Is there a special UWC Version for Confluence 4
Asked by Andreas Heidrich:

I try to convert a pretty standard MediaWiki Installation to Confluence 4 beta 2. Unfortunately, I have a lot of problems espcially with embedded Pictures that have spaces in the filename or some kind of special picture markup.

Some of these problems are speech related (german wiki installation), but some are very strange and I cannot beleive that Atlassian delivers such a incomplete conversion tool to their customers.

So my question is: Is there a special Confluence 4 UWC version. Or would it be a better approach to migrate the MediaWiki to 3.5.x first and then migrate the Wiki to 4.0.

We are very new to Confluence and I would like to start with 4.0 as first version to make it easier for our team.


Answers:
author: Laura Kolker
body: re: Confluence 4 beta 2

The latest version of the UWC hasn't been tested with the latest version of the beta. Last I checked there were a few Remote API issues specifically involving upload of comments, but that was a while ago, and I would not expect syntax transformations to be affected. In other words, its probably not the beta that's at fault here.

\>\> I cannot beleive that Atlassian delivers such a incomplete conversion tool to their customers.

Atlassian doesn't actually deliver the UWC. It is a free 3rd party as-is tool that you use at your own risk. Many people have been able to leverage it to faciliate their data migrations, but it's not a push-button import tool. It can be a useful part of your migration process, but the more you think of it as a tool to be used by you, and the less you think of it as something that will do your migration for you, the better your results will be.

You say that you have a pretty standard mediawiki, but please note that all wikis are moving targets. Perhaps the mediawiki syntax that you consider standard wasn't available in an earlier version when the mediawiki module was being worked on, or maybe it was, but no one's ever cared enough about that particular syntax to write a converter for it. Maybe you're using a specialized extention, or you're hitting an edge case caused by a combination of syntaxes that happen to interfere with each other.

Additionally, some [configuration options](https://studio.plugins.atlassian.com/wiki/display/UWC/UWC+Mediawiki+Notes#UWCMediawikiNotes-ConfigurationOptions) are mutually exclusive and data dependent. Your mileage will vary considerably based on your config.

Ok, so back to your original question:

\>\> Is there a special Confluence 4 UWC version. Or would it be a better approach to migrate the MediaWiki to 3.5.x first and then migrate the Wiki to 4.0.

Since it hasn't been tested against 4, and 4 is in beta, and its easy enough to install a version of Confluence 3.5 for testing purposes, I would use 3.5. That being said, I would not expect syntax problems to be related to your version of Confluence.

If you would like to supply an example of the mediawiki syntax that's not working for you, I would be happy to review it and see if I can suggest a workaround.

Cheers,

Laura

comments: author: Andreas Heidrich
body: Thanks for the comprehensive answer Laura.

I understand, that the uwc is a kind of "use as it is tool". Thanx for the clarification.

I did more testing now with version 3.5.x and found the results far better then with the RC3 version of Confluence 4.

Most of my picture mess was indeed version 4 related. Now the pictures are complete.

The only problems left are tables that are messes up. This seems to be due to a complex table definition.

Beside that, the import using 3.5.x produces far better results than the direct 4.0RC3 import.

Thanx for the directions you gave me. If you don't mind, I will send you an example for a table. perhaps you have some hints for me how I can avoid the table mess.

Andreas


author: Laura Kolker
body: > If you don't mind, I will send you an example for a table. perhaps you have some hints for me how I can avoid the table mess.

Sure, I'd be happy to take a look at the syntax. Maybe post the syntax here as a comment?


author: Ellen Feaheny [AppFusions]
body: Updates are posted - have at it!

<https://twitter.com/appfusions/status/253905889482903552>

Thanks [Laura@appfusions.com](mailto:Laura@appfusions.com) and recent client for their support on this effort!


author: Justin20523
body: Is the UWC update for Confluence 4 still forthcoming??


author: Ellen Feaheny [AppFusions]
body: Hi Heimi

Wanted to also pipe in on this one, though Laura did a stellar answer already!

Agree fully - the UWC is a tool, ***not*** the solution.

One example on the complexity (and ONLY one) that might resonate with you is the consideration of moving from a non-hierarchical Mediawiki (flat) to one like Confluence, that has spaces. This is not a simple push-button problem if you toss is the fact that wiki's in general are people driven, not machine driven - meaning all content will not necessarily be uniform in style or syntax - even if it should... let alone the many ways that links can be formed. (http link, wiki syntax link, space namespace link, internal/external, etc.)

To understand more migration considerations - see our checklist on our website here:

<https://www.appfusions.com/display/Dashboard/Wiki+Migration+Checklist>

Laura by the way is also on our team, and also the main developer behind the UWC - including all the MANY flavors supported - which is a huge leap frog step compared with starting from scratch.

If you would like a solution, that includes data review, analysis, possibly conversion scripts for corner syntax cases in your MediaWiki, and controlled rollout and user acceptance, among other - then I would recommend contacting AppFusions and we can help you. ([info@appfusions.com](mailto:info@appfusions.com))

Our migrations are controlled methodical diligent efforts to ensure that the end results in Confluence are far superior than what you started from - regardless of versions - with built-in efficiency given our experience.

Best,

Ellen

AppFusions  
www.appfusions.com


author: stanley_nyadzayo
body: Migrating a MoinMoin private wiki. Which version of UWC is available and where can I find the working version or one that I can tweak to meet my needs? The download links on your page do not download UWC.


author: Ellen Feaheny [AppFusions]
body: The UWC update for Confluence 4.2.X is now officially underway ...

Couple dev days into it \>\> Magic eight ball says: prognosis looks positive, for release in Sept.

Will update when released.. in mid/late Sept 2012.


Tags: universal-wiki-converter