SocialEngine Database Connection Fails

Error
Database query error

Hey guys. For years I've been a fan of Dolphin 7 because I was able to achieve so much with it. The profile match maker and form builder was a huge reason for me to keep it going. But, as it's reached end of life, well I figured I'd give Una a shot.

Before Dolphin, I used Social Engine. After migrating to there from PHPFox. I also used SocialEngine to migrate from Ning. I used a migration script to transfer my Ning data to PHPFox. And from PHPFox to Social Engine. I couldn't migrate anything to Dolphin until Una came out. So now I'm in a situation where I want to do that. And everything goes real well up until the point where Una fails to access the SocialEngine database. See error above.

I have a couple of questions. Mainly:

1. Why has this migration script not gotten an update since Una 9? Social Engine is working on and passing an update with v6 right now.

2. I don't know if this database error has anything to do with the php version of the server or not. But to me, it sounds like something isn't loading properly which leads me to suspect this may be the case. Do you know what PHP version Una 9 was compatible with for me to test further?

3. What actually gets imported into Una from Social Engine? Am I to believe it's just photo albums and blogs with profiles? Has anyone ever done an import before with the script created from Git Hub?

4. Why is some of the scripts, SEMigration included only available in Git Hub code reposatories rather than the Una Market? I assume this has to do with version numbers limiting installation or purchase capabilities. If that's the case, I definitely would consider Una not production ready even though it's turning out to be a real promising project.

Some suggestions:

1. Try getting Social Engine migration script ready for v5 as that has come and gone. If it's as simple as updating a database prefix in a row of tables when looking for existing data, nothing else would've changed too much.

2. Lets talk custom imports. By URL. By CSV. By users themselves, and. By administrators in bulk. For both content and modules respectively. With the option of exporting content in a universal format as GDPR would encourage. User's data belongs to them. Which means, they should be able to share it cross platform with little manual work. Obviously a custom embedding solution would need to be put in place. However, specifying what part of a website actually generates user content is key. and that can be done using simple HTML or text based formatting for the most part.

3. By current standards, Dolphin 7 still has more to offer than Una 13. Lets talk file albums. Sounds. Links. Apps. Importers. Matching. Custom sign up process. All the things that members really care about by how they are able to interact themselves with the website. Including having their own profile appearance. And word press integration. Social Engine, PHPFox and Ning has something Una doesn't have. That's activity. Ning because of profile customization. Social Engine because of unified navigation and page builder concepton a page by page basis. And PHPFox because of infinite scrolling for posts and pages for all apps. Yes Una has a page builder, but it's complicated to use and all the code is displayed in a php block. One wrong character accidentally entered, and you can't restore the original. Something all other platforms I'm trying to migrate away from has built in shields to prevent.

Basically I'm saying, what am I migrating to and why can't I complete the process for what your script supports out of the box from an install that hasn't changed from the core plugins in 7 years?

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Replies (5)
    • Hello Elshara Silverheart !

      As you may see the UNA Inc has the recently updated Social Engine migration tool https://una.io/page/view-product?id=56 Did you contact them and show your troubles? Also, may you please specify the text of your MySQL error? If it is the Database Connection Fails like in the title of your post - did you try to check the availability of that DB?

      • Hello,

        My comments below:

        1. Why has this migration script not gotten an update since Una 9? Social Engine is working on and passing an update with v6 right now.

        Yes, it was created long time ago and was not updated since then, because there were no requests for that. Social Engine migration tool it is paid service unlike Dolphin Migration. This service includes update script and help with migration to the latest UNA version.

        2. I don't know if this database error has anything to do with the php version of the server or not. But to me, it sounds like something isn't loading properly which leads me to suspect this may be the case. Do you know what PHP version Una 9 was compatible with for me to test further? 

        UNA 9 was compatible with php 5.6 and higher.

        3. What actually gets imported into Una from Social Engine? Am I to believe it's just photo albums and blogs with profiles? Has anyone ever done an import before with the script created from Git Hub? 

        Yes, by default these are SE photos which are migrated to UNA Albums module, profiles info with profile fields and Blogs to UNA Posts module. Migration tool can be extended (if you have some special content and UNA has appropriate module for this content). We have performed migration using this script for one of our clients. As I mentioned it is paid service and before to use the script we should check Social Engine version and content which your are going to migrate.

        4. Why is some of the scripts, SEMigration included only available in Git Hub code reposatories rather than the Una Market? I assume this has to do with version numbers limiting installation or purchase capabilities. If that's the case, I definitely would consider Una not production ready even though it's turning out to be a real promising project.

        Github repo contains development version and you should install official releases only. Some part of the modules are compatible only with future UNA versions which is not available yet and the same for old modules.

        • Hello,

          The database works fine. It's able to retrieve and execute data read write operations without any issue. It's the fact that Una didn't even try to establish a connection to that database that has me concerned. Because the second it attempted it, the very first words at the top of the thread is all the error showed for the entire page. Yet if I reloaded the page itself without sending any data, I went back to the main SE import screen. So something's definitely wrong with the script.

          Thanks for your help in identifying the problem. I've been able to test and confirm this same error applies to a fresh install as well.

          • Hello,

            That's rather disappointing to hear. Una seems very inconsistent to me. The official version of Una clearly doesn't support half the modules that can be downloaded from Git Hub. Which can be proven and verified via Una Market. So my question remains largely unanswered as to what you currently support development of.

            It is understandable that you favour development of Dolphin to Una migration, and I can agree that it's a higher priority than SocialEngine. You're encouraging in your official documentation that people download the Git Hub version of Una just to have access to the SE importer script, along with several other plugins that haven't received an update for some time.

            I was rather under the impression, that each Una module received development time fairly. I'm not really sure why some modules would just receive further development than others. I would suggest further clarification on what modules you are currently improving for active releases would go a long way in clearing up the confusion on ones already made for Una, and available even in current Git Hub branches of the main reposatory. As opposed to separate reposatories for retired Una modules to make it easier for people to be able to install what's currently being supported in the next upcoming release.

            You did mention that only blogs, albums and profiles are supported with the SocialEngine migration script. Yet Social Engine clearly offers a lot more than albums and posts. Everything from messages, to activity feeds, groups, events, music, videos, discussions, polls, classifieds. All modules you do support including file attachments is available to import. But yet you are charging people $1000.00 to import just profiles. And even then it's a high probability that you're going in to manually import databases. So really, the script you made is just a nice carrot. But it's not edible.

            Say I did pay that amount to you, would you only be able to import what your script can crawl once it is able to reach the database? It sounds like to me, a lot of effort is being made for certain clients over others. Which does make sense, but yet in some ways it doesn't. And I'm not sure what to trust as there's a lot of conflicting messages being sent to and from official and self hosted policies.

            In short, I still don't know what I'm getting with such a service. I was led to believe all content, but that isn't the case. And what you're marketing, has been pushed to the side. So this is a project that for now, I'm going to have to set aside until I can figure out the best way to move forward. Right now I have a community that needs a refresher, but not at the cost of broken pages and a database tool that fails on contact.

            To give you a reference point, PHPFox can import absolutely everything from a Social Engine site and SocialEngine can't even do the reverse, although they do try. So my situation isn't perfect, but I just wish I knew what I could count on for certain. Dolphin at least gave me that.

            • Most times when a site transfer is done, it would require custom support & implementation, as UNA fields are often customised, and may not neatly fit within the constraints of the Social Engine modules.

               if it were a paid service, we would customise the script to ensure that all the required modules were imported correctly into UNA. The existing Social Engine import module would have been the legacy of an import that was done previously, as there has not been a continuing demand for this service, we have not been required to update the script, although I'm sure it would be useful as a starting point if we were to develop a custom import script on your behalf. 

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