By cl00bie on

I am getting ready to attempt to convert my muliple PhpWebsite branch sites to Drupal 6.x. I envision running into the following problems:

  • Conversion of Users with passwords to new CMS
  • The implementation of MultiSite (phpws branch sites) with individualized module configs.
  • The migrating of the database information from multiple blogs to the individual MultiSites
  • The complete rewrite of my Cigar Diary module from PhpWebsite to Drupal

There are going to be plenty of other problems, but I see those as the biggies. If worse comes to worst, I can cut and paste the information from individual entries between the old and new sites. The reason I'm moving is that PhpWebsite doesn't seem to have any sort of spam prevention mechanisms for their older code, and it has moved to PHP 5 for the latest core (abandoning support for PHP4 which is all my host supports).

I will try and document my pitfalls and successes in this thread, and maybe we'll have a reasonable upgrade path when I'm done.

-Tony

⋅ Categories: Drupal 6.x

Comments

WorldFallz’s picture

WorldFallz commented

Before you go through all this trouble be aware that as of drupal 7, php4 is no longer supported by drupal either. You should really consider another host-- php4 has had its day. It's time to move on. Besides, I'd be really suspicious of other policies and security practices of any host that doesn't offer php5 at this point.

cl00bie’s picture

cl00bie commented

My host should be porting soon. He's usually behind the curve on the upgrades. He said that when the complaints about the old version exceed the complaints he expects to get on the new version it's time to upgrade.

I like my host. He's a good guy and we've worked together for about 10 years now.

cl00bie’s picture

cl00bie commented

The installation of Drupal 6.x went smoothly (except for a couple of MySQL password issues). It insalled well and appears to be tight code without a lot of extraneous tables. Now I'm attempting MultiSite and I'll see how that works out.

What I'd like to do is take one of my other sites, work on it in Drupal, and when it's ready point the domain name to the new physical location. However, the MultiSite process seems to require that you name the site/ directory to the domain name of your site to implement multiples. This will make conversion a little stickier.

What I'd like to do is work on the latest in sites/Default, and when that's complete, rename the directory to the domain name and point the domain to the new location.

WorldFallz’s picture

WorldFallz commented

I like to use a subdomain for development (ie dev.example.com). Then you can either move the site up a level to the root or change the webserver to point to the new location.

Also, you can name your multisite whatever you want and change it later-- it only gets complicated if you start using subdirectories as the paths will not match up.

cl00bie’s picture

cl00bie commented

I currently have Multisite working properly [Example]. The earlier suggestion to use a sub-domain is a good one, but I don't know how to retrigger the installation program without having a fresh clone of the original /sites/default directory.

The example domain has a different domain pointed to it (the organization had a name change), so I made a symlink of the current domain and it found the site slicker than [gross reference deleted].

The theming is much slicker than phpwebsite, but different. A bit of a learning curve, but looks like it will be fun. Also looks like easy upgrading if you keep all of the custom stuff in /sites.

Next thing to attack, password porting. Stay tuned...

cl00bie’s picture

cl00bie commented

My host set up a brand new Ubuntu box with PHP5 and compatible MySQL. I have my D7 sites in process of conversion. I have to say, I love this version. The CCK integration in core coupled with node references, rules and auto node title will probably allow me to port my cigar reviews directly into the Drupal database structure making updates seamless and simple.

cl00bie’s picture

cl00bie commented

I set up custom nodes, and imported the data from the old site and moved it seamlessly into the new custom nodes. I set up views to mimic my displays and I'm ready to go. This worked out fabulously for me. After this (my hardest site) I have one more easy site to complete and move over and I will be a 100% D7 shop. :)

Sean_Cleary’s picture

Sean_Cleary commented

I need to convert or migrate only three data elements from PHPWebsite 0.10.2:-

  • pagemaker data ('pages' made up of multiple 'page-sections');
  • announcements;
  • documents.

I'm wondering what process you used to maintain pages - given the parent child relationship of 'page' to 'page-sections' in PHPWS? I also need to maintain the link/relationship that each page-section has to it's corresponding image-file.

Any advice would be welcome.