MORE transfer issues......

[gretzlertech]

I've just tried to transfer my site from localhost at the homestead here to lunarpages server as per the instructions in the FAQ. I've been working on this nightmare all day. After installation, I go into admin and switch templates but several things appear to be missing. All my items are gone, my conditions of use policy, tax settings, layout boxes controller settings (I'm using the reset default layout boxes plug-in), but my main page text is still there. Is there some reason I need to go through the install process over again? Can't I just upload my existing file structure, modify my configure.php files, set the permissions on them to read only and let it ride? Not really sure what the re-install does besides modify these files and muck everything up. Any thoughts?

[Ryk]

When you switch the template, go to admin > tools > layout boxes controller and hit Reset - perhaps your plug-in isn't working correctly.

Or idid you mean you already did that?

[gretzlertech]

I did try that. When I go into the layout boxes menu straight after install all the side boxes are in the off state. After I hit the update button all the boxes are in the on state. That is NOT what I saved as the default. That still doesn't explain where all my products and pages went off to.

[schoolboy]

Lunarpages has just (last weekend) upgraded to MySQL 5.

What version of ZC are you running? Anything older than 1.3.5 may struggle with MySQL 5.

You say that your tax settings have gone wonky. This is a Dbase setting.

How did you import your existing database (from homestead) into new database (lunarpages)?

In the past, I have done a simple FTP of the webshop to a new server, and using phpMyAdmin, exported the database using EXPORT as SQL, then copying the dump into Crimson Editor.

Then, create your new dbase on lunarpages C-Panel (MySQL), then login to phpMyAdmin on lunarpages, and using the SQL window, copy and paste logical sections of the sql off Crimson Editor. This will CREATE the tables and INSERT the data appropriately.

You'll now have an IDENTICAL dbase on your server at lunarpages as you do at home.

Apart from the configure.php files, the most important thing is to use fix_cache_key.php (see downloads/troubleshooting) to set the cache_write directory to the correct path.

So if everything goes okay - your shop will show. I just did this exact thing with www.des-uk-shop.com

[gretzlertech]

Okay, first, I have to say that I've always loved the word "wonky". But I digress....

I am running the latest version of zen cart. The way I did it was through phpmyadmin at home here. I exported and saved as an SQL file with the following checked:
structure:
add AUTO_INCREMENT value
enclose table and field notes with backquotes
SQL export compatability: none
Data:
use hexidecimal for binary fields
export type: insert
save as file.

On the other end (again in phpmyadmin) I dumped all the existing data from the database and used the browse option to snag the file from my computer. The nice (but slightly clueless) lady at lunarpages tech support said not to touch the character set of the file option (set at utf8 by default) but I think that she new what that meant about as much as I did. That was it. I'm not really sure what the heck you do with the editor (I'm using PSpad by the way, crimson editor pissed me off) but the file structure in both phpmyadmins looks the same. Not sure about the internal structure though. So what did I do wrong?

[gretzlertech]

Sorry, I forgot, I tried fix_cache_key.php and I got an error. I have the path set to the public_html/store/cache directory in the configure.php files and I have caching disabled anyway so does that even still have any effect?

[gretzlertech]

One more thing....
I just compared the storetax_class and storetax_rates tables and they are identical. Not sure what the values are supposed to be but they work on this end and not the other.

[gretzlertech]

Anyone else want to field this one?

[schoolboy]

The other thing I do (even if the dbase is BIG), is use WINMERGE to compare the NEW dbase with the OLD dbase. Winmerge will highlight all differences between the two files and allow you to make intelligent/informed choices about what needs changing.

I have just upgraded a webshop from ZC 1.2.5 (yes, that's going back to the jurassic era) to 1.3.6 . I did it using the FRESH INSTALL method, creating a new dbase in the process.

Fortunately, I have a meticulous record of all my custom over-rides, so changing these only took 2 hours. I spent a further 6 hours with the old and new database structures in winmerge, editing the data to comply with the new structure, then copied all the INSERT INTO information into the new dbase, then, using the import SQL window in phpMyAdmin, populated the dbase.

It's time consuming, but in 8 hours I had the old webshop OFF and the new one ON.

Further than that, I can't help...