cms options + vbulletin upgrade

[ungovernable]

What are the best available cms options to converts specific forums into articles managers with XenForo ?

i would also appreciate some links to informations about moving from vbulletin 3 to XenForo. We've been using it since 10 years but it's outdated and seriously needs to be updated now.

Thanks !

 

[Paul B]

There is no CMS functionality built in and I'm not sure whether there is a true CMS add-on available.
There are various portal and article add-ons available - I'm not familiar with most of them so you can check/search here: https://xenforo.com/community/resources/

Importing from VB is fairly straightforward:

• install XF in a temporary directory
• set up the options and configuration
• take a backup
• perform the import
• check it all works as expected
• restore from the backup if you need to do it again (optional, repeat as necessary)
• archive the VB installation and move the XF installation to the desired location
• implement the redirection scripts
• enjoy

 

[ungovernable]

Thanks for the reply ! I bought my license

I started a new XenForo from scratch, added a few users and a couple of forums. Just a last question before i start importing from vBulletin :
What happens with conflicting users ID, forums, and posts ? For example, in my new XenForo i created a few users and posted a couple of threads. What happens when importing from vBulletin, i import PostID=1 but i already have a post in my XenForo with the same ID ? One of them will be lost/overwritten or both will be kept and ID changed ?

Same question goes for forums. Say i have forum ID 22 in my XenForo and i import thousands of posts from vBulletin that were posted in forum ID 22... What happens ?

 

[Paul B]

You will be prompted to merge or rename members with the same name or email address.

However, as it explains in this thread -- https://xenforo.com/community/threads/importing-guidelines.25325/ -- you will need to create a completely fresh installation as you can't import and retain IDs into an installation which already has content.

Welcome aboard!

 

[ungovernable]

The backup should be taken before you create any categories, forums, or test users, make any posts or add any content at all.

OMG so it means i have to start over ? I spent the last 2 days working full-time setting up everything in the forum i don't want to start over with a fresh installation. Can i just delete all posts, forums and categories before importing from vb ?

 

[Paul B]

Can i just delete all posts, forums and categories before importing from vb ?

No, it's not that simple.

That's why in my first response to you above I showed the steps as:

• set up the options and configuration
• take a backup

 

[ungovernable]

Well by "set up the options and configuration" i thought this also included usergroups, forums, and everything. The "importing guidelines" stated it clearer but i would have needed that link first.

What can i do now ? There's absolutly no way to delete the forums and users and make it look like a fresh install, i.e. reset the ForumID counter in settings ? I'm comfortable with doing SQL Queries or editing settings through phpMyAdmin.

If not, my other solution would be to make another fresh install in another folder, then use phpMyAdmin to import my settings from the other install (except users, categories and forums). But i would need the table names for the forum settings, templates and styles, usergroups, and all plugins

Starting over isn't an option after spending over 30 hours of work on this.

 

[ungovernable]

Other topics says it's still possible to do an import even if i have content in the forums ... https://xenforo.com/community/threa...g-phpbb-into-an-existing-xenforo-forum.51017/

vBulletin forum :
116k posts
15k threads
13k members

XenForo forum :
16 posts
8 threads
3 members

I'm confused. Some documentation says i can't import after creating forums or posts, and other forum threads says it's doable.

Also, official documentation doesn't say it's impossible to import after adding posts, forums or users.. https://xenforo.com/help/importing/

 

[Mr Lucky]

Backup, do test import, see what happens...

 

[ungovernable]

It also seems very easy to import another XenForo into another existing XenForo https://xenforo.com/community/threads/merging-two-xenforo-databases-together.77272/

Should i install a fresh XenForo on a different location, import vBulletin forums/posts/users, then migrate the new XenForo to my existing installation ? Would that make things go smoother ?

I would really appreciate some support. "see what happens" is not really helping me.

 

[Paul B]

You can import as many forums as you wish into one installation, regardless of how much content is already in the target installation.

What you can't do is retain IDs if there is any content already in the target installation.

 

[ungovernable]

Oh thanks, i get it now !

I don't really care about retaining ID's, i'll make a custom htaccess for redirections. So i'll try the import now and see how it goes

 

[Mr Lucky]

I would really appreciate some support. "see what happens" is not really helping me.

Please note I'm not xenforo support, I'm just a bloke offering a suggestion and trying to help. There's nothing to lose if you back up, and doing test imports and finding out what if any the issues are in your particular case has been very helpful to me in learning, and in know what to do and not do when you come to the final import.

This is why I took the time to answer and suggest something that really may be valuable, even if all it does it make it clearer what doesn't work and why.

 

[Paul B]

i'll make a custom htaccess for redirections

You won't need to as there are redirection scripts available: https://xenforo.com/community/resources/redirection-scripts-for-vbulletin-3-x.264/

More importantly, you wouldn't be able to just use .htaccess to redirect, if all of the IDs are different.

 

[ungovernable]

I completed the migration and all posts seems to be transfered to the new forum. However, the search engine isn't working. Only the messages posted after vb->xenforo migration will be displayed in the search engine

 

[Paul B]

Rebuild the search index as you should have been prompted to do when the import was complete.

Any further support related issues should be posted in the relevant forum, as this is the pre-sales forum.