Migrating from Fantastico to SimpleScripts

[felgall]

If you use the export and import options in phpMyAdmin to do the backup and restore then you end up with a text file as the backup with just a whole series of SQL commands in it for recreating and loading the tables. You could just edit that file to remove the wp_ from the table names.

Alternatively you could edit the config file for your installation to change the prefix to 'wp_' so that it looks for tables with the prefix.

[guachiman]

Hi guys, I successfully migrated my Fantastico WP install to SimpleScripts. It's essentially like felgall said.. with additional steps. I described my experience step by step in a post, for those of us that need a little more directions. You can check it out here:

http://www.bluehostforum.com/showthread.php?t=12972

I hope it helps!

[serendipityrose]

So, I'm doing good to understand the little that I do about all of this fabulous website creation stuff and I have joomla and a running shopping cart (zencart) that I would like to migrate to simple scripts. I've also installed some mods into joomla and made extensive changes to both including an update to zencart that was done some other way than through fantastico so fantastico isn't even recognizing that it has been updated.

Perhaps I should find someone that I could pay to help me? I had someone help me get my site set up but then she started getting kind of wishy washy and I'm not sure I trust her. She was doing fine up to the point that there was a small difficulty and then she disappeared only to email me a few months later and ask if I wanted to pay her to do some more work.

Anyone have any extremely simple steps for me or a recommendation for someone that could do this migration at a reasonable price?

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

[serendipityrose]

Ok, I guess I am basically wondering if, having joomla and zencart, with mods and other installations, I would be able to follow the directions to migrating from fantastico to simple scripts for wordpress sites previously noted or if there are other issues I may run into so I should find someone to do this for me.

I have a son that could help me but if I can hand him that instruction list and tell him "here, this is what I need to do" but or he can help me if I get stuck but he won't take the time to help me if he has to search for the solutions to problems that come up.

Any suggestions appreciated.

[wildwillie6]

Hi guys, I successfully migrated my Fantastico WP install to SimpleScripts. It's essentially like felgall said.. with additional steps. I described my experience step by step in a post, for those of us that need a little more directions. You can check it out here:

http://www.bluehostforum.com/showthread.php?t=12972

I hope it helps!

It did help, and thanks so much! I started the process of moving my (low-traffic) sites over to SimpleScripts. The first one, http://dontplaythelottery.com , went just fine. The old site was Wordpress 2.3.2 and so I went with that version for the restore.

Trouble is, now when I use SimpleScripts to upgrade to 2.5.1, I get the following error:

Error establishing a database connection
This either means that the username and password information in your wp-config.php file is incorrect or we can't contact the database server at ss_dbhost. This could mean your host's database server is down.

Are you sure you have the correct username and password?
Are you sure that you have typed the correct hostname?
Are you sure that the database server is running?
If you're unsure what these terms mean you should probably contact your host. If you still need help you can always visit the WordPress Support Forums.

I looked around a little in wp-config.php but didn't see anything obviously amiss. And this leads to questions:

(1) How can I fix that? and

(2) For a low-traffic site, how important is it to be upgraded to the latest WordPress version? . . . especially since all's well in 2.3.2.

Naturally, I had hoped the effort to go to SimpleScripts would be rewarded with simple upgrades -- but maybe there's no such thing.

[redsox9]

For a low-traffic site, how important is it to be upgraded to the latest WordPress version? . . . especially since all's well in 2.3.2.

I don't have an answer to your first question but it is always important to upgrade software at your earliest convenience. Most of the updates are related to security loopholes that have been discovered by the software authors and patched to prevent someone from breaking in and causing havoc. It might be as simple as mucking with the content... or they might be able to get further into your BH account and use it for malicious purposes. Suddenly your account becomes suspended and you're left scratching your head.

The bottom line is that if you didn't write the software, then you should upgrade when they become available, even on a "low-traffic" site.

[redsox9]

I do have one suggestion for an alternate upgrade option. Install the Wordpress Automatic Upgrade plugin - you can find it at techie-buzz.com.

http://techie-buzz.com/wordpress-plu...in-update.html

It will "automatically" upgrade your current wordpress version to the latest files provided by wordpress.org. Just follow the prompts and you should be good to go!

[Early Out]

Another source of info on migrating from Fantastico to SimpleScripts:

http://www.simplescripts.com/?p=arti...rom_fantastico

[easy2say]

What follows describes the process I followed to successfully migrate my three WP 2.5.1 installed with Fantastico to WP 2.6.1 via SimpleScript.

Why did I do so ?
Because I realized SimpleScripts is simple and gets more frequently updated then Fantastico and I needed WP 2.6 for running specific plugins and did not want to wait on Fantastico any longer.

Two of my existing WP installations were on subdomains (e.g. gymseng.internetsenzapatente.org) and one on the primary domain (e.g.internetsenzapatente.org)
each of them using a separate MySQL db.

in all cases I used the same directory name /wpblog for all WP installations.

Everything today is hosted by hostmonster.com

Credits to "guachiman" , I got inspiration from his post here http://www.bluehostforum.com/showthread.php?t=12972 and made several simplifications.

If you are unconfortable - like I was - to put at risk your valuable working WP site I suggest you create a guinea-pig new & disposable WP site using Fantastico and get experience and courage with it.

Good luck.
easy2do-is-easy2say

1) I made a full backup of the my entire hostmonster home dir just using cPanel-Files-BackupWizard , and left it on my remote host just in case ....

note:
in doing so I automatically collected as part of the backup all my installed plugins, themes, and already uploaded pictures, residing under /wp-content folder from my original Wordpress Installation for all of the three installations

2) from now on I chose a specific target installation "gymseng" out of the three

3) I collected , and copied aside, name and password of WP Administrator for the WP existing installation

4) I collected and copied aside the MySQL data related to each of the above WP existing installation needed for the next step, namely:
db name
db user
db password
db hostname
table prefix

notes:
to do so I just used FileManager-View to browse each of the three wp-config.php files nested within the three wpblog directories
actually db hostname and table prefix all defaulted to "localhost" the first and "wp_" the second one


5) I deactived all my plugins and themes and reverted to the default theme

6) I used cPanel-FileManager-Rename to rename the subdirectory where I originally installed WP (for that specific target migration) and I renamed ti to a temporary name, from "gymseng/wpblog" to "gymseng/wpblog-backup"

note:
I could have used also any FTP client to do so, but FileManager is so easy...

7) I enabled Anonymous FTP, this is because SimpleScripts wants to create/restore backups in your domain.
notes:
I used cPanel and enabled both Anonymous FTP access and uploads
if you forget to do the enabling SimpleScripts will fail with a funny message complaining about "wrong permissions"

8) I used cPanel-SimpleScripts and started the install process

very important notes:
I carefully chose the same 2.5.1 WP version already installed by Fantastico
I chose the correct full path referring to the WP installation under migration by selecting the correct subdomain (e.g. gymseng.internetsenzapatente.org) and sudirectory (/wpblog)
In advanced configuration I unchecked generation of new admin and new Database and I filled out the data with what I collected and copied above in step 4)

9) I disabled Anonymous FTP. Yes I am always concerned with security...

10) I replaced entirely the new "gymseng/wpblog/wp-content" folder with the "gymseng/wpblog-backup/wp-content" folder, again using the sneak cPanel-FileManager-Copy
note:
once the Copy function would complete but nothing was replaced. I then renamed "gymseng/wpblog/wp-content" to "gymseng/wpblog/wp-content-backup" and this time the Copy worked. easy to do is easy to say....

11) I used cPanel-SimpleScripts and started the upgrade process from 2.5.1 to 2.6.1...it was a breeze !

12) I logged in to my now transitioned WP site and restored my theme and activated my plugins
note:
I forgot to revert to the default theme before migration but could still login and change theme but until I did so the WP site was freakily blank !

13) finally I did some home cleaning for Fantastico and deleted using cPanel-FileManager the folder HOME-DIRECTORY /.fantasticodata/WordPress/gymseng.internetsenzapatente.org|wpblog

note:
if you don't do the clean up Fantastico will not be able to access any of the remaining installations