I am more than confused

aliciaInPgh · Post by **aliciaInPgh** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 7:53 pm

The following is the basic SRT
Your board's URL: http://hindsightis2020.net

Version of phpBB2: 2.0.21 when I last had it working correctly

Was this a fresh install or a(n) update/upgrade/conversion (please be specific)?
I was trying to update to version 3.0.4, but it seems I was only able to get Fantastico to update to 3.0.3, according to the board stats on the ACP index

Did you use an automated wizard provided by your host to install phpBB?
I used Fantastico, provided by SiteGround.com

MODs you have installed: I did not originally create this board, do I am unsure if any mods were in place. My ex-boyfriend set up the site, and when he wanted nothing more to do with it, I had to pay siteground to become my new host.

When the problem started: The problem started when I realized there would be no more support for phpbb2.x so I figured I would have to upgrade. Two days ago, after trying to read the instructions to do this change several times, I managed to create the new phpBB3.x board, but I have no idea how to get the data from the 2.x (posts, members, PMs, etc) migrated into the new board.

Your level of expertise (be honest): I have very little knowledge, other than what little things I have been shown. I still have trouble FTPing things (using Filezilla), but I tried to keep going in and using the 2.0.21's back-up function in the admin, and did so before I tried, and messed up this conversion.

Additionally, you may wish to provide the following (where applicable)
Template(s) used: I'm not sure what a template is
Language(s) used: if you are referring to the language I speak, then English (United States)
Version of PHP used: it seems to now be phpbb 3.0.3, but I was using 2.0.21 on the old board. I had wanted to try to upgrade to 2.0.23, but could never figure out how, and was never brave enough to try, for fear I would hose my board, like I have done now, it seems.
Database and version used: Is this what you are asking? MySQL(i) 5.0.51a-community-log

Honestly I am at my wit's end trying to figure out where to post for assistance on this. I'm sure the answers I need are out there; I just haven't stumbled upon them in words that make sense to me, you know... dumbed down for the novice.

Can you help me at all?

Post by **KevC** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 7:55 pm

Information on how to convert from phpBB2 to phpBB3 is here.

Basically, you must have both phpBB2 and phpBB3 installed on the same server/site. After you have finished installing phpBB3 you will have the option to convert your phpBB2 board using the built in converter. The information it asks you for is related to the phpBB2 installation and can be found in its config.php file on the server. All of your users, posts, forums, PMs etc are converted. However, styles and MODs are not (with the exception of the birthday and attachment MODs which are supported by the converter). The phpBB2 database is not converted per se, it is merely read and converted/moved to the new phpBB3 database, so if it goes wrong your old board will not be affected at all. At the end of the conversion, once you're happy it's all working, your phpBB2 database and files can be backed up and removed if you so wish. They are not connected to the new installation in any way.

aliciaInPgh · Post by **aliciaInPgh** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 8:49 pm

Kevin Clark wrote:Information on how to convert from phpBB2 to phpBB3 is here.

yes, Kevin... I tried to address that already. I have read and printed out and reread that many times now... have a copy in my hand even, but I am even more confused than I was before.

Kevin Clark wrote:Basically, you must have both phpBB2 and phpBB3 installed on the same server/site. After you have finished installing phpBB3 you will have the option to convert your phpBB2 board using the built in converter. The information it asks you for is related to the phpBB2 installation and can be found in its config.php file on the server. All of your users, posts, forums, PMs etc are converted. However, styles and MODs are not (with the exception of the birthday and attachment MODs which are supported by the converter). The phpBB2 database is not converted per se, it is merely read and converted/moved to the new phpBB3 database, so if it goes wrong your old board will not be affected at all. At the end of the conversion, once you're happy it's all working, your phpBB2 database and files can be backed up and removed if you so wish. They are not connected to the new installation in any way.

yes... I read that whole bit before too especially the part about once I am happy... and I have not been able to get to happy. As far as I know from what I read and tried to do, both boards are still in the folder I have on the server. I never removed anything that I know of.

I was even talking through the steps with the support guy from Siteground while using Fantastico thing, and when I didn't understand a question, he tried to give me what I was supposed to be typing in... and at the same time I was trying to look through this forum for what I wasn't getting. When the forum was finished with what it told me (and the guy from siteground told me) with the conversion, I opened it and just had a new 3.0.3 board with nothing in it and only one registered member... me. the admin. This is when the siteground guy told me I would need to ask here how and what to do next.

Please remember that I don't understand a lot of the lingo and have difficulty with a lot of what I am reading and saying regarding this support forum, and I feel like if I accidentally say the wrong thing, no one will help me, and I will have 6 unhappy members at my now empty board forever.

.

Post by **KevC** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 8:52 pm

Don't worry about saying the wrong thing. We all had to start somewhere. It's just a question of slowly getting to grips with some of the lingo and working out what we have.

So, what is the address of the phpBB2 board?

themcman1 · Post by **themcman1** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 8:58 pm

aliciaInPgh wrote: I was even talking through the steps with the support guy from Siteground while using Fantastico thing, and when I didn't understand a question, he tried to give me what I was supposed to be typing in... and at the same time I was trying to look through this forum for what I wasn't getting. When the forum was finished with what it told me (and the guy from siteground told me) with the conversion, I opened it and just had a new 3.0.3 board with nothing in it and only one registered member... me. the admin. This is when the siteground guy told me I would need to ask here how and what to do next.

If you have an empty 3.0.3 board you need to run the converter to move your posts over from your old board to your new one.

EDIT: Reading through your post; are you sure it was a conversion you were doing and not the installation. You currently have a default installation.

aliciaInPgh · Post by **aliciaInPgh** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 9:03 pm

Kevin Clark wrote:Don't worry about saying the wrong thing. We all had to start somewhere. It's just a question of slowly getting to grips with some of the lingo and working out what we have.

So, what is the address of the phpBB2 board?

now? the phpbb 2.0.21 seems to not be there and the 3.0.3 is there in it's place... since both boards have/had the same address

Post by **KevC** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 9:07 pm

To convert, you must have both the phpBB2 and phpBB3 boards running at the same time.

Sounds like siteground have removed the 2x board and installed a 3x board.

The conversion does not touch the 2x board at all.

You need to ask them where your phpBB2 board has been moved to. If they have removed it, you need to ask them if they have a backup of the database from it.

aliciaInPgh · Post by **aliciaInPgh** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 9:18 pm

siteground tutorial says to start the conversion using Fantastico one has to check a box marked

http://netenberg.com/phpBB/docs/INSTALL.html#convert

which takes me to one of the places you have told me to read, or someone's copy of it.

"You basically need to follow the basic instructions given for New installations. Please do not overwrite any old files - install phpBB3 at a different location.

Once you made a backup of everything and also have a brand new phpBB3 installation, you can now begin the conversion.

Note that the conversion requires CREATE and DROP privileges for the phpBB3's database user account."

so I am supposed to follow the instructions for a new installation up to a certain point.... I will even do it all again if you like, one step at a time, so I can see whatever I did wrong

aliciaInPgh · Post by **aliciaInPgh** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 9:21 pm

Kevin Clark wrote:To convert, you must have both the phpBB2 and phpBB3 boards running at the same time.

Sounds like siteground have removed the 2x board and installed a 3x board.

The conversion does not touch the 2x board at all.

You need to ask them where your phpBB2 board has been moved to. If they have removed it, you need to ask them if they have a backup of the database from it.

I don't think they removed anything. I backed up the 2.0.21 database, as far as I know, to a folder my own computer before I started any of this.

Post by **KevC** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 9:26 pm

If nothing was removed then you should still be able to see a link to your old board.

It sounds more like they have just run an installation of phpBB3 overwriting your 2x board.

This is the very important part

aliciaInPgh wrote:Please do not overwrite any old files

Before you even think about converting you must have phpBB2 working and phpBB3 installed and working.
You need to ask Siteground where the phpBB2 board is now running.
If they've overwritten it you need to get them to put it back on. That's your priority at the moment. You can't convert what isn't there.

aliciaInPgh · Post by **aliciaInPgh** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 10:13 pm

according to their website...

Siteground Helpdesk says:
I have upgraded my application with Fantastico, but it broke. What do I do?

Before upgrading an application, Fantastico always creates a backup. This backup can be found in the fantastico_backup directory. To restore it yourself, please follow these simple steps:

1) Login to your Cpanel -> FileManager utility and navigate to the fantastico_backups folder.
2) Select the backup archive file (it should be something.tgz file).
3) Extract it and copy the whole public_html folder, over the one you currently have. Select yes to override all the files.
4) Navigate to the public_html folder and download the sql backup file.
5) Go to Cpanel -> phpMyAdmin, select the database that your application uses and then drop all tables that are inside.
6) Click the 'SQL' button and upload the sql backup file content.
7) You will end up having both the database restored and the files copied, thus your application will work exactly as it did before the upgrade.

If you'd like our support team to help you restore the backup, please request a Back Up restore from our Exclusive Professional Services Help Desk section. Please note that the professional back up restore is a subject to an additional fee. You can request this Back up restore here.

How to uninstall an application?

For applications installed with Fantastico, this is just as easy as installing a script. Go to Fantastico, select the script you want to remove from the menu to see a list of the installed instances. You will see a "Remove" link associated with all the installations. You should always use this method for removing Fantastico-installed scripts. Removing them manually is not recommended.

For applications that have been installed manually, this is done by removing the files associated with the application (usually the whole folder) and the MySQL database. The files/folders can be deleted through your cPanel File Manager tool or via the FTP. The MySQL databases can be deleted from your cPanel MySQL control center. Next to the database name you will find a 'Delete' button. Clicking it will complete the uninstall.

Please, make sure you are deleting the correct database -- to verify, look in the configuration file of the application to see what database it uses. Also, make sure no other applications use the same database.

Do you understand what they are saying in these, and can either or both help me at all?

Post by **KevC** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 10:24 pm

We don't support fantastico simply because it messes up a lot of things just like this. You can click install and not really know what it's overwriting and where.

I still suspect basically it's overwritten your phpBB2 installation with a phpBB3 one.

If you have the phpBB2 database backup it should be possible to recover it but you need to stop using fantastico and learn about uploading files yourself with FTP. Or possibly simpler, just get siteground to restore it for you so you can get the phpBB2 board back and then when that's done, come back and we'll try and sort out installing phpBB3 and converting.

aliciaInPgh · Post by **aliciaInPgh** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 10:46 pm

Kevin Clark wrote:We don't support fantastico simply because it messes up a lot of things just like this. You can click install and not really know what it's overwriting and where.

I still suspect basically it's overwritten your phpBB2 installation with a phpBB3 one.

If you have the phpBB2 database backup it should be possible to recover it but you need to stop using fantastico and learn about uploading files yourself with FTP. Or possibly simpler, just get siteground to restore it for you so you can get the phpBB2 board back and then when that's done, come back and we'll try and sort out installing phpBB3 and converting.

as I said before, I backed up the database file on my computer. Shouldn't I be able to ftp it back in using filezilla, and get rid of whatever went in when I used Fantastico. I only used it because people told me it was easy to use. I can ftp a little bit, with a little guidance, when I know which things I am supposed to upload and where I am supposed to put them.

Post by **KevC** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 11:08 pm

It depends what you actually have.

You would need to get the database into phpmyadmin where the database is stored.
How big is the file you have and does it end in .sql?

aliciaInPgh · Post by **aliciaInPgh** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 11:15 pm

Kevin Clark wrote:It depends what you actually have.

You would need to get the database into phpmyadmin where the database is stored.
How big is the file you have and does it end in .sql?

it is called phpbb_db_backup, and it an SQL file. it's what is created when you select full database backup in the admin index and it is 8.45 MB

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