Copy Customer from one Site to Another

[Best Price Accessori]

Hi,

I have been working on a new site behind the scenes that is completed with new products etc.

How do I transfer the customers details to the new site? I cant do a full database swap as all the products are on the new site.

Thanks

[Ajeh]

You need at least:
address_book
customers
customers_info

If you need Gift Certificate balances, Group assignments etc. you will need more of the tables ...

[Best Price Accessori]

Thanks for that.

And if I was to transfer over the orders would it just be the 7 orders _xxx tables in database?

[Ajeh]

Backup your database ... and in theory, you should just need those tables ...

However ...

Be aware that if you are working with different versions of Zen Cart that there could be database changes that need to be looked at for your database ...

[Guptyboy]

I know this thread is a little old ... but I figure its still relevant, atleast for me

Are there any db changes to be aware of between 1.3.8a and 1.3.9d? I'm about to do some tests and will report back.

[DrByte]

Yes, there are many changes between the versions.

If you're going to do such HIGHLY-DISCOURAGED things like selectively copying individual records or tables from one store/database to another, you MUST make sure BOTH databases are THE SAME VERSION level before doing such actions.
AND you need to be ABSOLUTELY SURE that you're actually copying ALL the relevant data from ALL the affected tables from your selective subset of data records.
AND, if you're copying only single customers (as this thread title originally suggests), then you'll need to VERY CAREFULLY properly RENUMBER the customer records in all affected places so as to not create a clash in your new database tables.

Not something to be done without solid database handling skills ... unless of course you don't mind the downtime involved with trying to recover from corrupted data in your database.

[Guptyboy]

So here is what I did ... I have never done anything like this before, so dont take what I say for granted ... I didnt see any 'step-by-step' instructions like so many other threads, I thought I'd try to contribute to what I have found to be a wonderful community.

Notes:

- I am unsure of any DB changed between versions
- I transferred my database from 1.3.8a to 1.3.9d
- I used myphpadmin on my hosts cpanel
- PHP version is 5.2.13
- SQL version is MySQL 5.1.47
- we are assuming you are transferring data into a CLEAN database (that has no customers)

CAUTIONS!

- BACKUP your database before you do ANYTHING!


To transfer customers from one database to another:

STEP 1

1. Access your phpMyAdmin
2. click on the 'Databases' tab at the top of the screen
3. click on the name of the database from the list
4. Click on the 'Export' tab at the top of the screen
5. Select the database tables from the top left of the screen (its labelled Select All / Unselect All) - you can select more then one table at the same time by using CTRL (i selected the 3 tables suggested by Ajeh)
6. Leave all other settings as their defaults
7. Note - At the lower right of the screen is a drop-down field (defaults to INSERT) labelled, Export Type. There are 3 options, fairly self-explanatory ... we want to INSERT these records into a new database
8. Click on the GO button at the lower right of the screen - the file will be downloaded to your computer

Congratulations - you have so far managed to collect the Customers details from the database you no longer need

Lets transfer them (or INSERT them) into the new database ...

Note - if both databases are hosted by the same host, then you can follow these instructions directly - otherwise you will need to repeat steps 1-3 and in step 3, select the new database

STEP 2

1. From the very top left of the screen, beneath the phpMyAdmin logo, use the drop down to select the database for which you want to INSERT the customers details
2. Click on the Import tab at the top of the screen
3. In the section labelled 'File to import' click on the 'Choose File' button and browse to the downloaded SQL file
4. leave all other settings as their Defaults
5. Click on the GO button at the lower right of the screen
6. You will either see an fairly obvious error message, or a small green notification bar at the top of the screen "Import has been successfully finished, xx queries executed"

Checking to make sure

1. from the list of database tables on the left side of the screen, click on address_book
2. You should see the details of the customers you imported
3. Using an account you created in the original database (surely you created an account for yourself), try logging in to the new version of your shopping cart, complete with imported customers.

STEP 3



Have a beer, feel happy ... you've successfully copied your customers data from one database to another

[Guptyboy]

Yes, there are many changes between the versions.

If you're going to do such HIGHLY-DISCOURAGED things like selectively copying individual records or tables from one store/database to another, you MUST make sure BOTH databases are THE SAME VERSION level before doing such actions.
AND you need to be ABSOLUTELY SURE that you're actually copying ALL the relevant data from ALL the affected tables from your selective subset of data records.
AND, if you're copying only single customers (as this thread title originally suggests), then you'll need to VERY CAREFULLY properly RENUMBER the customer records in all affected places so as to not create a clash in your new database tables.

Not something to be done without solid database handling skills ... unless of course you don't mind the downtime involved with trying to recover from corrupted data in your database.

Everything seems to be working fine ... perhaps I shouldnt have been so hasty in trying to contribute my post? I took backups of both databases, and both shopping carts just in case.

Could I still have issues even though I saw that green "success" message? Should I restore my backups before I do anything more? .. you post sounds SCARY - CAPS HAVE AN INFLUENCE DONT THEY!

[DrByte]

Just because you "successfully imported" a set of SQL statements doesn't mean that the data itself is good and properly matches the new database's proper structure.

As I said, YOU MUST UPGRADE THE OLD DATABASE FIRST before exporting any data that you want to import to another database of a newer version level.
AND you must make sure you actually select all the related records from all the inter-related normalized database tables, otherwise you will have partial data and things will be out of sync and produce unexpected results, even fatal and/or unexplainable errors both on storefront and admin.

If you're gonna blindly move things between databases, at least make sure you're working with apples on both sides, not apples on one and oranges on the other.

[osaeed]

Both apples and oranges do go together in a fruit salad though :)