Moving to the New Forums

YouTube · Post by **Jane** » 21 Aug 2013 16:23

A while ago I installed some new forum software and wrote the scripts to import all the old forum topics to the new software.

The only stumbling block is the fact I can not extract the passwords from the old system, as it uses a one way encrypt.

So my thoughts on moving over are

1. Import all the forum posts to the new forum Written
2. Import all the users excluding passwords Written
3. Send an email to all users who have visited FHUG in the last 24 months, to reset their password. Written

The additional jobs are

[strike]1. Change the wishlist software to use the new forum for user validation[/strike] - Done now checks both old and new to find a user.

[strike]2. Write a perl page to redirect links from outside of FH to a page on the Wiki which explains how to find what they are looking for.[/strike]

The other problem will be links to other posts with in forum posts, but this is not that common and I can deactivate them, adding a recommendation to search. This has been partly handled, the redirect will take you to the correct forum, but not the post I need to explore the search on PHPBB to see if I can call it directly.

The way the new forum database works I don't think it will be possible to track where they end up just using the old numbers, but I have changed the script to insert the original number in the body of the initial message so they can be searched for.

ID:7052

Post by **tatewise** » 21 Aug 2013 16:37

Regarding passwords, assuming some old system Usernames are the same as Wiki Usernames (like mine), can the Wiki Password be retained for them?

Otherwise, what you suggest sounds OK.

YouTube · Post by **Jane** » 21 Aug 2013 16:42

I think that the wiki password is one way encrypted as well.

Post by **tatewise** » 21 Aug 2013 17:03

Perhaps I am missing something.
Won't the Forums and Wiki use the same accounts?
So when transferring Forums Usernames, if the Username already exists in the Wiki, then don't transfer the Forum Username.

YouTube · Post by **Jane** » 21 Aug 2013 17:05

No the forum is a separate program, dokuwiki does not have a built in forum, however once migrated I think can change the Wiki over to use the forum authorisation system, so there will be one sign in for both, but it will be staged as I don't want to take the site out of commission for longer than I have to.

edit:

I have done the authorisation module for the dokuwiki so users will be controlled from the phpbb3 forums. This means the same user id and password will log people into both.

You will need to log in to the wiki if you want to edit, but if you change your password it will change for both places.

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