XF 2.0 Empty nodes after import from vB 3.8.1

[tourmeister]

Howdy,

I just completed a test import from vB 3.8.1 to XF2 using the import add-on in the Admin CP. There were no errors given during the process other than a few user accounts getting flagged for having things like commas in their usernames.

In the new XF2 forum there two child nodes that are completely empty of all content. Both were in the same parent node in vB and still are in XF2, so the structure is fine. One was open/active like all my other nodes and the other was closed/inactive. Both have identical permissions other than the closed/inactive setting for the one. Both have content that I need preserved and moved over to the XF2 install.

When viewing the main node list in XF2, the shared parent node is listed as private. When I enter the parent node, each child node is listed as private. When I enter either child node, it says there are no threads.

There is one other parent node on the main node list that shows as private even though on vB it is not restricted in any way. However, ALL of the child node content imported fine.

All other parent node/child node combinations seem to have imported fine.

I am not sure what to check so that I can get those two empty nodes to import correctly and what might be flagging them as private?

 

[tourmeister]

I was wondering if the following would help?

Shut down live site
Reset permissions on all forums/subforums to default
Export database to backup file for migration to new server

After doing the import into XF2, I'd just go through and tweak the permissions on the few forum sections that are restricted.

I can't really test this prior to doing it for real because I can't shut down my live site to try it.

 

[ŽivaAkcija]

do you try rebuild cache

 

[Paul B]

Do the threads and posts actually exist in the database?

You can confirm that by trying to access the URL of a thread, if you know it, otherwise look in the database.

If they do exist and are associated with a node, then it is likely a permissions issue.

 

[tourmeister]

Do the threads and posts actually exist in the database?

You can confirm that by trying to access the URL of a thread, if you know it, otherwise look in the database.

If they do exist and are associated with a node, then it is likely a permissions issue.

I am not sure where to look in the database or how tell if what I am viewing is connected to that particular forum node. The node number is 85. Will that be in the database where I can see it connected to a thread or post?

 

[Paul B]

The threads and posts tables will show whether the content exists.

Out of interest, what is the number of threads in the ACP?
You can use the Batch Update Threads function and leave all of the criteria as is to get a count.

Does the number equate with the VB installation?

 

[tourmeister]

Hmmm... So I loaded phpMyAdmin and did a table search based on node_id = 85 and it came back with zero results.

 

[tourmeister]

I did the same search on a few other nodes just to make sure I was doing it right and it came back with a list of all the threads for those nodes as expected. So I am assuming none of the content for the node in question was actually imported. Would this be related to permissions on the vB side of things prior to exporting the vB database? I was thinking that after I shut down the live site, I would revert ALL forums to default permissions prior to exporting to the backup file that I would use for the import into XF2.

 

[Paul B]

Front end forum permissions wouldn't prevent content being imported as they are unrelated.

Something else is preventing those threads/posts from being imported but I couldn't say what that is.
I don't think I've heard of a situation before where the threads and posts from one or two nodes haven't been imported.

 

[tourmeister]

Well, I will probably do at least one more test import prior to the final import. I have been doing a LOT of house cleaning on the live site in preparation for the move: nuking old threads, nuking inactive users, etc... Just trying to minimize the import time and potential issues. If it happens again, I may just try creating a new subforum on the live site and moving the content there, then removing the old subforum, and see if that takes care of it for some mysterious reason

 

[tourmeister]

Gaahh!!

I figured it out. I was searching the XF database thread table for the parent node id, which has NEVER had any threads in it, so of course that was coming back with zero results in the phpMyAdmin search. When I used the proper node id for the sub node, there are indeed threads in the subnode, so not an import issue with regard to missing data.

lt turned out to be a forum permission issue. When the various user groups were imported from vB, for some reason ALL usergroups, even the administrator, were set so they could not view the contents of the parent AND subnode. Once I figured that out, it was a simple matter to set the desired user groups so that they could view the contents of the subnode.

On the positive side of things, I now have a better understanding of how XF permissions work because of the time spent trying to figure out the problem