Thread

Hi:

Backstory: After 2 frustrating years, I gave up on EE and decided to do my site on WP.  I’m a DIY site-owner, not a site developer, with a full-time company to run, too.  My posts require two images—a full-size image and a thumbnail, in order to work.  I copied my whole site, essentially, from Mike Boyink’s EE 1 Tutorial.  I needed to update the site 5-10 times a day with new posts, and the endless issue of the image handling inside posts drove me bonkers (having to type in the url, TWICE for each post, regular-sized image and thumb, because for whatever reason, uploading the image and resizing to thumb just never worked right and never displayed properly, although if I use the URL’s they look fantastic). 

Fast-forward to my idiotic decision to “just” use WP.  Long story short, have fully-populated WP site that has inexplicably slowed to molasses, has page-load times that are literally timeable with a WATCH.  So I have one populated WP site that does not work; and an EE site that has 1/10th of the content it needs to be “right,” but still has crappy image handling.

I thought I’d try to move/export/whatever some of my WP data to the EE site, just to limp along until I resolve this.  I’m stuck twixt Heaven and Hell, because due to some of the plugins I use, I can’t upgrade to EE 2.0; and that devdemon image plugin looks smashing…but it’s only for 2.0.  I can’t use datagrab for my ee site, because IT is only for 2.0.  I can’t get xmlgrab to work, because I’m having the same errors everyone else is, and Andrew seems to have chucked supporting all his 1.0 stuff. 

I’d love to import all my author categories (not members—that’s a real category), but can’t seem to figure out if there’s a way, outside of one of Andrew’s “grab” functions, to get categories imported along with category descriptions and images, although I could do the latter manually. 

I can limp along and import the WP posts through an xml-to-rss pipe, I guess…but I still have to deal with 150 “posts” that have two images each, and I’d REALLY like to not have to FTP them all and then type two URL’s for all of them in each rss’ed post.  OR if there is some type of image-handling mechanism like that DevDemon plugin/addon/whatever for 1.6.8 now, that would be geat.  I’d seriously prefer to use EE, if I can past the endless image management/access/use issues with needing images for every post.

Does ANYONE have any ideas?  (And, yes, I actually tried to hire SEVERAL EE guys to help…and none could manage to find time for me, since what I needed was bits and pieces, and not an all-new site design.  So I’m plugging along as best I can.)

Thanks,
Hitch

Hi, Hitch. There’s not a method to import categories into EE1.x or EE2.x outside of DataGrab.

Which EE1.x plugins do you still need?

Hi, Hitch. There’s not a method to import categories into EE1.x or EE2.x outside of DataGrab.

Which EE1.x plugins do you still need?

(I didn’t think DataGrab worked for 1.6.x?) 

You mean, what’s keeping me from 2.x?  (Besides the fact that Boyink seemed to think my head would explode therefrom?)

I’m using:

XML Encode
Randomizer
Character Limiter
Magpie RSS Parser
Image Sizer
Word Limiter
HTML Stripper
Word Limiter Plus (No, I don’t remember why I have both)
FeedGrab
Drop Caps
First Letter
and…XML Grab, which isn’t working.

I even considered chucking my entire template and going with the Moo or Woo or whatever guys, figuring, what the hell, they know both systems, maybe they can solve my sojourn here in Purgatory, but their stuff also requires 2.x…and truth be told, I worked bloody hard on my cross-referenced Products (ebooks) and services (how we make ‘em) so that I can sort by production method versus production product versus author versus…etc.  And because so much of my site is dependent upon image portfolios (book covers), I worry about changing my template without being reasonably assured that the image handling per post isn’t as dreadful (sorry) as it has been in 1.6.x. 

I suppose I could upgrade to 2.x, install it in yet ANOTHER sub-dir somewhere, and then try to see how that goes, but (whining a bit here) having yet another not-quite-working or not-working-at-all site in yet another subdir (and spending the money therefor) really makes my head hurt.  Plus I’d have to spring for that plugin (devdemon or whatever), and maybe it does work…sorry again, I know this sounds just WHINY; I’m simply frustrated.  Have you used that devdemon plugin, Sue?  Is it as smokin’ as it looks? 

DOES Datagrab work for 1.6.x?  Well, hell…even if it does, it doesn’t solve the image importation problem per post….

Hitch

Hi Hitch,

I believe that there was a 1.x version of Datagrab. I suggest contacting the author directly to see if he can assist. With regards to the general issue of converting your data you should be able to export your WP into XML or CSV and then use the import utilities. Whatever happens I think you’ll have to FTP your images around, I don’t think there’s an automatic way to do that.

Cheers

Greg

Hi Hitch,

I believe that there was a 1.x version of Datagrab. I suggest contacting the author directly to see if he can assist. With regards to the general issue of converting your data you should be able to export your WP into XML or CSV and then use the import utilities. Whatever happens I think you’ll have to FTP your images around, I don’t think there’s an automatic way to do that.

Cheers

Greg

Hi, Greg:  I’ve used the RSS plugin from that author before with a modicum of success, but thus far I’ve had no response whatsoever from the author about (happy to pay for!) assistance with either xmlgrab or any other product.

I don’t CARE about having to FTP images; that’s the least of my concerns.  What I was trying to avoid was what caused me to dump (a paid-for license of) EE and try WP in the first place; having to type the URL of the full-size image and the URL of the thumbnail into every bloody post, now numbering 163 (posts), so what, 326 URL’s, all of which have to be looked up and then manually entered?  With 20-30 more posts with the same problem every week, the number of which increases weekely?  That’s what I was trying to figure out, on the image side—not merely FTP’ing them. 

But thanks anyway.

Hitch

Hi, Hitch. ImgSizer has been upgraded for EE2.x, http://devot-ee.com/add-ons/strip_html/ is available, Drop Caps is not.

As far as putting in full paths go, you can make this a bit less tiresome by using a global variable such as {imgdir} which can be the full path to the image.

If this were me, I’d bite the bullet and get DataGrab, and use either ImgSizer or one of the other available image resizers. I have DevDemon’s add-ons, but haven’t fiddled with them too much.

Hi, Hitch. ImgSizer has been upgraded for EE2.x, http://devot-ee.com/add-ons/strip_html/ is available, Drop Caps is not.

As far as putting in full paths go, you can make this a bit less tiresome by using a global variable such as {imgdir} which can be the full path to the image.

If this were me, I’d bite the bullet and get DataGrab, and use either ImgSizer or one of the other available image resizers. I have DevDemon’s add-ons, but haven’t fiddled with them too much.

Bit bullet.  Renewed my license and upgraded to 2.something.  Will go putter over and get Data Grab.  Have moved from vaguely contemplating suicide to more active consideration.  It only took me 3 months to make it through Boyink’s FIRST tutorial.  Can’t wait to have another site blow up on me.  I sure know how to have fun.  But even before the WP site exploded, I’d decided I really HATE Wordpress, it’s just too primitive and too…bloggy, or something.  At least maybe this means I don’t always get relegated to the Black Hole of EE, “Code Share Corner.”  😉

I assume there’s a tutorial on how to migrate, I hope to high heaven?  And I can run both at once, while I’m migrating, as long as I have the 2.x in a subdir somewhere, right?

Thanks, Sue.

Hitch

What I’d do is get a short term account on EngineHosting, and use that to build out your newer site. Then switch over to your other host for just stay with EH if they meet your needs.

DataGrab:// Importing Data from WordPress

Updating from EE1.x

As far as upgrading to 2.1.3, you’ll want to get rid of older posts, clean out bogus users, dump your cache files and the like before upgrading.

Does that help?

What I’d do is get a short term account on EngineHosting, and use that to build out your newer site. Then switch over to your other host for just stay with EH if they meet your needs.

DataGrab:// Importing Data from WordPress

Updating from EE1.x

As far as upgrading to 2.1.3, you’ll want to get rid of older posts, clean out bogus users, dump your cache files and the like before upgrading.

Does that help?

TY, I obtained a long-term hosting from EH, I’ve installed 2.1.3, and I’m getting ready to run DataGrab, which I also obtained, as I write this.  I’m going to clear out all the old junk and just…start over.  Thanks!

Hitch

Cool! Exciting times ahead. How about we close this thread out for now, but if you need to ask any more questions feel free to create a new thread based on this one.