Import/Export.... What about passwords?

[Shogun2]

I need to move to a new instance of wordpress and I am completely confused as to the password situation upon importing users.

In the options panel it says

"Please note. Export files do NOT contain Passwords. Passwords are stored by WordPress® with one-way encryption. In other words, it's not possible for s2Member to include them in the export file. However, this does NOT create a problem, because when/if you re-import existing Users/Members with the Password field empty, s2Member will simply keep the existing Password that is already on file. For further information, please read all Import instructions, regarding Passwords."

This is not really useful as I will not have existing members in the new instance of wordpress.

What happens when I upload users with no password?

[Shogun2]

So?

[Eduan]

Try one of these posts:
http://wordpress.org/support/topic/impo ... ?replies=6
http://wordpress.org/support/topic/csv- ... ?replies=6

Tell me if they help.

[Shogun2]

Sorry for not explaing myself fully but I do not need to know how to transfer passwords. Worse comes to worse I will do an SQL dump and move my users. I just want to know what happens if I upload users with no password? Does s2member prompt them to create a new password or something?

[Eduan]

I researched and here's the explanation:
The passwords will not be exported/imported, so if users try to access their account with that password it will not be valid.
so what you have to do is when you export/import immediately send them an email telling them to reset their password (like the "I forgot my password" link).

Hope this answers your question.
P.S. Remember to report back.

[Jason Caldwell]

Thanks for the excellent question.

Sorry for not explaing myself fully but I do not need to know how to transfer passwords. Worse comes to worse I will do an SQL dump and move my users. I just want to know what happens if I upload users with no password? Does s2member prompt them to create a new password or something?

If you are uploading NEW Users/Members, and you leave the Password field empty, s2Member will auto-generate a password for their account. If you are uploading updates to existing Users/Members ( i.e. you include the ID field in your CSV file ); but you leave the Password field empty, s2Member will not make any changes to the existing Password which is already on-file.

If you fill the ID field, the Import routine will update an account matching the ID you specify ( so long as the account ID does NOT belong to an Administrator, this is for security ). When importing new Users/Members, you can leave the ID field empty; don't remove it, just leave it empty ( i.e. "" ). Example: "","Username","First Name","Last Name","Display Name","Email"

If you fill the Password field, the Password that you specify ( in plain text ) will be used. Otherwise, a Password will be auto-generated by s2Member. The Password field can also be used with an ID update ( to update/change the current Password ) - so long as the ID field is also filled, and it matches an account already in the system. If you fill the ID field to update an existing account, and the leave the Password field empty; the existing Password, for the account matching the ID you specify, will remain unchanged.

[Shogun2]

Will the auto generated password be emailed to them?

[Eduan]

I think you can do one of two things:
1. If the users click the "I forgot my password" link, then Yes.
2. But if they don't you will have to configure so that it sends a new password to every user. I would do this right from the start, so that users don't run into problems, I'd tell them in the email that for security reasons they were given a new password or something like that.

I recommend the second method.

Hope this helps.

[Jason Caldwell]

Right. s2Member does NOT send any emails during importation, under any circumstance. This is something that you can handle by sending Users an email yourself, giving them a link that points to the password recovery section of your site. Or, if you prefer to assign specific pre-generated passwords, you could do that too, and then email all Users their password. In either case though, the sending of emails is not something that current versions of s2Member deal with.