Pre-Conversion Question and Charter Membership

BAlGaInTl · March 31, 2005, 03:12:58 AM

Hey all...

First, if this should be in a different forum, feel free to move it.

I have a personal family site that uses IPB 1.3. With the lack of updates, and with them constantly trying to get me to buy their product, I have decided to switch forum software. My little family site does not warrant the high cost of IPB.

I installed a test SMF site in a folder separate from my current IPB forum. A few of the users are testing it, and we have decided that we really like the features and want to switch.

My questions are...

1. Is it possible to Upgrade the IPB forum, and then merge the test forum in to it? The users that are testing SMF are using the same username on both forums.

2. I'm considering a Charter Membership to get us started. (I'm really interested in the calendar features of 1.1) I know that the Charte Membership includes help in installing SMF, but does that also hold true to the 1.1 beta 1 release? Also, would that cover question #1, or would it just be a standard install?

If both 1 and 2 can be met, I will definately sign up for a charter membership. If not, I will probably just send a small donation and do the upgrade myself.

TIA

Edit: I sent this question to [email protected], and have not received a reply yet.

BAlGaInTl · March 31, 2005, 03:41:50 AM

Ok...

I see that the merging is no simple task, so I could easily drop the test forum. There is just junk in there anyway.

So the real question is...

1. Would charter membership include an installation/upgrade from IPB 1.3 to SMF 1.1 b1 ?

OvermindDL1 · March 31, 2005, 04:16:38 AM

It is simple to upgrade from IPB1.3 to SMF, the downloads page contains the converter for you, just follow the instructions.

BAlGaInTl · March 31, 2005, 04:20:26 AM

Quote from: OvermindDL1 on March 31, 2005, 04:16:38 AM
It is simple to upgrade from IPB1.3 to SMF, the downloads page contains the converter for you, just follow the instructions.

Indeed, but no converter is there for SMF 1.1 b1 yet.

OvermindDL1 · March 31, 2005, 04:22:07 AM

That is because SMF 1.1 is not released yet.

BAlGaInTl · March 31, 2005, 04:31:11 AM

Quote from: OvermindDL1 on March 31, 2005, 04:22:07 AM
That is because SMF 1.1 is not released yet.

except to charter members which is why I asked the question.

If there is no direct upgrade path from IPB 1.3 to SMF 1.1 b1, then there is no good reason for me become a charter member at this time. I would rather not go IPB 1.3 -> SMF 1.0.3 -> SMF 1.1b1 and have to do it all myself.

If that is the case, I can wait it out.

Trekkie101 · March 31, 2005, 05:14:30 AM

Im willing to help, upgrading to 1.0.3 then to 1.1 is a perfect path, there wouldnt be any dataloss and it wouldnt cause a problem, but just now I can help you get from IPB to SMF with your old data. SMF 1.0.3 is still brimming with features and is pretty darn good. SMF 1.1 is just like an upgrade but a larger than normal one, its not like phpBB's code re-writes. So if you need help, if you can use a messenger that would be better but if not im sure we can work through it here.

[Unknown] · March 31, 2005, 05:47:11 AM

Quote from: BAlGaInTl on March 31, 2005, 03:12:58 AM
1. Is it possible to Upgrade the IPB forum, and then merge the test forum in to it? The users that are testing SMF are using the same username on both forums.

At this time, it is not. I'm working on a tool to merge SMF installations, but it takes time and I have other things I need to get done first.

Quote
2. I'm considering a Charter Membership to get us started. (I'm really interested in the calendar features of 1.1) I know that the Charte Membership includes help in installing SMF, but does that also hold true to the 1.1 beta 1 release? Also, would that cover question #1, or would it just be a standard install?

Yes, and there is a converter for 1.1 Beta 1 as well. The merge script I spoke of is being developed for 1.1 - but, no, it's not done.

What specifically are you wanting to merge?

Quote from: BAlGaInTl on March 31, 2005, 03:41:50 AM
1. Would charter membership include an installation/upgrade from IPB 1.3 to SMF 1.1 b1 ?

Yes.

-[Unknown]

BAlGaInTl · March 31, 2005, 05:56:03 AM

Quote from: [Unknown] on March 31, 2005, 05:47:11 AM
Quote from: BAlGaInTl on March 31, 2005, 03:12:58 AM
1. Is it possible to Upgrade the IPB forum, and then merge the test forum in to it? The users that are testing SMF are using the same username on both forums.

At this time, it is not. I'm working on a tool to merge SMF installations, but it takes time and I have other things I need to get done first.

Quote
2. I'm considering a Charter Membership to get us started. (I'm really interested in the calendar features of 1.1) I know that the Charte Membership includes help in installing SMF, but does that also hold true to the 1.1 beta 1 release? Also, would that cover question #1, or would it just be a standard install?

Yes, and there is a converter for 1.1 Beta 1 as well. The merge script I spoke of is being developed for 1.1 - but, no, it's not done.

What specifically are you wanting to merge?

Quote from: BAlGaInTl on March 31, 2005, 03:41:50 AM
1. Would charter membership include an installation/upgrade from IPB 1.3 to SMF 1.1 b1 ?

Yes.

-[Unknown]

I think that I have decided against the merge.

We have a lot of repeating calendar events right now (birthdays). Will those be converted over, or will they have to be re-entered?

[Unknown] · March 31, 2005, 05:58:11 AM

If they are stored as birthdays, in the member's profiles, they'll get converted.

Otherwise, they may not be. I don't remember, off hand, the status of the Invision converter as far as calendar data. That's not to say that I'm not willing to improve the converter such that they are.

-[Unknown]

BAlGaInTl · March 31, 2005, 06:03:52 AM

We did not do them as profile birthdays.

They are separate events... the reason being...

we did not want "Username's" birthday to appear on the calendar. Instead, we wanted a real first name or nickname to appear. So, we manually entered them all.

It isn't that many, but it would be great if the converter would automatically enter them in to 1.1 as recurring events.

If you think this can be pulled off, I will sign up for a charter membership today.

Grudge · March 31, 2005, 06:24:43 AM

In SMF 1.1 they would have to be added as reoccuring holidays (via the admin centre), and wouldn't officially be "events" (By SMF Termonology), as SMF doesn't do repeating events. Hope that makes sense (Probably not!)

BAlGaInTl · March 31, 2005, 06:30:36 AM

That makes perfect sense.

I don't have a problem with them going in as holidays (I don't think).

Wouldn't they still function the same? ie show up underneath the forum as an upcoming event? Does the holiday allow for any kind of description?

edit: another reason that we went with calendar events over profiles, is that not everyone in our family uses the forum... ie pre-typing, pre-speaking age.

When you are one of 9 kids, plus extended family, it is nice to keep track of all of that stuff in a central location!

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Pre-Conversion Question and Charter Membership