Conversions and Membergroups

[RFD]

I just did a test conversion from phpBB3 to SMF2 and it pulled over all the members based on post count.  There are 4 classes of members that I require ...

Admin
Moderator
Paid Member
Free Member

Each of these four membergroups will have specific permissions, which basically comes down to what forums they are allowed to both see and access.

I read through the SMF docs and still can't get a handle as to how best to move these "post count" members over to the four membergroups I require.

SO, if I created the four membergroups, what is the process for moving the post count users over to any one of the four new membergroups?

[Illori]

set the post count to what they should be, when a user posts they should end up in the correct post count group. you could also try to run the maintenance tasks and see if they help. but it looks like already you have users in the groups.

[RFD]

We don't want to use any "post counts".  None.  You are either a "free forum member" or a "paid forum member". 

Admin and Moderators will be easy to set up since there are few of each. 

When I convert nearly 4000 members, right now about 3400 need to come over from phpBB as "free forum members" and the other 600 or so as paid members.  They already have these member type/group settings in phpBB.  Last thing I need to do is hand tailor 600 free members as paid members.  Maybe I need to preset the SMF forum before migration?

[Illori]

delete the post count groups you dont want to use. you canNOT delete the 0 post count group, it has to exist. you can rename it to something else and go from there.

you said you wanted post count groups, which you have. you want to create normal groups not post count groups. if you want everyone in the free forum members group then you may have to do some tweaking to get it to work correctly.

rename the newbie group to free forum members, this will make sure everyone is in that group if you want it to be "public" knowledge, then follow http://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/Administration_-_Can_I_hide_my_%22newbie%22_status and create your other groups. then add the users to the correct primary group.

i am pretty sure that the groups dont move over as the permissions are so different in SMF so you would need to add users to the groups manually.

[RFD]

Please view the attached image of the groups I've created in the test SMF forum.

In the post count groups I created a dummy with 0 posts.  The other "forum group" contains all the members brought over from phpBB.  If I set that forum to non post based, it moves it out of the post count group but now shows zero members.

[Illori]

you already have a 0 post count group, you dont need 2 of them.

[RFD]

you already have a 0 post count group, you dont need 2 of them.

yes!  that's the point - i want to move the 'forum member' group out of the 'post counts' and into the 'regular groups'.

when i remove the post count feature from the 'forum member' group, it does move that group to the 'regular groups', but now shows zero members, and applies all the members to the dummy group.  ack!

see that attached image ....

[Illori]

you cant do that. read what i said above about requiring to have a post count group.

[RFD]

none of this makes any sense, at least right now.

i don't care or want or need 'post count groups'.  i want all my members in 'regular groups', where there are no post count considerations.

yer telling me that can't be done in SMF, and that i need to have all my members in at least one 'post count group'?

what is the relationship of the members in the 'post count group' groups to the members in the 'regular group' groups? 

[Illori]

you are REQUIRED to have at least 1 post count group. you can have as many other groups as you want as long as there is at least 1 post count group.

[Kindred]

Anyone who is NOT assigned as a member of a specific group is part of the "regular members" group

*ALL* members are ALWAYS part of post-count groups.
If you don't want to USE the post count groups for permissions, then that is fine...     leave the original 0 count group and turn off post-count-based permissions.
post count will be tracks, but it will never have any effect on anything.

[RFD]

gotcha.  thanx.  that's the way i just set it up, one big post count group with all the members that came over from phpBB. 

only thing is that i'll now need to manually assign about 600 members to the 'tma group' - any automated or quicker way around having to do all that work?   ....

[Illori]

not really.

[RFD]

too bad for me there isn't a switch in the conversion code that recognizes a 'tma member' in phpBB and will put them in a preinstalled 'tma group' in SMF.

at  least the conversion works - that's more than half the battle.

thanx to all.

[Kindred]

you could do a direct database edit of the smf_members table to assign them to the group that you want...

However, the better choice, IMO would be to make the "general members" group be your "default" group (since all members who do not belong to a specific group fall into that group, automatically)

You can rename it whatever you want and assign permissions to it for your "free" members.

Then you only have to worry about putting paid members, moderators and admins into a specific group

[Illori]

but the regular members group does not have a visible group title, which i think the OP wants. this is why i said to make that the post count based group title and set it not to show the post count group title for grouped members.

[RFD]

in the current live forum there are essentially two groups of members - free and paid - and this status has nothing to do with post counts.

when i did the conversion (3x already) they all come over to the "post count group" as one big non-differential group of members.

once moved over to SMF, they need to be separated as free and paid members, where the paid members have added permissions and sub-forum access.

i see no way to automatically (or "batch") assign specific members "paid member" status.

unless you can see a way around this, this topic is closed.

[Kindred]

Right....   The only way to do that would be to do a direct database edit of the smf_members table.. if you have some list of IDs, you could batch process it via simple SQL statement.


ALL members, ALWAYS belong to a post-count group. period.
and you *MUST* have a minimum of 1 post-count group that starts at zero posts. (removing that group, if you manage to do it, will cause major issues)
the post-count group is, as you would imagine, based on post-counts.
However, post-count-based group(s) do not have to have any permissions associated... just the title.

All members who are NOT part of a specific group (in other words, they have not been assigned a primary group) will belong to the "regular members" group and inherit the permissions for that group. However, there is no "group title" associated with this group.

This is the group that a new member would be dropped into...

So, yes... you are going to have to find some way to assign users into your paid group.

However, once they are there:
1- set the permissions for the regular members group to be what you want for your free members
2- set the names and permissions for other groups as you see fit. e.g. "paid Members"
3- assuming you have removed all of the post-count-based groups, except the 0 count one...   name the post-count group "free members" (or whatever)
4- turn ON the option " Hide post group titles for grouped members:" which is the the "Current Theme" settings

Now...   free members will be listed as "free members". Paid members will be listed as "paid members"
and they will all have the correct permissions.


It's a little bit of work up front, but self-maintaining after that.

[RFD]

excellent scoop, kindred - much obliged.