Moving forward with VM and Joomla 3.3.0

[devanstra]

I was wondering if anyone can suggest an ecommerce software that is compatible with Joomla 3.3.0.

Currently I'm using VirtueMart 1.1.9 with a Joomla 1.5.3 site. I am in the process of trying to migrate the Joomla site forward but don't know how to proceed with the VM migration as it hasn't been tested with Joomla 3.3.0.

My options are either go forward to Joomla 2.5.2 and use VM 2.0 ( not the best ideas since Joomla 2.5 is also being phased out) or find another ecommerce solution that works with Joomla 3.3.0.

I have still not completed the migration process of Joomla 1.5 - Joomla 2.5 but was successful migrating to Joomla 3.3.0 but I can't migrate my VM 1.1.9 to a version that is compatible with Joomla 3.3.0.

Any feedback about a good solution would be greatly appreciated, the entire migration of Joomla has been really problematic for me and I am not looking forward to the migration of VM at all either.

Thanks
Denise

[GJC Web Design]

I was wondering if anyone can suggest an ecommerce software that is compatible with Joomla 3.3.0.

he he - really think this is the wrong forum to ask on!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[AH]

VM for Joomla 3 is in testing still and is expected soon.

Both the 2.5 version and 3.x version of VM have migration tools as part of the software and they are pretty good for a non-customised store.

I would stick with VM as it has really improved in most areas over the past few years thanks to the efforts of the DEV team.

It will however take some work and testing to ensure migration works for your store.

The development team have looked at VM2.5 end of life and have an integrated package Joomla-VM combined release that they are looking to support for the next couple of years

At that point you can move to Joomla 3.x and VM 3

The migration will be a lot simpler than for VM1.x to VM2

If you test the migration yourself on a Joomla 2.5 site, you will see that it works suprisingly well.

Don't get disheartened - the leap is not that great but you will need to invest time understanding the NEW VM, I think you will find it worth the effort.

[devanstra]

Hi thanks for the response, I appreciate you feedback.

Since you seem to know what you are talking about I a was wondering if you can suggest any tips or tricks upgrading VM 1 to VM 2.

I still haven't successfully migrated Joomla 1.5 to Joomla 2.5 but I have been successful migrating Joomla 1.5 to Joomla 3.3.0 when I successfully migrate to Joomla 2.5,  I have no idea where to start with the VM process.

There are so many patches and version available should I go slow or can I just jump to VM2?

Thanks

[GJC Web Design]

If your going to use VM2.x then you have to get a successful upgrade from your J1.5 to J2.5 - this normally is straight forward and the joomla forum is the place for advice

ONCE you have a J2.5 with all your content and users migrated then do the following (ignore all VM stuff remaining )
- it is the way I upgrade from J1.5/VM1.1 to J2.5/VM2.6.6
others may do it differently - this is just a list I made to remind myself


1. rename all the old vm 1.1 comp and mod folders - i.e all the component (front and admin com_virtuemart renamed to com_virtuemart_old, all vm module files renamed to mod_xxxxxxx_old)

2. Move your virtuemart product/manufacturer/vendor image folders etc into images/stories/virtuemart/.... and there in the right subfolders. (category, manufacturer, product, vendor)
3. Disable the Joomla debug option in the Joomla configuration and if installed Akeeba System - System Restore Points.
4. Install VirtueMart 2 directly with the joomla installer! - v2.6.6  http://dev.virtuemart.net/attachments/download/755/com_virtuemart.2.6.6_extract_first.zip
5. Install the AIO component. It contains all the plugins and the modules related to VirtueMart.

6.  Go to the administrator, set the language(s) for your store, even if your store is not multi lingual and save the VirtueMart configuration. Check currency is correct.
7.  Enable The "Enable database Update tools" in Virtuemart Configuration
8.  Go to Tools/Tools & Migration "Migration" Tab
9.  Choose "Everything" and click "Start Migration"
10.  Click "Start Migration" as many times as it takes for all products to migrate

note - the old vm1.1 DB tables are named differently from VM2.xx - they will be still there after all this  - if all successful you can then delete them

[AH]

As GJC noted

There are many to migrate.

It really depends on your requirements
Have you customised aspects of the VM database


Here are my thoughts:-
I have added (what I felt were missing) fields in the order tables and product tables  so I have to make sure that I don't lose such data when I migrate
If you have no such customisation then that makes things simpler.

I want a clean cut so not interested in historic orders within the new dbase:-
I will keep a local version of the old system running on xampp for referrence/reporting/customer service purposes (and I can keep this for as long as I deem it relevant)  I  do this anyway as part of our business continuity strategy (regardless of my migration strategy) so no extra effort required

My requirements:-
Migrate the following:-
Registered user data
Products (we don't use child products)
Prices
Product images
Categories
Suppliers
Don't lose any historic orders and be able to reference them for our customers if required.  Customers will not be able to back reference but we will inform the "important" ones by mail.

Keep Product and Category VM id's the same We don.t want these modifying in the migration as We have business processes and reporting based on current values   if you use the stock migration tool without mods you will not get this ALL ids prod and category get changed!
Ensure that the Category List order we have in current VM is maintained (If you have sorted your products in a category and show them in category list order VM migration does not keep this!!  If you have your items appearing in this sequence and have spent any time doing this YOU WILL lose it if you use the stock migration tool without mods

Very brief outline:-
Setup a test environment in xampp or on your servers
I start from having a fully functional Joomla 2.5 installation with all my articles etc ported over
I install VM 2.6.6 (Latest stable)
Do a quick configuration
I modify the stock migration code to meet my needs regarding id's and additional data on product file (so it gets ported over)
I modify the existing code and database to take my new product fields and stop it trying to port irrelevant tables
I extract the VM tables and joomla user table from the existing database
Copy over the VM images directories
Import these to the new dbase
Run a quick piece of custom SQL to move the registered customers into the new joomla tables  (I found this somewhere and it works so I use it!)
Run the migration until all prods are migrated


OK so what are the benefits of this approach:-

1. If you have lots of records in your dbase you can reduce the volumes of products for a "test" by some simple database deletes
2. You can truncate the core VM data and run the migration lots of times to make sure you are happy
3. When happy we can try a full test migration
4. I dont have to move a load of orders from the old dbase (which can take ages and I was never happy with the result - could not be bothered spending ages to fix when the copy system in xampp met our business needs)

Downsides - and there are quite a few more than those on this list
1. You have to be a little more technical and not just a user
2. You have to be prepared to mode core code (but dont we all have to do that somewhere along the line?)
3. It takes longer than the push the button and pray approach


This is a migration so ALWAYS USE A TEST SETUP FOR THIS FIRST

[devanstra]

Hi and thank all of you for your feedback, no shortage of knowledge or good advice from your posts.

I didn't originally implement the VM onto this site, but I did add all the products and accompanying product information. So, lets assume that I am fairly green when it comes to how VM works, modifying table data, and configuration files. I am willing to learn, despite the frustration, because I see how important it is to understand the workings of a site like this and basically enjoy the learning curve. I am already working on a test site and have full access to the server, php admin and the msql database.

All that being said let me clarify that this site is a catalog of products, nothing has been for sale, at least not yet.
The information that I need to migrate is categories, a few articles, and all products have a description, image, and at least one accompanying PDF file.

Does this make things easier?

Thanks
Denise

[jenkinhill]

It is not too difficult to migrate VM, in fact I have found it more of a problem migrating Joomla. If you have difficulty understanding the data structure and migration process then there is a third party migrator component which can import just about everything, Joomla content and VM content, additional files etc.  http://extensions.virtuemart.net/import-export/virtuemart-migrator-detail   I have not used it myself but have seen how good it is in action.

[AH]

If you are wanting to learn I would set yourself up a local environment using xampp
That way you can mess around with anything you want

Then try looking into the dbase but don't bother with phpmyadmin, I use heidisql for looking at the dbase and trying out sql
http://www.heidisql.com/download.php


Regarding the migration,

If you have done the joomla bit,  I would use the migration option supplied with VM2 for the product and category stuff.  Not worth spending cash on it as does not sound  complex.

[devanstra]

Regarding the migration,

If you have done the joomla bit,  I would use the migration option supplied with VM2 for the product and category stuff.  Not worth spending cash on it as does not sound  complex.

I have successfully upgraded Joomla to 2.5 and have installed VirtueMart 2.6.6 on this new site.  After getting through the migration of Joomla I know that the data migrated has to be defined somewhere and I do not see this anywhere in Virtuemart/tools/tools and migration.

Is it different from the joomla migration in this sense, because I don't see any of my products or categories, so I don't think I migrated any information from my existing virtuemart site. Here is a screen shot of what was listed after start migration.

Also, so many scary options under Updating & Data migration. Is this part of the process because I am nervous to click anything.

Thanks again
Denise