XF 1.1 Converting From vB 4 -> XF 1.1: Questions

[TheBigK]

Our vB4 (+vBSEO) installation sits in /forum/ and I wish to upgrade to XF 1.1. My options are as follows -

• Install XF in /community (or other folder) and then perform migration.
• Keep the /forum/ folder for XF installation.

Question #1: I'm not sure how'd the process be if I wish to keep the 'Forum' folder intact. Is that possible, if yes, how do I install XF in existing /forum/ folder?
Question #2: How long will I have to keep the vBulletin files on the server?
Question #3: vB 3 importer has support for profile fields. Can I use it to import existing vb4 installation and then use Paul M's importer to import the attachments? Has anyone tried this?
Question #4: Sitemap Generator: Does it really make a difference? Or would you recommend that I setup higher frequency of crawling in Webmasters account?
Question #5: What are the areas I should pay attention to so that I do not repeat mistakes done by other admins during the migration? (Specially related to database settings, server settings etc.?)
I many have further questions Thank you in advance!

 

[Jake Bunce]

1) If you install XenForo in the same directory as vBulletin then you need to rename the old directory to something else so you can create a new directory under the same name. Or just delete the vBulletin files from that directory to make room for XenForo.

2) That depends on your vBulletin license. But since they did away with leased licenses I assume your license does not expire in terms of usage.

3) Paul's vB4 importer hasn't been updated for XenForo 1.1 so it doesn't do profile fields. I recommend trying this other importer:

http://xenforo.com/community/threads/vbulletin-4-importer-to-xenforo-1-1.23674/

4) Does a sitemap help... maybe. The wiki page has some info on that:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Site_map

5) That's a broad question. If you have any specific questions about server configuration then you can post in this forum:

http://xenforo.com/community/forums/server-configuration-and-hosting.48/

 

[TheBigK]

Thanks Jake. About the sitemaps: I've been using sitemaps on our site for a long time now. I've generic idea about what sitemaps are and what they do. I want some real world feedback about difference it makes for Google when you submit sitemap on your own (automatically or manually) and when you let google decide everything

 

[Paul B]

Surely that comparison isn't going to be possible, as you can only do one or the other?

You would have to let Google index and take note of the results, then completely wipe all record of your site from Google and submit a sitemap to be able to compare the two options.

 

[TheBigK]

Surely that comparison isn't going to be possible, as you can only do one or the other?

You would have to let Google index and take note of the results, then completely wipe all record of your site from Google and submit a sitemap to be able to compare the two options.

Thank you for your response. I've a third party sitemap generator that works perfectly well. I wonder whether submitting a new sitemap is a good idea after migration. I might have missed this - but is sitemap generator going to be a part of XenForo in future?