The state of the forum

The previous forum is still intact.

Our goal is to install a new forum altogether.

The first step is to ensure that there is a common log in. The time it takes to log in is another issue.

The forum MUST tie into our membership database. So the same password used to renew and access the main site needs to be the same for the forum.

Import old and possibly current posts into the new forum.

I've asked not to disable private messaging, signatures among other functions.

Some typical forum functions may need to be disabled unless it's directly tied into our membership base. For instance email address. Those types of changes may need to be done in your profile on the main website.

When?

I am hesitant to set a date. It is in process.

I do ask everyone to be patient. Please use the appropriate sections to post your comments.

The Tech Talk section really should be used for general questions, not model specific.

Steven
BMW CCA

An update.

The new forum's login matches the main site's login. That was the first step.

We did not want two different usernames and passwords.

Posts are continuing to be moved into their proper sections on the old vBulletin forum.

The Tech Talk section became a catch all for all posts.

Posts are being moved into model specific sections.



Next

Import this current forum into the old one. Test. Test. Clean it up. Sleep. Test some more.

Then import into the new forum. Test. Test. Sleep. Test some more.

Once we are satisfied. Close this forum.

Repeat the entire process again. Test.

I should know more how we stand by the end of the weekend.

Hang in there.

Well, there doesn't look to be a way to import Drupal 6.

So far there are 507 posts of which 188 are site feedback leaving only 319.

Loosing these 319 posts is a small price to pay for what we will gain.

I'll continue plugging away.

Short update.

I continue to move posts in the old vBulletin forum.

I have imported all the users from this forum into the previous vBulletin forum and imported those posts and users into the new forum we will be using.

The single sign on works if a person has never posted before.

If you already have a username you get an error because the username already exists.

We may need to manually (via a script) enter everyone's account number along with their username to confirm the authentication. That should not be a problem but will take a little more time.

We are progressing.

Update

I've taken a break on moving posts around in the old forum until the sign on to the new forum works. The one issue we had was those who posted previously got an error message when entering the new forum if they never posted in this forum. The fix is to add the membership number for everyone who has 1 post or more and not visited here. Sounds easy until we found hundreds of members with multiple usernames and logins.

I've started to merge those with the same member number or email address in the old forum so there is only one username with one membership number. Most I can figure out are the same person. Some I can figure out who the associate and primary member is. I'm using the username last used since that is the username that was brought into our new membership database.

So there you have it.

Oh, before importing the old posts into the new forum, I need to get these posts into the old forum. That may be near impossible, but I will give it a shot.

Latest.

I have merged users in the old forum that shared the same membership number.

Sometimes a user would forget their username and created a new one.

I always used the last username which would be the same username recorded in our new database.

Next step is to merge the users from this forum into the old one.

Then import those into the new forum.

Replace missing membership numbers.

Test and try to break it.

If all goes well, close this forum attempt to copy and paste posts into old forum and repeat.

Test again and then make public.

As I've already mentioned, we are working on a solution.

Just need to do some more testing.

Small problem with permissions on the new forum.

Currently lapsed members can post. We want only current members to be able to post.

I'm told that has been fixed. I will test later.

If a member does not have an email address, a new login is not created.

Email address is required. Need to address that situation.

Although I could probably just direct members to add their email address and come back.

I'm told that has been fixed also. Will also test later.



The good news is that message notifications work.

Avatars and signatures from vBulletin have come over.

Currently I've been copy and pasting posts from here to the new forum.

Anything subject that begins with a + means I've copied it over.

I am also copying the timestamp so we can have some sense of continuity.

That is actually fairly easy to do.

I still don't know when. It's getting closer.

Update

I don't know if anyone is still following along.

Two issues we had, 1 being that an email address was required to log into the new forum has been addressed.

Another issue involved lapsed members being able to post.

Both resolved.

Tested when a lapsed member reinstates their membership, they can post to the new forum.

Next step is to do some more testing.

If anyone cares to help, email me at stevens@bmwcca.org.

In the meantime I am continuing to copy posts from here into the old vBulletin forum in preparation to import into the new one. All posts that begin with a + have been copied over. Looks like I am half way there.