Reinstalling Shop and Migration from Old Modified Shop

[Nem]

Hi

 

I've got the task of doing a fresh install of the most up to date version of osC for our car club's website.

 

The current shop has been running for about 5 years now, during which time I don't think it has been updated to newer versions when / if they were released. On top of this the people who have maintained the shop to this point have made a number of modifications to suit our needs as a car club, with extra fields and order status' and more. I've been told to not try an update to the latest version as the modifications will basically cripple the shop. So a complete fresh install is needed.

 

What I need to do basically is to set up a new shop from the most stable release and then migrate the existing products, customers and order over to it somehow. But I also need to keep the extra fields for the customers intact, this is the most important part as it is how we keep our club membership database.

 

It looks like the modifications and extra fields are not installed from actual osC mods / ad-ons but are coded by hand, so I think I'm going to struggle to get this done easily. I'm thinking the best method could be to do a fresh install, install the extra fields mod and set that up for the fields I need / currently use, and then try and make a converter to take the current customer table and drop it into the correct fields in the new database.

 

Can anyone see any major problems with that way? Also do the same for the products and orders if it's possible.

 

One side question, I've downloaded a "free template" which I've customised for my site layout. This was provided by one of these template sites as a demo to have a look at what you get if you buy a template, but it actually has the perfect colour and layout for what I needed. The template I have as a demo is also available to buy for $140 which seems a lot of cash for what it is, especially as we are a non-profit car club, so I'm almost tempted to just use the template I already have. But the main question is really are there any issues with running templates in general? What happens if there are code updates, do I then need the update of the template, as the demo I have is a complete osC install, it's not like a style you apply to an existing install like I'm used to with phpBB.

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Nick

[FIMBLE]

Nic,

You should be able to use the database with no problem, you might need to update the php files that effect the mods.

Depends on who made the changes on your template, some are kind to soc code some dont give a damn.

In order to change the way osc looks changes have had to be made to it so beware of that.

 

Nic

[Nem]

I've just tried to use the old database with the new template and it seems to have pretty much worked.

 

But the Admin side cannot be accessed, incorrect table name error.

 

I've rolled back to the new database and all working again. Tommorrow I'll see if I can just import the customers, procudts and orders tables rather than break the new database schema.

 

The template I have is:

 

http://osc3.template-help.com/free_osComme...template_ms_22/

 

http://www.templatemonster.com/oscommerce-...ates/19466.html

 

From Template Monster. If anyone has anything to say about their templates. But I've seen the same template supplied by multiple online stores tho.

 

It's currently customised to look like this:

 

http://nickgoodall.co.uk/ttoc/catalog/

 

Thanks

 

Nick