Hi all,

Donovan....this would require a lot of SQL scripting to do. The risks of introducing errors is great. Any reason why you want to start fresh? Why not just upgrade everything and clean up the current site?

Hi Steven,

Yes indeed, a substantial amount of scripting and subsequent errors is what I see ahead.

The reason for wanting to start fresh was as a result of having started with no knowledge of DNN 18 months ago when we began the project. There have been numerous upgrades from DNN 4 through to DNN 5 but also lots of mistakes. Like having our skins in the portal "_default" folder instead of "0". Not making proper use of the file manager so having random directories all over the place. Images for example were initially FTP'd up and sit in an "images" folder off the DNN root instead of off the portal root. Also, not fully understanding DNN I had modified any number of module controls instead of creating themes for them; so when upgrading it was always a nightmare because of control files being overwritten and then losing our site styles.

Also we have loads of installed but unused modules which we have used and then replaced over time and I'd like to just have the current modules on the site.

All of it though has been an invaluable learning curve but I'd like to re-build the site properly from scratch this time.

The other problem is of course that the site is live with about 2500 current users so daily there are interactions (messaging, friends, blogs, comments, etc) taking place and it means unless we can perform some sort of an import we'd have to work on the live site with hidden pages (using roles to keep users from seeing new pages until they're ready) to ensure that daily data is retained.

I've spent a few days thinking about it and I don't actually see an easy way to build the "new" site without doing it on the current installation, which is a pity as starting fresh would be nice... and I think you've confirmed that upgrading our current site is the only option?

Is it not possible to build a fresh DNN install and then simply delete the appropriate user and active social tables and then simply import those tables from the old site? I may give that a try later and let you know how it works out. Which tables are related for the DNN users? I'll simply delete all Active Social tables on the new install and import them all from the old?

Thanks,
Donovan