Hi

I've been running a very small, limited forum for online therapy here :

http://www.davidandsue.net/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?

and I'd like to transfer it all to a completely new website, run by Heart Internet, which I've just set up http://www.the-online-therapist.org .

There would be no problem with members: I delete members as soon as work ends so there are never more than a couple, but there are a lot of posts and records on the existing site, and restricted client private areas, which would be hard work duplicating.

Could I just do it by taking a backup of the current forum, and restoring that backup on the new site?
Would there be any changes I would need to make to the new site installation first, e.g. aligning admin names and passwords, or should I just go for it?!

Yes, you can just go for it.

Download the entire forum, everything within the cgi-bin directory and the blahdocs directory via FTP, then upload it to the new host. You'll have to change the paths in Settings.pl next to Blah.pl, because the paths will now be wrong on the new host. Get your document root from your new host and change the paths accordingly. Everything should be fine when you upload the modified Settings.pl.

There could be an issue if you have mods such as assira installed, because some depend on the module "GD", which might be missing from the new host's server, but unlikely and not the end of the world.

Last note, make sure you download the contents of the forum directory in ASCII mode and the contents of Blahdocs in binary mode. You'll have to re-setup CHMOD permissions on the files as they're uploaded, but there's a guide to the permissions here http://www.blahdocs.com/Performing_a_new_installation_of_E-Blah


Hope it goes well.

Thanks for this.

Just to be clear, you are saying I should NOT do it by using backup and restore (this would be easier for me as Heart will preinstall eblah) but should do it by downloading and moving the individual files.

I wouldn't install a heart internet installation and move your files over, you might have custom templates, mods and other dependencies that would be messed up.

A simple backup and restore operation is a bit of a vulgar way of doing it, cause more problems than it'll save.

Just download the two directories which should contain everything relating to the forum, from the advice above, via FTP, then upload, set permissions, change paths in Settings.pl and away you go.

Any problems afterwards, let us know.

Thanks.
I'm preparing myself with a lot of deep breathing!

I'm afraid it didn't go well. Part of the problem, I think, was that there were a lot more files to sort permissions for than are present on a clean install - a bit beyond me. But no matter! -- I had a great idea, I'm going to keep the "old" forum just for private clients, and just use the new one for new prospective ones, so the security etc is less important, and I can start it from scratch and just allow guest posting. Hurrah!

BUT a problem to report on the INSTALL forum

David,

a couple of years back, I had to set up a site, and it needed a forum, so of course I used E-Blah.. Now the original site also ran a forum, and it was not very big, so we just copied and pasted over the threads that we thought were important, all worked out well

Thank's Nat. There's a lot to be said for Cut and Paste. However the clean install didn't work out too well, either..........

When you install E-Blah on your new host, be sure that it's the same version as the one you had on your old host. The only things that I would worry about copying over immediately would be messages, boards, and members. The code modifications can be added later. Do a fresh install of E-Blah with the correct version and then copy your old messages, boards, and members to your new host. On your fresh install, verify that your paths to blahdocs and your forum are correct and proceed with restoring your old forum. I performed a similar task when I moved my forums from Linux servers to Windows servers. All that I needed to do was make sure that the paths were correct in Settings.pl and all was good.

Quoted from pcmantinker

All that I needed to do was make sure that the paths were correct in Settings.pl and all was good.

Not so easy on Heart: they lump everything into the public-html directory rather than dividing it into cgi-bin. But I wonder if you are right about the different versions.

If no-one can help me on the install forum, I'll try a fresh new install of my own, rather than rely on Heart's offering, and then do as you suggest.

But even on Heart's own install, the skin isn't visible! Take a look: http://www.the-online-therapist.org .It's incredible, really. What are they doing. You intall it, and they give you a link to further documentation, which isn't there. Then, when you ask for help, they suggest you pay for an upgrade if you need "extra" support. I was left wondering what they regard as essential, or if it's all really about getting the money in any-old-how.

Lucky I'm in no rush, or I'd just link the domain name to the existing dual-purpose forum and leave it at that. I don't see my future as being with Heart, that's for sure.