# Poll migration - problem and advice
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/poll-migration-problem-and-advice/89392
**Category:** Development
**Created:** [June 7, 2018, 8:04pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/poll-migration-problem-and-advice/89392 "2018-06-07T20:04:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@bletch](https://meta.discourse.org/u/bletch)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2018, 8:04pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/poll-migration-problem-and-advice/89392/1 "2018-06-07T20:04:13Z")
Hi, my chosen approach to creating polls during a migration is functional but not without issues.
tl;dr - Is there a way that I can call `Post.save` as if I were a system user (to skip validation) - and is this advisable / desirable?
**Detail**
It seems to me that polls have two stages - setting up the poll and then voting.
**Setting up the poll** has two components
1. placing the `[poll]...[/poll]` tag into the `Post` `raw` / `cooked` fields - usually keyed in by our users
2. recording the details of the options and votes in a `PostCustomField` under the `[polls]` hash structure - usually handled by our polls plugin
**Voting**
Once these structures are in place, it is then possible to record votes against the poll using the `DiscoursePoll::Poll.vote` method.
The approach I took to handle step 1 of the **Setting up the poll** component was to simply append the `[poll]...[/poll]` text to the `raw` field of the `Post` in question.
Once this is saved and the raw content cooked, the Poll plugin will do its thing and create the hash structure mentioned in step 2 above.
I also had to adjust the `poll_minimum_trust_level_to_create` site setting so that my newly migrated level 0 users were able to create polls.
However, now that I have got this far, the act of re-saving the `Post` so that the [poll]…[/poll] elements are generated is tripping `Post.save` validation problems.
These validation problems were not an issue for the migrator as it seems to run as a system level `Guardian` user.
An example is where my trust level 0 users cannot mention more than two other users in a post. This wasn’t a problem in the forum I’m migrating from and neither was it a problem for the post migrator as it uses `PostCreator` as system user.
I’ve tried to follow the logic of the phpbb3 poll importer to see how it does its stuff, but I’m new to Ruby and only a part-time hacker.
It _looks_ like it re-produces the work of the poll plugin in creating the `[polls]` hash structure in the post custom field which I’m loathed to do.
Ideally, what I’d like to do is re-save the post (with the added `[poll]...[/poll]` text) as a system user so that the validation isn’t fired. Alternatively I’d like to call `Post.save` and skip user level validation.
Is that possible?
Any advice gratefully received.
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### Author:  [@bletch](https://meta.discourse.org/u/bletch)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2018, 9:05pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/poll-migration-problem-and-advice/89392/2 "2018-06-07T21:05:20Z")
OK, a little more information.
I’ve now found the `:validate => false` parameter to `Post.save`.
As expected, it bypasses the validation and saves the post, but in doing so it **seems** to stop the poll plugin from creating the `[poll]` structure in the `PostCustomField` row.
Any other ideas?
I’m thinking that I could change the post ownership to a level 4 or system user, carry out my poll actions, and then change the ownership back with validation turned off, but this is already feeling a bit hacky.
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### Author:  [@zogstrip](https://meta.discourse.org/u/zogstrip)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2018, 10:45am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/poll-migration-problem-and-advice/89392/3 "2018-06-08T10:45:45Z")
Disabling the validation should not prevent the poll to be created. Can you show us the code? Maybe there’s an error elsewhere.
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### Author:  [@gerhard](https://meta.discourse.org/u/gerhard)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2018, 11:26am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/poll-migration-problem-and-advice/89392/4 "2018-06-08T11:26:53Z")
I think the poll is created in a post-processing step. @bletch There was a reason why I wrote the phpbb3 importer that way and if I remember correctly, I had the same problem you’re having right now.
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### Author:  [@bletch](https://meta.discourse.org/u/bletch)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2018, 1:15pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/poll-migration-problem-and-advice/89392/5 "2018-06-08T13:15:25Z")
I will do once I’ve setup some test data and reached some concrete conclusions about what is going on as it seems to be only failing on posts that fail the trust level 0 validation.
Thanks.
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### Author:  [@bletch](https://meta.discourse.org/u/bletch)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2018, 11:45pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/poll-migration-problem-and-advice/89392/6 "2018-06-08T23:45:09Z")
OK, I’ve now got this working by implementing a few workarounds but it’s not clear why some things didn’t just work.
Previously, I was running the poll creation routine against already migrated posts which meant editing them and occasionally tripping the user `trust_level` validation.
I decided to move the poll creation routine into my post migration code so that I could use the `PostCreator` class which I knew runs as a system user.
I did this, created a valid `[poll]...[/poll]` structure and added it at the end of the `.raw` post content. Discourse picked up the poll, cooked the content so that it rendered correctly on the screen, and I thought I’d solved it.
However, despite rendering on screen like a poll, it would not accept votes. Looking in the database there was no corresponding `[polls]` hash structure in the `PostCustomFields` table. So there would be no way to record my votes.
If I then used the Discourse UI to make any minor change to the raw content that would force the Polls plugin to fire the post changed code, as soon as the edit was complete the poll UI allowed me to vote and the `[polls]` structure appeared in the `PostCustomFields` table.
I decided that I would implement a `:post_create_action` call back on the newly created post and edit it as an elevated user. I simply elevated the user to `trust_level` 4, added a markdown horizontal rule at the foot of the raw post content, saved it, reset the `trust_level` and it’s worked. The poll now renders fully, creates the `[polls]` structure in `PostCustomField` and accepts my migrated votes.
Why the full poll creation routine doesn’t fire after `PostCreator` finishes, but instead needs the post to be edited, I don’t know.
Thanks again for you support. 👍