Migrating from DotProject to Web2Project
by Kyle Skrinak on Oct.25, 2009, under Technology
I use a LAMP-based web application to track my projects. I had been using Todoist.com, a great on-line to-do list for many years but I needed better accommodation. My hosting provider at the time had a “click-and-go” installer for dotproject so I installed it and moved all my data over and started using it. However, I had continual technical and UI issues with it, (namely, dp doesn’t like MySQL instances with temporary table creation disabled) and I noticed there was a 2 year lag between what I installed and the then current version (2.1.12, which it is still at; more on that in a second) but the hosting company wouldn’t upgrade. So I de-installed the canned version and uploaded 2.1.12, which helped reliability, at least a little bit. However, the “temporary tables” issue remained, and dp would choke on creating the main status page.
A little research, starting from how to work-around the lack of temporary tables, led me to a fork of dp, “Web2Project.” It appears that the w2p fork was fostered by the lack of development at dp. While I don’t use w2p as well as I could, I am greatly pleased with the reliability and better over performance and UI. You can’t miss the similarities, but gone are the in-line error messages and incomplete pages.
Installing w2p (which allowed me to start by using my dp data) was a bit of a hurdle. First things, check your requirements. W2P doesn’t like php4, and I didn’t confirm mysql requirements but I am running 5.x without issues. I first tried to work from my web server, but the typical network latency made this process cumbersome, so I decided to migrate firstly in my MAMP setup, which turns out (in hindsight) to be the best way to perform this process. I had to change the install script so that the case statement defaulted to a single option: upgrade an existing dp database into w2p. After the install script had no choice, it moved my dp data into a w2p schema, ready for work. There is one issue. They have dropped “ticketsmith” support. I used this feature for a brief period and found it’s lack of integration problematic. Apparently the w2p team agrees. However, why not remove this data if unsupported?
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October 30th, 2009 on 9:13 am
Hi, core web2project contributor here.
First off, thanks for giving the system a try. It’s good to see people trying it and even better when they enjoy the result. We’ve spent a long time trying to make the system better in general. More than anything, we do quarterly releases to keep development and activity moving. We’re *never* going to go 2+ years without a release.
On the flip side, I’d like to get a bit more information on your problem… was this the v1.1 release? You said you had to modify the case statement. What was it trying to do before you made the change? I’ve made some tweaks for the next release – scheduled for December – that should resolve at least one issue.
Finally, while we don’t support Ticketsmith anymore, we don’t delete the data on purpose. For all we know, your organization might need the data for archival purposes or you might pick up development of the module… it’s safer for us not to delete anything. :)
Thanks again. :)
March 8th, 2010 on 7:48 am
Hey dudes! I’m looking at dotProject to use in tandem with vTiger CRM but after reading the info on Web2Project, I think I’ll have to take it for a spin.
I’ve always taken my hats off to open source developers because they’re doing other people (and companies) a favour. Perhaps the dotProject guys got a little burnt out?
Casey, are there any features in dotProject that DIDN’T get into Web2Project? In other words, are we gonna lose out on anything?
And when is SimpleScripts and Fantastico gonna have Web2Project installers?
March 8th, 2010 on 8:05 am
Maxwell: for me, W2P is the only way to go. I haven’t used DP in 2 years, but at the time of my switch it was remarkable how much more stable and quick W2P is. Keith Casey somehow manages to do this FLOSS work and is a vibrant poster to the W2P forums. If you place your question there I’m confident you’ll get an answer.
March 19th, 2010 on 5:35 am
Well, I just installed Web2Project on my client’s LIVE server. The install went smoooth. Any way to import the users I created in dotProject or do I have to re-type?
March 19th, 2010 on 5:54 am
Do you know that you can import all your dp data into w2p? My business’s w2p data started life as dp data. If you only want to bring over users, there’s probably a sql statement you can run from the old db to the new; check out the w2p forums for an answer.
March 30th, 2010 on 9:43 pm
Doh, I just caught this thread…
Kyle, thanks again for the kind words. :)
Maxwell, to import your users, you have to go through the conversion process instead of the Install. Your best bet is to follow the instructions here – http://wiki.web2project.net/index.php?title=V1.2_Release_Notes
That said, I’m working hard to roll the v1.3 release this week. It’s a couple weeks later than planned, but sometimes life gets in the way.
March 30th, 2010 on 9:47 pm
Maxwell – And no, you shouldn’t lose any functionality. In fact, if you explore the Release Notes page – http://wiki.web2project.net/index.php?title=Category:Release_Notes – each release has its new functionality described. Most are just one-line descriptions, but most are pretty clear.