PinPics Posted September 29, 2023 Posted September 29, 2023 In AdminCP/Members there is the "Import Member List" option. Is this only for lists from other IPS communities, or would we be able to use this to import accounts from the system we have currently running on our site to our new IPS community?
Solution teraßyte Posted September 29, 2023 Solution Posted September 29, 2023 You can import any list really, as long as it is in a CSV format and contains at least the required field to create an account (name, email, etc.). Marc and PinPics 1 1
Marc Posted September 29, 2023 Posted September 29, 2023 Its actually built specifically for the purpose of being to import in quite a generic format, so people can use it to import from different sources. As mentioned above, as long as it contains the require fields, and is in the CSV format, it can be used. PinPics 1
PinPics Posted October 2, 2023 Author Posted October 2, 2023 I've asked my tech guy -- and he thinks it will be no problem to generate the list, but he wants to make sure that will not mess up the OAuth he's set up. Would it? It'd be nice if we can import all members into the IPS right away, rather than have to wait for them to sign-in for the first time after the OAuth is activated. But we'd be using OAuth from then on, since we are going to be using the IPS profiles. Hopefully, that all makes sense. I don't really know very much about this. 🙂 Thanks!
Marc Posted October 3, 2023 Posted October 3, 2023 It will not 'mess up' the oauth, but what it will mean is when people log in, it will say they already have an account and ask them to link it up. So they would have to sign in with their standard login (which would be the one you created with the importer) and link it from account settings PinPics 1
PinPics Posted October 3, 2023 Author Posted October 3, 2023 Thanks! That sounds fine. I'll let my tech guy know. 🙂 Marc 1
PinPics Posted October 3, 2023 Author Posted October 3, 2023 Okay, I've gotten a list from my tech guy. It does include required fields (usernames, e-mails) -- but it also contains other fields. Will it still work? Or do I need a list with only username and e-mails? I've tried to find if there is a Help Guide for this, but I'm not seeing one in search results. Will this notify members when the accounts are imported? We have not made our IPS portion of the site public and still need a few more weeks. But it would be handy to have the accounts all included in there before it is fully released to the community.
teraßyte Posted October 4, 2023 Posted October 4, 2023 (edited) You can map every value in the CSV file to the corresponding column in the IPS database on the import page. In the import form there is also a Yes/No option Send confirmation email? that you can leave disabled and the users won't receive any notification of their account. Edited October 4, 2023 by teraßyte
Marc Posted October 4, 2023 Posted October 4, 2023 It doesn't matter about it containing other fields, no. Once selected, you will be given the option to map your fields to the fields on the system.
PinPics Posted October 4, 2023 Author Posted October 4, 2023 Thank you! I plucked up the courage to have a look in there, and I see the selecting options for the fields. That's nice. Once we've officially opened the new area to the public, we will be using the profiles from IPS, but we'll be using the sign-in through OAuth from our site as is. If I import this member list and do not select to send confirmation e-mail, what will that look like to the members when we turn the OAuth on and they are able to some into the IPS profile. Will they have to sign-in with any special notice?
Marc Posted October 4, 2023 Posted October 4, 2023 Im not sure what you mean when you say what will that look like? A profile will look the same as any other new member.
PinPics Posted October 4, 2023 Author Posted October 4, 2023 2 hours ago, Marc Stridgen said: Im not sure what you mean when you say what will that look like? A profile will look the same as any other new member. Sorry. I probably worded that poorly. When the users come in to sign-in the first time, will it be the same as just signing in? Right now, we've tested it by turning on the OAuth to allow a couple accounts to sign-in -- getting them access to the IPS area. When they do that initial sign-in, they have to authorize the account access and agree to terms of service. Once they click yes, though, all is normal. Will it be any different if I import the entire list, or is that all they'll see when they come in to sign-in there?
teraßyte Posted October 4, 2023 Posted October 4, 2023 It should be the same I think, but I'm not 100% sure honestly. To be completely sure import a single test account, and then try logging in with that account yourself to see what happens. PinPics 1
PinPics Posted October 4, 2023 Author Posted October 4, 2023 Thanks! I'll try that and post back about what happens. The worst that happens, if something here does not seem to go right, would be that I would delete all member accounts imported to the particular member group and start again, correct? Sorry to be asking so many questions. I just don't do well when not knowing what to expect. 🙂
teraßyte Posted October 4, 2023 Posted October 4, 2023 Yep, you can just delete the member accounts and start back from scratch. Or you can take a backup of the forum before importing, and simply restore it if something doesn't work with the process, too. PinPics 1
PinPics Posted October 4, 2023 Author Posted October 4, 2023 Perfect. We have a daily backup, so that is good.
Jim M Posted October 4, 2023 Posted October 4, 2023 1 hour ago, PinPics said: Perfect. We have a daily backup, so that is good. Just a quick comment. In my years of being a server administrator, before making a large change, I typically recommend taking a backup right before so if you need to restore, you lose less. Think of it not about having a backup from earlier but if it was at 5am, what have you done today? Is it worth losing that if you can help it? 🙂 Most backups take a few minutes to run so just food for thought. PinPics 1
PinPics Posted October 4, 2023 Author Posted October 4, 2023 56 minutes ago, Jim M said: Just a quick comment. In my years of being a server administrator, before making a large change, I typically recommend taking a backup right before so if you need to restore, you lose less. Think of it not about having a backup from earlier but if it was at 5am, what have you done today? Is it worth losing that if you can help it? 🙂 Most backups take a few minutes to run so just food for thought. Thanks so much for that! Actually, that's exactly perfect. I always do anything big like this shortly after the scheduled backup. The server tech has told me the time, and I'll try this shortly after that tomorrow. Thanks so much for the advice!! Jim M 1
PinPics Posted November 13, 2023 Author Posted November 13, 2023 Quick question on this, because I'm almost ready to import all our member list. There are a few accounts that we have already synched through the OAuth. That means that I have about five accounts already in the IPS area that will be included in the CSV file of member accounts imported. Will that cause a problem, or will it just skip those accounts?
Jim M Posted November 13, 2023 Posted November 13, 2023 4 minutes ago, PinPics said: Will that cause a problem, or will it just skip those accounts? Display name and email are unique in our system so if there are found existing users with those items, they will be skipped. PinPics 1
PinPics Posted November 13, 2023 Author Posted November 13, 2023 21 minutes ago, Jim M said: Display name and email are unique in our system so if there are found existing users with those items, they will be skipped. Perfect. Thanks! I just wanted to make sure (before doing it) that it wouldn't jam the whole transfer or anything like that. 🙂 Jim M 1
PinPics Posted November 18, 2023 Author Posted November 18, 2023 One more question, which I think is an easy one. 🙂 We've successfully imported our member list into the IPS and everything is going very well. I've just been able to get a CSV file of our members though that includes the day their account was made (dating back to 2001). If I were to reupload in the Import Member area, will it be able to allow me to add that column as registration date to accounts that are already imported? Or when an account is present, does it skip all fields? Thanks!
teraßyte Posted November 18, 2023 Posted November 18, 2023 (edited) 13 minutes ago, PinPics said: Or when an account is present, does it skip all fields? Yes, it skips the account. The code doesn't account for updating existing ones. Your only options are: Delete the imported members and re-import them with the proper field selected for the join date. If the accounts are only a few, manually update the unix timestamps directly in the database. (Always make a backup before any manual edits.) If you have a lot of accounts, create a script to automatically update the joined unix timestamp. Give up on updating the joined date. 😋 Edited November 18, 2023 by teraßyte PinPics and Randy Calvert 1 1
PinPics Posted November 18, 2023 Author Posted November 18, 2023 I think that option #4 will probably be the way we'll go, then . . . it's over 10,000 accounts. 🙂
teraßyte Posted November 18, 2023 Posted November 18, 2023 Yeah. With 10k accounts, options #1 and #2 aren't really feasible. 😅 The only real option would be #3. A quick script to import a CSV file that contains only the account email and their joined date. It could quickly go through the data to update the date column in the members' table using the email. It should be easy enough for your developer in case you want to go ahead with it. PinPics 1
Recommended Posts