Faith2Share is a charitable organisation existing as international network. The network is international, multi-cultural and committed to partnership with local and national churches of many different backgrounds.
Site: http://www.faith2share.net
Client profile
The Faith2Share website was originally developed early in 2006 using DotNetNuke version 3 generation software. Although a subsequent upgrade to DotNetNuke v4.3.x had been made, successive site migrations to new servers, OS and database versions had prevented further upgrades to the most recent DotNetNuke versions. This was due to configurational and schematic differences introduced as a result the migration processes.
Brief
In the 5 years since launch, the site had grown significantly in page count, the number of registered users (i.e. the Faith2Share network members) and the number of downloadable documents and media managed via the site.
Faith2Share were therefore keen to benefit from the improvements in efficiency and productivity introduced in DotNetNuke version 5.x.x.
Acting on a referral from an existing Chord9 client, Faith2Share briefed Chord9 to upgrade the site to the latest stable DotNetNuke version (v5.6.1) and then subsequently to upgrade all modules in use on the site to the latest versions.
Solution
For any upgrade to complete successfully and enable further successful upgrades it was necessary to correct the schematic and configurational anomalies in the website database1.
To this end the website database schema would need to be compared with a ‘clean’ schema installed on the target hosting platform in order to identify the corrections required2.
A ‘skeleton’ or mirror site was created using a fresh installation of the starting version (DNN v4.3.7) and with all modules (both core and third party) in use on the live site. It wasn’t necessary to enter content.
Using SQL schema comparison tools any discrepancies between the two schemas were then identified and corrected. Both sites were then upgraded over several incremental stages to DNN v5.6.1. At each stage the schemas were compared and, where necessary, corrected.
By following this process the Faith2Share website was upgraded to the latest DotNetNuke version with the database schema being corrected and ready to accept further upgrades without problem.
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1 This process is not normally required to upgrade. Corrective action only required in this case due to condition of database.
2 All work carried out on development servers configured to reflect live environment