Export / import of contacts didn't work

Just an FYI

Also, I didn't see an export function for messages either.

Due to the way J4 can foul a J3 database after an 'incomplete' update - a rather serious deficiency, I would say - I'm left with the task of moving a large website the hard way. I tried to export the contacts, and import them into J4 but nothing happened. And there was no option for messages, though that's not particularly important as those forward to an address I can reach by other means.

This may become more important on a much larger website if the same evil befalls me.

Dear blue_Shift,

I'm sorry to hear you had problems upgrading from Joomla 3 to Joomla 4. I've performed a few upgrades when testing and never had an issue, but my upgrades were very simple and so far I have only upgraded to test my extensions.

The easiest way to accomplish the Contact Enhanced upgrade in this scenario is to delete all Contact Enhanced database tables from your Joomla 4 (if you have already installed Contact Enhanced in Joomla 4), then copy all tables starting with #__ce_ from your Joomla 3 to Joomla 4 database and install Contact Enhanced again. This will perform Contact Enhanced upgrade changes.

Please make sure you create a backup first.

After moving the data from one site to another you will have to create the categories again and configure them in your Contacts, Form Fields, and Menu items. Also, you'll lose the Categories reference in the Saved/recorded messages.

With some manual changes using PHPMyAdmin you can update the categories references in all #__ce_ tables.

Best wishes,

Thanks.

The little sites move fairly easily. But even a moderately complex one?

I am giving this to the end of the day, then will begin converting my site to WP instead. for the time being leaving it in perfectly functional Joomla 3 until the work is finished. I have had enough of this Joomla 4 nonsense. After 1.6 why would they re-introduce such a pain point and not provide a true conversion tool for a bug they knw about? And I have an even bigger site to move, yet.

Hear that Joomla? Until the end of the day.

Dear blue_Shift,

After Joomla 1.x, I don't usually have major problems upgrading Joomla, even from Joomla 2.5 to Joomla 3.

Were you running the latest Joomla 3.x before the upgrade?
Does your server meet Joomla 4 minimum requirements?
Are you sure the problem was caused by Joomla itself and not by a third-party extension?

Have you written on the Joomla Forum or submitted a bug request on GitHub ?

Migrating to WP might not be the best solution. My church denomination has a few websites and one of them was running WP, we had a very hard time upgrading it as well and even worse, we found out the website had been severely compromised by hackers using the website and server resources to send emails. In the end, we've migrated it to Joomla and haven't had a single problem since.

Anyway, let me know if there's anything I can help you with.

Best wishes,

I have done all that and more. The bug in the system - and Akeeba has a role in this - is a trial update can corrupt the database and unless you have a virgin J3 copy of your J3 website, recovery or going forward is extremely painful and difficult.

I have no problem with WP. This experience - and I am not alone - will drive more people out. I have no idea why they did this, but after all these years of development, where are the 'backports'? Just a fiction. And Akeeba I would have expected by now would have had a filter to strip any J4 that got injected, which fouls everything up. (Heck, I'd pay for that.) This is not going to be my future.

Until the end of the today.