RO CSVI 8.5.0 release
This release was supposed to be just a bugfix release and come out as 8.4.1 but that never happened. Instead we provide you with RO CSVI 8.5.0 that has not only bugfixes but also quite a lot new features. The best feature being that it now contains a complete set of migration templates to get your Joomla data migrated.
Migration Templates
This really has taken quite some time to build, test, build and test more but we believe we have created a useful set of migration templates that you can use to migrate your data from a Joomla 3 site to a Joomla 4 site in just a few clicks. We have created a step-by-step document on how to use these templates, you can find it at Migrate Joomla data using RO CSVI migration templates. There are migration templates for all the core Joomla components that we support.
All templates come with the option to keep your database IDs enabled by default. This will help in the migration as the relations between the different items in your site will still match.
Give the migration templates a try and let us know how it goes, we love to hear your feedback on them.
Keep ID
All Joomla core import routines now have the Keep ID option. The Keep ID option lets you keep the ID as it is in your import file, this way you can import your data with the exact same ID as it came from the export location.
One thing to keep in mind is, make sure there are no overlapping IDs in your import file and the site where you run the import, otherwise it will be messy :)
XLSX files and date format
Spreadsheets handle dates quite different from the way web applications do that. This led to the problem that dates are usually not shown correct in the resulting XLSX files. The date format you can specify in the template or template fields can now handle both PHP date format or Excel dates. For example if you want a date like 2022-10-18 you would write Y-m-d for PHP but in Excel this is yyyy-mm-dd. If you specify the Excel date for exporting your XLSX files, you will get the correct date. If you happen to specify the PHP date, your date will look funky, then you know you need to change the date format settings.
RSForm! Pro
The RSForm! Pro Submission export has had some updates as well. A form can have different titles based on the language used for the form. This was not taking into account before so you could see list of templates with only the name Unknown or something similar. We have fixed this and if there is a translation available that will be used as template name in the list so there is always a meaningful name.
It may be needed to group the submission export on the SubmissionHash field and that was not possible which could lead to a lot of duplicate rows. If you have duplicate rows, check that you are using the group by function and it is set to the SubmissionHash.
Joomla Content
There are metadata fields you can fill in an article but these were not available as a field in RO CSVI. We have added the metadata fields to both the Joomla Content Import and Joomla Content Export.
Joomla Users
In Joomla 4.2.0 a new feature called Multi-Factor Authentication was added which allows users to setup different authentication methods. There was no option in RO CSVI to migrate this data. The Multi-Factor Authentication fields are now part of the Joomla Users Import and Joomla Users Export, so you can migrate your users without them losing their authentication methods. Be sure to check the documentation for details.
Other notable changes
The template backup files did not include the two new field options Price Field and Date Format, these are now backed up as well.
One of the export options is to export to an external database and store the data in a table on the external database. There is a new option here that allows you to empty the table before running the export, this allows for having a clean export that is not mixed with any previous entries.
Modules can now be filtered y client, so you can choose to only export all site modules or all administrator modules or everything.
Menus have the same option where you can select to export only site menus or administrator menus or everything.
Changes in RO CSVI 8.5.0
Check the full list of changes in this release:
- Fixed autoload for CSVI Extensions in case they are loaded early
- Fixed support for date formats in XLSX
- Fixed home value for Joomla Menu import
- Fixed checked_out status for the availabletables table
- Fixed 0 is no longer exported
- Fixed sometimes HTML shows up at the end of a template backup file
- Fixed date_format and number_field missing on template backup
- Fixed price import no longer updating in HikaShop Price import
- Changed the default date format in the template Example Joomla Custom Fields Export
- Added new fields for the params field in Joomla Menu Import
- Added SubmissionHash as group by field in RSForm! Pro Submission Export
- Fixed form titles in RSForms! Pro Submission Export
- Use str_getcsv to get export data to make it more robust
- Improved processing new modules in Joomla Modules Import
- Improved processing new tags in Joomla Tags Import
- Changed the XML layout to sensible names in VirtueMart Advanced Order Export
- Added an example template for Joomla Custom Field Groups
- Added Keep ID option to Joomla Custom Fields Import
- Added metadata fields as available fields in Joomla Content Import
- Added metadata fields as available fields in Joomla Content Export
- Fixed restoring template fields being unpublished
- Fixed associations in the Joomla Menu Export
- Changed to use a default if no table alias is set in the Custom Table Export
- Added support for Multi-Factor Authentication in Joomla Users Export
- Added support for Multi-Factor Authentication in Joomla Users Import
- Added option to empty database table before exporting to an external database
- Changed to not require all fields when exporting to an external database
- Added Keep ID for Joomla User Group Import
- Added Keep ID for Joomla User Access Level Import
- Fixed error with HikaShop Order Export
- Fixed associations in the Joomla Category Export
- Added module client filter in the Joomla Module Export
- Added menu client filter in the Joomla Menu Export
- Added Keep ID for Joomla Contact Import
A full changelog of all changes is available on the download page of RO CSVI 8.5.0.
This release is available for free to everyone with an active subscription from the Download section. If you do not have a subscription yet, you can subscribe here.