GateFans.net - Migrating from vBulletin 4 to Xenforo 1.1.3

Pygmalion2008

Pygmalion2008

Member
My website at www.gatefans.net is running vbulletin forums here at http://www.gatefans.net/gateforums and I am migrating the forums to Xenforo and the Beta forums in Xenforo are here: http://www.gatefans.net/gforums

I am using a custom theme built from the style I am using on the main GateFans forums. The importing process is easy, and after running a couple of simple queries on the database, I have been able to fix post counts, forum stats and orphaned tags. Multiple imports are easy and allow testing of the process.

Hope you like the site! Lots of add-ons and extensive template work done.
 
As Jake sad. It's switch to mobile style from my Desktop Mac.
Then switch to default style is'n possible.
 
Okay, an update! :) I was waiting for the migration because the forums are already on vBulletin and they started sending me teasers on vBulletin 5 (or Connect as they are calling it). That was a few weeks ago. Well, they have finally released it and they have an online demo of it here: http://www.vbulletin.com/vb5demo/

Simply put, it SUCKS. I could go into why, but the demo speaks for itself. :) Plus, this is the Xenforo forum and its all about Xenforo, just as it should be.

The decision is a no-brainer now, and I will be migrating the entire site over to Xenforo by the end of October. The 104,000 posts are easily manageable by the excellent vBulletin 4 to Xenforo importer. There are two queries you need to run (and maybe more depending on your bbcodes) to correct post counts, and to fix orphaned tags like the embedded video and signature tags. But the process still takes under three hours and is complete. The code in Xenforo is so easy to modify, and the code and templating system and the Admin back end is like a webmaster's paradise.

I wish Xenforo a long and healthy life after Internet Brands gives up their foolish and hissy legal action. If vBulletin 5 is any indication of the direction they are taking, they will have nothing to worry about because WHO would try to imitate such laggy, bloated software?

Anyhoo...GateFans will be migrating to Xenforo permanently. GO XENFORO!

carlton_dance.gif
 
DSF said:
As Jake sad. It's switch to mobile style from my Desktop Mac.
Then switch to default style is'n possible.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this feedback! :) I have disabled the mobile switch for now. For those of you who know about Tapatalk, you will find that they format Xenforo AWESOMELY! My new Xenforo forums (still in a Beta state with an old import) are listed on Tapatalk. They look great on there. Just an FYI for those interested in using Tapatalk for their Xenforo forums.
 
You're on the right track =]

I plan to do the same thing with my vB 4 forums.

How are your members finding it?

As for some CnC, I seem to view your mobile style even though I'm on my mac also for the sake of consistency you should try to keep your main site and forums identical, it looks more professional. Overall a nice forum you have there.
 
I did...the main site is Wordpress, so I am somewhat limited, but the colors and shapes and "roundy" look matches pretty well. Issues you will run into:

Signature tags will remain after import. You will have to run a SQL query on the database to remove them.

Internal links will be broken (no solution found yet)

Reputation will be imported as Likes

The Mobile style is going to be killed because we are on Tapatalk, and it wont be needed. :) Members are liking it a lot.
 
Nice site. Excellent job with the style. :thumbsup:

Minor issue, or it might just be that you designed it this way. Possibly add some margin-bottom to the following
Code: 
#navcontainer { margin-bottom: 10px; }


And then adjust the padding to the following by adding all into extra.css or directly into your css template
Code: 
#nav a {padding: 5px 14px; }

Resulting in the following

gate.webp
 
Shelley said:
Nice site. Excellent job with the style. (y)

Minor issue, or it might just be that you designed it this way. Possibly add some margin-bottom to the following
Code: 
#navcontainer { margin-bottom: 10px; }


And then adjust the padding to the following by adding all into extra.css or directly into your css template
Code: 
#nav a {padding: 5px 14px; }

Resulting in the following

View attachment 37073
Click to expand...

Wouldnt that not match the forums? I was wanting to remove the radius curve and attach it directly to the top of that block like in the left part of this snip from the forums homepage:

Capture.webp
 
Ah right, I wasn't sure what you planned to do with it since the radius in all corners made me think you wanted to separate the navigation.

the following should do that for you then

Code: 
#navcontainer { border-radius: 10px 10px 0 0; }
#contentwrap { border-radius: 0; }
 
This is the code in the template:

Code: 
#navcontainer {
height: 35px;
        margin-top: 5px;
        display: block;
overflow: hidden;
    background: #9E090B; url(images/nav-bg.png) left top repeat-x;
    -moz-border-radius: 5px;
    -khtml-border-radius: 5px;
    -webkit-border-radius: 5px;
    border-radius: 10px;
    padding-left: 10px;
}
 
#navcontainer .current-cat a {
color:#FFFFFF;
    background: #6600FF;
    -moz-border-radius: 10px;
    -khtml-border-radius: 10px;
    -webkit-border-radius: 10px;
    border-radius: 10px;
}

What do I change to remove only the lower radius curve? Forgive my newbieness :)
 
Sage Knight said:
You're on the right track =]

I plan to do the same thing with my vB 4 forums.

How are your members finding it?

As for some CnC, I seem to view your mobile style even though I'm on my mac also for the sake of consistency you should try to keep your main site and forums identical, it looks more professional. Overall a nice forum you have there.
Click to expand...

My members are LOVING it. I have installed 8wayrun's Xenporta, and the Recent Slider is easy to set up and will find images in posts or threads with the name slide.jpg and automatically create a mouseover link to that post. :) I have Google Adsense running in the awesome Advertising plugin, and after running some minor queries and Regex commands (in the Post Replace plugin), the forums are clean and running smoothly. WARNING. If you had your forums in a different directory than your Xenforo forums, you will need to run a Regex expression to change the internal links to your new forums URL. Other than that, and a few smileys short codes that had to be fixed, things are looking very good. Members love the YouTube embedding without having to use tags or a three step process like in vB4. They love the alerts system and the Likes system. Conversations take PMs to a whole new level. Our special GateFans Awards and Trinkets system was easily replicated using the Medals plugin. I'll tell ya, this version of Xenforo (1.1.3) is such an improvement over the very BEST that vB has to offer, that you should do as I did and buy a license, then set up your Xenforo forums in a different directory and run them both for a while. Gives you time to tweak the styles, make observations and adjustments, etc.

Let me know if you need any help or tips. :) BTW, we are on Tapatalk.
 

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