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Multiple Questions: 1.1.8 migration, upgrade, WP integration, hired help

Started by needinghelp01, May 18, 2017, 06:20:17 PM

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needinghelp01

Hello,
I only have a basic understanding of the technology that runs my site and could use some assistance in understanding the logistics of what we're trying to accomplish, please.

I have a number of questions and wasn't sure if it made sense to break each question out initially, so I'll explain here and see what happens.

I have an old 1.1.8 forum here...

(removed external link)

I used to be somewhat familiar with how to manage and modify the forums and my recollection is that we had some mods that made upgrading the forums challenging and/or not worth it.

However, I've not messed with the forums in many, many years now and would need to hire someone very knowledgeable to assist with any upgrades and migration.

Is it better to attempt an upgrade first or a migration first?

Is there a list of SMF consultants for hire with reviews someplace?

We are just beginning the process of migrating this custom php website (piecemeal over the years) with thousands of pages (not counting forum pages) to a WP membership type site.  WP and the membership software will be the "umbrella" of the new site.

The plan is to possibly move hosting as well, to a managed WP environment from the current dedicated server.

We would like to keep the forums and have the forums integrate seamlessly with the WP membership login function on the new site. Is that doable?

If so, how can we get the existing database of forum members into the WP database for site members?

I'm sure there are other questions I should be asking.  Thanks for your patience and help.


Kindred

forum upgrade is fairly simple.


1- upgrade your 1.1.8 to 1.1.21 -- either through successive patches or by using the 1.1.21 upgrade archive.
(see the wiki article on how to upgrade)
2- confirm that your site is working correctly.
3- remove all themes, except for the default theme
4- upgrade to 2.0.14 using the 2.0.14 upgrade archive
5- confirm that your site is working correctly.

6- install mods and themes designed for 2.0.x.


As for moving to WordPress...   there is not really any simple way to do that. You'd have to build a custom php script and/or SQL script
Слaва
Украинi

Please do not PM, IM or Email me with support questions.  You will get better and faster responses in the support boards.  Thank you.

"Loki is not evil, although he is certainly not a force for good. Loki is... complicated."

Antes

SMF to bbPress to WP. You might need to do some research I forgot which plugin I used to convert bbPress into WP.

needinghelp01

Thanks much for the replies. Is there a list of folks/companies that will perform the upgrade for a fee? 

I'd rather have someone familiar with the software and process handle that so that any issues can be resolved quickly.

Also, assuming we are able to upgrade successfully, is it then an easier task to take the forum membership data and forum content to a new forum platform, if we cannot get SMF to play nice with our new site?  Thanks.

Illori

we dont recommand any specificially. if you want paid for help you should post in the help wanted board for further assistance.

Steve

DO NOT pm me for support!

needinghelp01

Okay, we're a bit further down the road now and I've got some additional questions.  The test SMF upgrade to 2.0.14 appears to have worked. I have no idea how many mods we will lose by switching over, but oh well.

I'm not really a big fan of BBPress from what I've seen.  However, the new site will be using...

Wordpress
various other WP plugins
Infusionsoft (IFS)
Memberium

The software apps above integrate well with each other.  We will have some pages that freely accessible to anyone and some pages that are paid members only.  The forums are a small section of this website, but they've been around for 15 years and have tons of good info.

So, we will move our forums over and would prefer to keep SMF, but not if SMF presents a problem with logging in, recognizing logins, updating contact records in IFS, etc.

Hopefully, I'm explaining this well enough to make sense.  Can we keep the forums in SMF and have a successful integration with the other software apps or must we use a WP-integrated forum like BBPress?  Thanks for your answers.



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