently didn't keep the Forum #s intact?

What I don't know how to do is copy threads from one forum to another, so I'm gonna need some help and will PT Rick with that if that's the course I should take at this point...

Problem is, this isn't my final import - I'm gonna have to do it again once I go live with v7. I'm just trying to set up a beta test for my group, and to check performance with a fully loaded board. I really don't want to have to go thru all this again next time, fixing things after importing. :/

Hmm, that's odd. Gaps in the forums shouldn't matter, I've done a few imports with some pretty big gaps. The forum numbers, categories numbers, etc. will definitely change when an import is done. They won't be the same as what they were in .classic. This is totally normal behaviour. You definitely shouldn't have to, nor want to, alter those at all since everything is tied to the id in the database. Changing any of those is definitely going to cause an issue.

The only thing I've had to fix after an import is where no forums are showing up. This is a small bug on some setups in the importer that isn't assigning the forums to a category and usually fixable with a quick query in the database if I can get the admin username/password. The problem is since you've already changed all of the forum #s I'm not entirely sure your current database is fixable.

Okay, well, everything is working except Topics being in the wrong Forums. Is there an easy way to say "Move all Topics in Forum 14 into Forum 15", etc?

If not, then I'll try again -- hey, what's another 8-9 hour import after the first two? -- but this time I'm gonna delete the default Category 1 first. And, if it doesn't come out perfectly, I'm gonna PT you the admin info and I won't touch a thing!

Question: If Cat and Forum #s change (which is good to know that that's normal), does the redirector script point from a topic in Classic (for instance, a link on a search engine) to the NEW topic in Threads? Or how are search engine links handled after the switch?

Thanks!

JG

Off of the top of my head I think you can fix the topics with the following query.

Update ubbt_TOPICS set FORUM_ID='#' where FORUM_ID='#'

So the first # is what the forum id should be while the second # is what it currently is. That should get you going for testing anyways. If this is going to be your final import I'd recommend a fresh import just to be safe though

As for your question. When importing there is a table that maps the old forum/topic/post id's to the new topic in .threads. When the redirect scripts are put in place it actually takes the info passed to it and queries the map table to find out where the new topic is located and redirects the user to the new topic.

Will the map table be screwed up now if I continue trying to "fix" what I have? Maybe I should just start over again...

Edit: Never mind, I think you added that bit about "testing" vs "Final"

Personally, if it were me I'd start fresh. I know it's a pain to go through that whole import process again, but it's definitely the safest route to ensure that it doesn't cause any issues in the future.

BTW, this worked great - thanks!

I will start fresh after my "public test"