I'm creating this thread to track the migration of PianoTell to Flarum 2 with the goal of sharing my experience, hurdles, and hopefully getting some help and guidance along the way! This is what PianoTell currently looks like on Flarum 1.8.x: You can already see what I'm up against here. PianoTell doesn't look like a default installation of Flarum because I'm using Flarum Categories. However, Flarum Categories hasn't been updated in over a year, much less updated to support Flarum 2. Regardless, extensions that change look and feel or even extensions that add certain functionality (like Move Posts) are less worrisome to me than extensions that make and track significant changes in the backend. One such extension that PianoTell uses is Diff for Flarum. Not being able to migrate that data and maintain that functionality in Flarum 2 is kind of a big deal to me. Following below are the extensions that PianoTell currently has installed. The ones in Green are the ones that as of now have been ported to Flarum 2 or have replacements. The ones in Blue are likely not crucial for PianoTell and the ones that are crossed out are no longer used. The ones in orange can probably be worked around. The ones in Red are the ones that are critical but not yet ported. acpl/mobile-tab antoinefr/flarum-ext-bbcode-fa askvortsov/flarum-categories blomstra/fontawesome clarkwinkelmann/flarum-ext-advanced-search-highlight clarkwinkelmann/flarum-ext-author-change clarkwinkelmann/flarum-ext-post-bookmarks clarkwinkelmann/flarum-ext-post-stream-search clarkwinkelmann/flarum-ext-shadow-ban clarkwinkelmann/flarum-ext-sudo-mode flarum/approval flarum/bbcode flarum/core flarum/emoji flarum/flags flarum/lang-english flarum/likes flarum/lock flarum/markdown flarum/mentions flarum/nicknames flarum/pusher flare/statistics flarum/sticky flarum/subscriptions flarum/suspend flarum/tags fof/byobu — Flarum 2 is supposed to have private messages built-in, but I need a migration story. fof/drafts fof/formatting fof/forum-statistics-widget fof/ignore-users fof/linguist fof/links fof/sitemap fof/upload fof/user-bio fof/user-directory katosdev/signature league/flysystem-aws-s3-v3 matteocontrini/flarum-imgur-upload migratetoflarum/canonical ralkage/flarum-hcaptcha sycho/flarum-move-posts sycho/flarum-profile-cover the-turk/flarum-diff the-turk/flarum-flamoji — although this will never be ported, Flarum 2 seems to have a beautiful picker! bravo! the-turk/flarum-stickiest v17development/flarum-seo What I’ve done so far: Spun up a new instance of PianoTell on a dev server. Consulted https://lab.migratetoflarum.com/ and determined extension upgrade status. What I plan to do next: Follow the upgrade instructions here to see how things go. Feel free to share any feedback or recommendations to make the transition easier. Thank you to all Flarum contributors! 👏

navindra I appreciate that you took the risk of upgrading to 2.x on your own. I noticed that some of the developers listed in the extensions you shared haven’t been active in the Flarum ecosystem for quite a while, and they will likely never update their extensions to 2.x. If you’d like, you can startProposals discussions for such extensions, those you need on 2.x but whose developers are no longer active. If we see that other forum admins also need them, developers like me can take over the maintenance and handle the migration to 2.x.

Like mention in different places we strongly advise against upgrading to v2 at this stage. We will still introduce a couple of important changes that will effect some of the extensions not yet made compatible with v2. Also there are plans of moving some of the extensions into to the @FriendsOfFlarum namespace so we can assure their maintenance. For example there are a couple of important extensions by @askvortsov that need this change. Final decisions have yet to be made. Picking up what @huseyinfiliz said: The Flarum foundation will likely host someBounty to get some extensions moved to @FriendsOfFlarum and updated for v2 so you all can benefit for an easier migration. For the moment testing already ported extensions and creating bugs if there are any on GitHub is what is needed the most.

navindra fof/byobu is almost ready for Flarum 2.0 fof/upload will either be updated or it's functionality built into core (dev time dependant) katodev/signature I will either update on @katos 's behalf, or move to FoF and update league/flysystem-aws-s3-v3 is not required for Flarum 2.0 the-turk/flarum-diff can be updated quite easily looking at the code. clarkwinkelmann/flarum-ext-author-change I know @clarkwinkelmann is actively working on his extensions for 2.0 at the moment clarkwinkelmann/flarum-ext-post-bookmarks - as above So from your red list, I would not be alarmed. You are in quite a good place ahead of the 2.0 sstable release, which is likely another 3 - 4 months out yet.

GreXXL By the way, what I meant wasn’t that it includes a bounty, but that I’d be able to see other forum admins saying “I need this too.” In its current state, neither the Flarum extension marketplace nor Packagist can show which extensions are actively being used the most. What I meant was to understand which extensions should be prioritized for migration in 2.x.

huseyinfiliz What I meant was to understand which extensions should be prioritized for migration in 2.x. From my perspective, the next two extensions that need working on for 2.x are fof/byobu (potentially complex) and fof/merge-discussions.

IanM When you say migrating Byobu, do you mean creating a tool to migrate it into the existing PM extension on 2.x?

huseyinfiliz no, flarum/messages is not advanced enough in it's current form to handle the functionality of byobu, so we need to upgrade the existing extension for 2.0 compatibility

huseyinfiliz I appreciate that you took the risk of upgrading to 2.x on your own. I’m working on this as well, but I’m planning to move to a new forum without upgrading the old one. My community is about 50 people, so it’s easy for me to move everyone over. It seems that, aside from FoF Linguist and the language packs, all the extensions needed to launch a fully functional forum from scratch are already available

navindra Consulted https://lab.migratetoflarum.com/ and determined extension upgrade status. Thank you for this tool. My forum was completely vulnerable because I had misconfigured my .htaccess file. On your scale it was marked in red as a D. I was able to fix each of the security issues thanks to this great tool. Truly, thank you!! @clarkwinkelmann . You are great man!

huseyinfiliz Thank you! I'll keep this in mind. From what GreXXL and IanM also mentioned, it seems like things are shaking out but I'm feeling overall very positive now! GreXXL For the moment testing already ported extensions and creating bugs if there are any on GitHub is what is needed the most. Just brilliant and thank you for all those insights! I'll hold tight here and focus my experiment on the extensions that are already ported. That was going to be my first step either way. IanM So from your red list, I would not be alarmed. You are in quite a good place ahead of the 2.0 sstable release, which is likely another 3 - 4 months out yet. Wow, thanks a ton for that level of detail! I'm feeling a great deal more encouraged now about completing the migration of PianoTell to Flarum 2 in production when things are ready. It's also really great news to hear that Flarum Diff can be easily ported, I was actually thinking that would be the most difficult one. All in all, some really excellent news. Thank you for that and thanks for all the great work! Forogramero +1 It's a very clever tool indeed. Definitely takes a lot of insight and imagination to create something like that.

Migrating PianoTell to Flarum 2

navindra

Karl Upgrading from 1.8.x to 2.x only took less than 5-10 minutes to conduct on my last go around. This is with careful execution and preparation. The first time, it took me 30 minutes and learned from that lol.

Oh, in that sense I'm completely golden. This is a 38 second upgrade process for me including interaction to y/N questions. I should probably get rid of those and make them default to Yes.

navindra@flight PianoTell % git checkout 2.x
Switched to branch '2.x'
Your branch is up to date with 'origin/2.x'.
navindra@flight PianoTell % time src/admin/upgrade-flarum-1-to-2.sh 
==> Sanity checks
On branch 2.x.
compose.yaml + config.php found.
compose.yaml pinned to web-2.0, image present locally.
database service is running.
==> Stopping the web container
Stop the web container? [y/N] y
[+] stop 1/1
 ✔ Container pianotell-web Stopped                                                                                                                                    10.2s
web stopped.
==> Backing up the database
Take a DB backup before proceeding? [y/N] y
Backup written: data/web/backup/pre-flarum2-20260429-194523.sql.gz (16191314 bytes)
  Restore with:
    ... etc ...
==> Ensuring config.php driver is 'mariadb'
Check and update config.php driver if needed? [y/N] y
driver rewritten mysql -> mariadb. Original saved as data/web/config/config.php.pre-flarum2-20260429-194523.bak
==> Updating extend.php for Flarum 2 compatibility
Backup saved as data/web/config/extend.php.pre-flarum2-20260429-194523.bak
Blomstra\Spam\Filter block commented out in extend.php.
==> Starting web-2.0
First boot will run, in order:  migrate  ->  assets:publish  ->  cache:clear
Start the web container now? [y/N] y
[+] up 2/2
 ✔ Container pianotell-database Healthy                                                                                                                                0.8s
 ✔ Container pianotell-web      Started                                                                                                                                0.9s
web container started.
==> Tailing logs (Ctrl-C to stop watching; the container keeps running)
pianotell-web  | Running: /startup/10-startup-flarum.sh
pianotell-web  | Migrating Flarum...
... etc ...
pianotell-web  | Publishing core assets...
pianotell-web  | Publishing extension assets...
pianotell-web  | Publishing for extension: pianotell-flamoji
pianotell-web  | Clearing the cache...
pianotell-web  | Done: /startup/10-startup-flarum.sh
pianotell-web  | PianoTell web server starting. Access logs are written to /var/log/pianotell/access.log
... etc ...
^C
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║  POST-UPGRADE: Configure Anti-Spam in Admin Console          ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

The Blomstra\Spam\Filter block was commented out of extend.php.
Reconfigure these settings in Admin > Extensions > Anti-Spam:
  ... etc ...

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║  POST-UPGRADE: Stickiest Settings                            ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

Turn off "Show sticky highlight" in Admin > Extensions > Stickiest.

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║  POST-UPGRADE: Enable Post Search Extension                  ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

ekumanov/flarum-ext-post-search replaces two Clark Winkelmann extensions:
    - clarkwinkelmann/flarum-ext-post-stream-search
    - clarkwinkelmann/flarum-ext-advanced-search-highlight

Steps:
  1. Enable in Admin > Extensions > Post Search

src/admin/upgrade-flarum-1-to-2.sh  2.11s user 0.38s system 10% cpu 23.790 total

There are some other optimizations I can do so that I enable/configure the new extensions in the script instead of requiring admin console steps. But this is already pretty good for me.

Other than completing the temp-ports, I don't want to disrupt community events like the recitals or else do this during a time when I'm tied up in other things. So it's not the difficulty in upgrading Flarum 2.x per se that's holding me back... it's more of a logistics question.

Karl

navindra yeah the issue I've had was combing through extensions that were abandoned long ago and having to address them with clients.
I don't rely on scripts when I do upgrades, liability risk. So I tend to do everything manually to ensure I get the full deal every step of the way.

navindra it's more of a logistics question.

100000% logistics is the primary variable on all of this, you're right.

navindra

Karl Agreed. But this script, I've easily run it a hundred times now and I've got hundreds if not thousands of backups of the DB.

I might not have bothered with the script if I didn't have to constantly edit those PHP files. 😃

Wlork

navindra Your reasoning makes sense and is sound. It's indeed at your own risk. Just an option I'm sharing if it's your only blocker for 2.x.

Although for the record, there is 1 single extra command that's needed compared to installing any other extension.

In my situation, there are two important things missing:

The Post Bookmarks extension for 2.0
Upload fixes for FoF Upload/Polls (I've already created a GitHub issue)

And then I could proceed with the migration. Something I'm really looking forward to doing.

I hope not, but if I see that the migration to 2.0 for Post Bookmarks is taking too long, maybe I’ll use your solution 🙂

navindra

I'm going to lose my access to Claude soon, so I temp-ported katosdev/signature for anyone who is interested:

PrimateCoder/katosdev-signaturetree/2.x

 composer config repositories.katosdev-signature vcs https://github.com/PrimateCoder/katosdev-signature
 composer require katosdev/signature:"2.x-dev"
 php flarum extension:enable katosdev-signature

I'll try to do one extension a day until I'm done for PianoTell.

navindra

Here's one more temp-port for anyone who's interested:

PrimateCoder/flarum-ext-shadow-bantree/2.x

composer config repositories.shadow-ban vcs https://github.com/PrimateCoder/flarum-ext-shadow-ban.git
composer require clarkwinkelmann/flarum-ext-shadow-ban:2.x-dev
php flarum extension:enable clarkwinkelmann-shadow-ban

navindra

And I think is my final temp-port. This one didn't take much given the nature of it.

PrimateCoder/flarum-ext-chore-commandscommits/2.x/

composer config repositories.chore-commands vcs https://github.com/PrimateCoder/flarum-ext-chore-commands.git
composer require club-1/flarum-ext-chore-commands:2.x-dev
php flarum extension:enable club-1-chore-commands

navindra

I'm planning to upgrade PianoTell to Flarum 2.x tomorrow!

I've waited a while and I haven't heard of any serious RC.5 issues. Please let me know if I'm wrong.

However, I'm going forward with extension temp-ports and one hack.

I adopted these temp-ports to unblock PianoTell either because the official ones are unsuitable or unavailable or else not validated by me yet:

PrimateCoder/flarum-ext-author-change (Ian's work)
PrimateCoder/flarum-ext-post-bookmarks
PrimateCoder/flarum-ext-shadow-ban
PrimateCoder/flarum-ext-chore-commands
PrimateCoder/katosdev-signature

Additionally, I'm going forward with this extend.php hack to suppress reload notifications:

use Flarum\Api\Middleware\AddAssetsRevisionHeader;

return [
    (new Extend\Middleware('api'))
        ->remove(AddAssetsRevisionHeader::class)
];

Wish me luck!

Karl

navindra you really don't like the reload notification 😅

navindra

The upgrade is done! Thanks so much everyone for your help!

pianotell@pianotell-primary-01:~/PianoTell$ echo Start: `date`; src/admin/upgrade-flarum-1-to-2.sh ; echo Complete: `date`
Start: Wed Jul 15 05:11:56 AM UTC 2026
==> Sanity checks
On branch 2.x.
compose.yaml + config.php found.
Pulling the latest primatecoder/pianotell:web-2.0 before downtime...
[+] pull 26/26
 ✔ Image primatecoder/pianotell:web-2.0 Pulled                                                                                                                                           19.8s
compose.yaml uses web-2.0; latest published image is present locally.
database service is running.
==> Stopping the web container
Stop the web container? [y/N] y
[+] stop 1/1
 ✔ Container pianotell-web Stopped                                                                                                                                                       10.5s
web stopped.
==> Backing up the database
Take a DB backup before proceeding? [y/N] y
Backup written: data/web/backup/pre-flarum2-20260715-051233.sql.gz (18284532 bytes)
==> Ensuring config.php driver is 'mariadb'
Check and update config.php driver if needed? [y/N] y
driver rewritten mysql -> mariadb. Original saved as data/web/config/config.php.pre-flarum2-20260715-051233.bak
==> Starting web-2.0
First boot will run, in order:  migrate  ->  assets:publish  ->  cache:clear
Start the web container now? [y/N] y
[+] up 2/2
 ✔ Container pianotell-database Healthy                                                                                                                                                   6.7s
 ✔ Container pianotell-web      Started                                                                                                                                                   6.0s
web container started.
==> Waiting for first-boot migrations to finish
==> Enabling default Flarum 2 extensions
Running Flarum extension commands as pianotell:docker.
Enabling 'ekumanov-post-search' extension...
Enabled ekumanov-post-search.
==> Recent web logs
...
pianotell-web  | cd /var/www/html/
pianotell-web  | php flarum migrate
pianotell-web  | php flarum assets:publish
pianotell-web  | php flarum cache:clear
...
pianotell-web  | Migrating Flarum...
pianotell-web  | Publishing core assets...
pianotell-web  | Publishing extension assets...
pianotell-web  | Clearing the cache...
pianotell-web  | PianoTell web server starting. Access logs are written to /var/log/pianotell/access.log
...
Complete: Wed Jul 15 05:12:53 AM UTC 2026

That's basically under a minute including downloading the new docker image, etc.

In terms of issues I need to track:

I'm pretty sure UX performance has taken a slight hit.
There's a bug with FoF Categories:
- Go to a Forum like https://forum.pianotell.com/t/notes
- Click "Start a Discussion" and close it.
- Then click the header to go back to the Forum list -- the button still behaves like it is in the previous forum.
The search dialog has some jumbled byobu nonsense that I can't understand as a user:

Dark mode improvements
I need to get back on upstream versions of the extensions and off of temp-ports.

I'm pretty sure there are more glitches and such, but hopefully it will smooth out over time.

Thank you so much everyone, especially IanM, huseyinfiliz, GreXXL, KBExit, and everyone else, for all your help and everything you've done!

Wlork

navindra

Oh, you've created a v2.0 fork of Post Bookmark ? 🙂 With database migration ?

navindra

Wlork Oh, you've created a v2.0 fork of Post Bookmark ? 🙂 With database migration ?

Yes, I did a private/temporary fork. We’ve been discussing it for quite a while but I had the impression you were not interested in my port.

For example:
#394132

I'm running my own production server on this port, so take that for what it's worth.

Karl

navindra ve been discussing it for quite a while but I had the impression you were not interested in my port.

I think there’s a language barrier lol. No disrespect, but I feel @Wlork misses a lot of context time to time.

Subarist

navindra

While enjoying performances in the Recital Hall, I've occasionally run into a small UX issue: if I start another embedded video before the previous one has stopped, the earlier one sometimes keeps playing in the background.

With so many embedded iframe videos on the page, it can be surprisingly difficult to figure out which one is still playing. 😅

Perhaps, at some point, a lightweight JavaScript solution could automatically pause other active video players whenever a new one starts. I think that would make the experience even smoother.

Wlork

Karl I think there’s a language barrier lol. No disrespect, but I feel @Wlork misses a lot of context time to time.

And @navindra

Yes, it seems there's a misunderstanding between us 🙂

The developer's name isn't important. What I want is a ready-to-use extension. I don't want to have to type three lines of code after installation. Not that it's difficult, but for my main forum, I'd like a simple and secure extension 🙂

navindra

Subarist if I start another embedded video before the previous one has stopped, the earlier one sometimes keeps playing in the background.

Thank you! I'm using AutoVideo from FoF/formatting for this I believe.

I'll try to see if there's anything I can do to address this issue!

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