Is there any stable release version of UNA? If so, which one is it?
Migration to UNA
- I'm considering migrating a website from Dolphin to UNA and would like to know if there are any truly stable versions of UNA available. Stability is crucial for this transition, especially for production environments where reliability and consistent updates are essential. Before investing time into development or migration, I want to ensure that UNA can offer a solid foundation similar to what Dolphin provided in the past.
- I ran several experiments and tried updating through the "stable" channel, but I couldn't find a single version that actually supports "stable" updates. None of the versions I tested on the stable channel had any working update mechanism it's as if stable updates were never properly implemented. In the developer module, you can switch from beta to stable, but I haven't found any version that can actually be updated on stable chanel. I also didn't find any version to which you can migrate from Dolphin 7.4.2.
- The only updates that even attempt to run are on the beta channel, but those often lead to major issues. During the module update phase, errors occur and the site becomes unusable which is unacceptable for building a business. While such issues might be tolerable for development or testing environments, they are not acceptable in a production environment intended to support a professional operation.
- So far, it seems there are no genuinely stable versions of UNA. Everything behaves like it's still in beta from beginning to end.
If there is no stable version yet, does anyone know when it is planned to be released?
- Stable release: Also called "production release", the "stable release" is the last "release candidate" (RC) which has passed all stages of verification and tests. Any known remaining bugs are considered acceptable. This release goes to production.
- Some software products (e.g. Linux distributions like Debian) also have long-term support (LTS) releases which are based on full releases that have already been tried and tested and receive only security updates.
- Building a website without a stable script makes it impossible to develop any business.
If anyone has more experience with UNA and can recommend a version that has been reliably stable in real-world usage, your insights would be highly appreciated. Additionally, I would welcome any advice on which UNA version is best for migrating from Dolphin, and what the steps are to migrate to a stable version (e.g., version-x.x.x to version-x.x.x). This is especially relevant as UNA is prominently featured on the Boonex.com website.
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We’ve had many’s table versions now. Quite a few large networks in production. V14 is stable. Just released.
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I installed a test site with a version considered stable, 13.1.0, and I set a stable update channel in the developer module. However, in the studio/dashboard.php, there is no button to upgrade to version 14.0.0. How can you claim that version 14.0.0 is a stable version if migration from one stable version to another on a stable channel is not possible? Perhaps there will be migration available in the future, but currently, there is no stable migration channel. Migration from one version to another is only possible on the beta channel through intermediate beta versions. So these are all beta versions.
UNA on 13.1.0
Version: 13.1.0 Installed: 6 Apr 2025 Or version 13.1.0 not a stable version? it seems there is a patch but it is not visible by version 13.1.0 UNA-Patch-v.13.1.0-to-v.14.0.0.zip in github https://github.com/unacms/una/releases/tag/14.0.0
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Is there a version of UNA that I can migrate to from Dolphin 7.4.2? I’ve asked many people, but no one has answered me specifically regarding this question. I tried various versions but was unable to successfully migrate to any of them. I attempted to migrate to some versions like 14.0.0-RC, and also from 13.0.0, 13.1.0, and 12.0.0, but none of them worked. Although I found a migration script on GitHub, it doesn’t function with any of these versions. If you could provide me with a tip, I would greatly appreciate it. In https://github.com/unacms/una/blob/master/modules/boonex/dolphin_migration/install/config.php It says it is compatible with version 9.0.x I'll also try the 9 series versions, let's see.
'compatible_with' => array( '9.0.x' ), -
UNA 9.0.1 – A Dead End with No Way Forward
I installed UNA 9.0.1 right now and attempted to install the Dolphin Migration module. Unfortunately, the module immediately failed with a MySQL error:
Error: Unknown column 'type' in 'INSERT INTO' html INSERT INTO `sys_std_widgets` (`page_id`, `module`, `type`, `url`, `click`, `icon`, `caption`, `cnt_notices`, `cnt_actions`) VALUES(@iPageId, @sName, 'extensions', '{url_studio}module.php?name=bx_dolphin_migration', '', 'bx_dolphin_migration@modules/boonex/dolphin_migration/|std-icon.svg', '_bx_dolphin_migration_wgt_cpt', '', '...');This confirms what the module’s configuration already states: the Dolphin Migration module is not compatible with UNA 9.0.1.
Even Newer Versions Are Buggy
While the module does install on UNA 12 and 13, the migration process is filled with errors and inconsistencies. It simply doesn’t work as expected.
What's even more concerning is that UNA 9.0.1 doesn’t have any official migration patch available on GitHub. There’s no indication that this version was ever intended to be migrated from:
🔗 https://github.com/unacms/una/releases/tag/9.0.0
So we’re left with a simple conclusion: UNA 9.0.1 is a dead end.
Mysterious Update to 13.1.0?
Despite this, UNA 9.0.1 still offers an "update" to UNA 13.1.0 through the Beta channel but there’s no migration script, no documentation, and no clarity on how this process should work.
How is a user supposed to update from version 9.0.1 to 13.1.0 with no migration path? If it's open source, where is this patch so I can see it too 😎 I'm curious what will happen if I click the update button! But I won't click when I know there is no update script, it's clear that there will be no happy ending.
My Investment Decision
I was seriously considering selling a commercial building this month and investing a few hundred thousand euros into a platform built with UNA.
After testing it in depth, however, I’ve come to a hard truth: UNA is not stable yet.
Not version 9.0.1, not 12, not even 13. or 14. Every version I tested had major issues, not just security-related bugs, but core functional problems.
A stable version should only need occasional security patches.
UNA’s versions feel more like ongoing experiments than production-ready platforms.
Conclusion
My project will go forward , but not with UNA.
I’ll be using a more reliable, professional framework that has a future.
UNA had potential, but at this point, it's too broken to be taken seriously.
If the UNA team had a proper product manager who truly understood what software design standards and stable release practices actually mean, they might still have a future. But as things stand, this platform is only good for wasting time and money.
Maybe in a few years we see if anything has changed in their direction or company policies.
For now? No chance.
I’ve already lost tens of thousands of euros on Dolphin. UNA seems to be following the same path and I’m not willing to lose more.
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Hi @Romulus - I am sorry to hear about your challenges with UNA migration from Dolphin, however 2 important points should be noted;
- Dolphin has now been legacy software for over 5 years, UNA 9 was released 7 years ago, so migrating to the current versions of UNA is inevitably going to require some nuanced technical support, however I am confident with the right developer support in place it would be achievable. We have successfully migrated many Dolphin sites to UNA, however as UNA has evolved much since that time, the update pathway is possibly less clear, if you would like to engage our support for the migration and update, please reach out and we can discuss possible solutions.
- UNA has been very stable for many years, there are many thousands of thriving communities built on UNA software, and the UNA team have developed and are supporting many large communities, with customised solutions and million+ members. The UNA 14 update has just been released, and if you follow UNA on Github, you will see that there were (as always) numerous beta and RC versions, tested for nearly a year before the final release. With immensely sophisticated software such as UNA, bugs are always going to be a part of the dev process, but with UNA a) we test our software rigorously b) have a passionate and deeply committed core team meticulously manage our ongoing development and support and c) have a huge number of teams utilizing our software, whom we communicate with daily, via UNACMS.com and our dedicated support channels for enterprise clients.
UNA is very much a well supported, stable, thriving and continually evolving project, if you would like to know more, please send me a DM and we can plan a solution to bring your existing Dolphin site into UNA.
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I am using 12.1 stable with 15K members on a very active platform for doctors, no issues at all.
As we have some customizations we are planning for this this summer to upgrade to 14 stable.
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I will try this version, thanks.
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- I'm looking for a migration solution for an older, stable version of UNA, but I haven't found one that works correctly. It seems the migration script was designed for an earlier version, not the current ones. For example, the script claims to be compatible with UNA9, but I haven't been able to run it on version 9. You can check the script here: https://github.com/unacms/una/blob/master/modules/boonex/dolphin_migration/install/config.php . If I can’t do the migration myself, I certainly wouldn’t ask someone else to do it for me. If this isn’t possible, then there's no point in manage a UNA website. I want to do this by myself thank you for your availability. I'm not comfortable with someone else handling my data. Additionally, if there isn’t a stable version of UNA, migrating to UNA seems pointless. If a custom script tailored for my site is required to migrate from Dolphin, I would rather migrate from Dolphin to Drupal, which is a stable CMS, or explore other Python-based frameworks that offer more certainty for future business needs. So, based on your experience, which stable version can Dolphin be migrated to?
- I’ve installed and tested several UNA versions, but none of them seem to update to the stable channel. I haven’t been able to test all versions, but can you point me to one that can be updated to the stable channel? I wouldn’t use beta software for a production site. For a script to qualify as stable, it needs more than just a name. If you search for 14.0.0, you'll find many errors.
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Glad to hear that your site is going well for your Cem, you have been an UNA stalwart since the beginning!
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I still have a bit of work left to update the migration script, but I'll manage to complete it. There are still some fields that aren't migrating correctly, but I’ll be able to fix that as well, and my site will work properly too.
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Yes I understand that the migration script was designed for an older version of UNA. As Dolphin has been legacy software for many year now, most sites migrated to UNA some years ago, you will find many of them in the community who followed the migration pathway. There may be various issues with your Dolphin site that are preventing a clean migration, I am not a developer, but I am sure that if you were keen to forge ahead, one of our devs could successfully support you to fulfill this mission. Certainly you could migrate to Drupal or another CMS, but assuming that your site is a social community, UNA is the best platform for building social communities on the planet, with a vast web of integrated (and stable!) features, so I'm not sure why you would choose to go in another direction?
As Cem points out above, UNA 12 was stable, UNA 13 was stable and UNA 14 is stable, most errors reported seem to be settings rather than software, I have been made aware of no roadblocking issues with UNA 14 updates.
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I still have a bit of work left to update the migration script, but I'll manage to complete it. There are still some fields that aren't migrating correctly, but I’ll be able to fix that as well, and my site will work properly too.
It sounds like you know what you are doing Romulus - I'm sure that you will get there, and it will be worth the effort when you do!
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I am really thankful to UNA team for my success! 🚀
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Hello!
As previously mentioned, the Dolphin Migration Tool was developed several years ago and was originally intended to facilitate migration from an unmodified version of Dolphin 7.4.2 to any available version of UNA. The only limitation was the PHP version required to run both Dolphin and UNA simultaneously on the same server. The last PHP version that supported this overlap was PHP 7.4, which is compatible with Dolphin and UNA up to approximately version 13.0.1.
The most recent update to the Dolphin Migration Tool was released last year, coinciding with the release of UNA version 14.0.0-A3. In essence, the primary constraint for using the Dolphin Migration Tool is the PHP version, since both Dolphin and UNA CMS must be installed and operational on the same server during the migration process. Dolphin's development ceased at PHP 7.4, while the latest versions of UNA require PHP 8.2 and above.
That said, it is still possible to use the Dolphin Migration Tool with a few workarounds. Dolphin does not necessarily need to be fully functional on the same server where UNA is installed. You can temporarily enable PHP 7.4, transfer the Dolphin files, and configure the /inc/header.inc.php file so that Dolphin runs correctly. Then, you can switch the PHP version to one compatible with the latest UNA (e.g., 14.0.0), install the Dolphin Migration Tool, specify the path to the Dolphin installation, and proceed with migrating the profiles.
If your Dolphin version is unmodified - for example, it does not allow non-unique profile names or similar alterations - then profile data, including avatars, should transfer without issue. Other modules generally do not present major problems, and any minor issues that arise can usually be resolved easily.
Several migration tools have been built on the foundation of the Dolphin Migration Tool, including Social Engine, WordPress, and others. In any case, we offer migration assistance services and are happy to help if needed.
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Yes, thank you. I am already well-acquainted with everything you’ve explained here, and I have installed several versions of UNA. However, each version requires a patch for the Dolphin migration tool due to database changes with every UNA update, which hinders successful migration. Additionally, the migration script fails to transfer all the relevant data that we need.
Currently, I am addressing this issue. I have installed version 14.0.0 and am making further modifications to the migration script to ensure that all views and my content are effectively transferred. I have also developed a new video module, which is essentially a modified version of the UNA albums, specifically designed for videos, as I prefer not to mix video content with photos. Moreover, I am not satisfied with the standard video module offered by UNA, so I have created a new custom video module for our site. I am also not satisfied with the standard albums module and am working on modifying it before the migration.
These changes make the transfer process more complex, as I aim to migrate all my content directly to the new custom platform. Additionally, I am working on a few new modules similar to those I had in Dolphin, ensuring that everything is migrated without any loss. I am not in a rush and will manage everything by myself; I don’t require any assistance. Thank you very much.
What you wrote is invaluable for anyone looking to migrate from Dolphin, making it very useful. I will share all the patches added to the UNA migration script that are relevant for anyone who still needs to migrate to UNA in the future. Happy coding!
