How do I convert SMS to Nova?
How do I convert SMS to Nova?
Last Updated: Aug 28, 2012 06:40PM PDT
HOW TO CONVERT SMS TO NOVA
The following instructions are based on that the host runs on PHP 5.0 or higher.
Step Zero: Saving the site owner a future headache - Previous modifications to the Specifications and Tour areas will have to be re-entered, so best to have the author keep a copy of that info handy for after installation. The same goes for any changes made to the Ranks, Departments, and Positions areas.
Step One: Idiot Proofing - Make sure that the SMS is at the most current version (2.6.10). This will help avoid issues with a certain SMS folder later.
Step Two: Gathering Tools - Go to Anodyne's site and select the latest version of Nova, which is downloadable as a specific genre. You must always choose DS9 if you are converting from SMS. It can be changed later.
Step Three: Getting Access - Acquire access to the CPanel for the site's account. Upload the DS9 genre Nova version to the ftp folder and unzip it there.
Step Four: Configuring Nova - Now you will begin the preparatory work for the conversion, in which you'll be configuring Nova files in the ftp folder.
Step Four A: Database stuff - localhost, db name, db username and password. It has to be the exact same data as is being used in SMS (which you'll find in the Framework folder's Variables.php file). This matching data goes in the Applications/config/database.php file.
$db['default']['hostname'] = "localhost";
$db['default']['username'] = "username";
$db['default']['password'] = "password";
$db['default']['database'] = "database_name";
$db['default']['dbdriver'] = "mysql";
$db['default']['dbprefix'] = "nova_";
The db prefix is optional.
Step Four B: FTP - username and password, set up via CPanel.
* hostname – this is the location of your server like you're connecting with your FTP client.
* username – this is your FTP username
* password – this is your FTP password
* port – this is the port you connect to your server over. If you use SFTP, use port 22, otherwise port 21 is fine.
* passive – if your host requires a passive connection to the server, change this value to TRUE
* debug – if you need debug information for your FTP connection, change this value to TRUE
Step Five: Setting up the Genre - In the Application/config/nova.php file, make sure it reads this way. It isn't case sensitive:
$config['genre'] = "DS9";
If there's some RSS feed on the to-be-converted site, you can adjust that here as well.
Step Six: Check your options, or Idiotproofing 2.0 - Make sure the list includes everything available as TRUE, just to be on the safe side (don't use quotation marks). Most of this stuff will be accessable to the site user under "SMS Archives" after conversion.
Step Six A: Think up an upgrade password and email address. Nova will not carry over passwords during the conversion, due to different ways of encrypting info.
You really should not skip this step! You'll find the place to do so in the SMS_config file.
$config['sms_email'] = '[email protected]';
$config['sms_password'] = 'password';
Use the account holder's email address and make the password "guest" or "password". This is the default password that everyone will use to first access the site. They'll never see what it is, but it's something easy to remember in case of problems later on. New simmers will be prompted to change it on their first visit. You'll be prompted to plug this info in later.
Step Six B: Back everything up! Nova will try to do it for you during the conversion, but you really want to not trust it to do the job completely, so do it yourself. As a failsafe back up the entire site, including the database.
Step Seven: Installation - Move those now configured files (Application and Core folders, plus the other little 'read me' files) to the public_html folder in CPanel. Then refresh to push it up to the server and navigate to the site. This might take a little while.
Whatever you do, don't hit the shiny back button! If you do, the data transmission step wil be repeated, and it will result in duplicate displays of ALL site menu options on every page. That is some tedious clean-up, having to delete those by hand, one-by-one. Heck, the duplicate security questions have to be deleted from the in PHPMYADMIN. It's a nightmare, so heed my warning.
If done correctly, a lot of the SMS info has been transfered to Nova. The front page will look very much the same, for example.
If it doesn't seem to be working, go into the public_html folder and delete the SMS folder.
Make sure you leave the Images and Pages folders alone!
Step Seven: Post-Installation - Make sure to insure that the directories (all index.html files) below are writable (777) or no one will be able to upload photos/files):
application/assets/images
application/assets/backups
core/logs
You can do this by going into cPanel's file manager or by selecting the file in your FTP client and right clicking it (if you use filezilla).
Clean-Up - Delete the zip files you uploaded earlier from the ftp folder.
Aftermath - Some areas might appear to throw errors. These will likely disappear after any changes made to the Ranks, Departments, Positions, Specifications, and Tour areas are either brought into line with the default info, or the cosmetic changes made previously are re-established.
Example: If the site owner used a new department (say, Communications), s/he'll have to recreate it, or reassign any existing characters in that department to another department.
The site owner can change the default password if s/he chooses by going to the application/config/sms.php file.
Known Errors - If for whatever reason, the site owner reports not being able to navigate to the converted site
using the default address after conversion, s/he should still be able to do so using the extended, more exacting address (e.g.http://www.site.com/index.php/main/index).
A redirect can be set up in CPanel as a work-around.
Now your finished!