If xenForo does not work out, can data be exported back to VB 4.2?

[David Copeland]

Question:

If xenForo does not work out, can data be exported back to VB 4.2?

David

 

[Razasharp]

Does vB4 have a Xenforo importer? If so I don't see why not - but your urls will probably change.

 

[Jeremy]

You'll need to ask vBulletin and see if they have an importer for XenForo. XenForo doesn't provide exports to other software.

 

[Sheratan]

Question:

If xenForo does not work out, can data be exported back to VB 4.2?

David

You need to define "does not work out" clearly

 

[AndyB]

Question:

If xenForo does not work out, can data be exported back to VB 4.2?

David

Hi David,

Your going to love Xenforo. I also switched in March of 2013 from vB 4.1.2 and so glad that I have. My community immediately liked Xenforo a lot.

 

[Ryan_]

On the 0% chance that you don't like XenForo or that it doesn't suit your needs or is everything you've ever dreamed of... you'd have to ask vBulletin if they have an importer for XenForo.

 

[Mark Wein]

Hi David,

Your going to love Xenforo. I also switch in March of 2013 from vB 4.12 and so glad that I have. My community immediately liked Xenforo a lot.

+1

We haven't had anyone complain that they miss vB once they discovered where all of their favorite features were.

 

[Khaleal]

I think the best choice is to take a complete backup before you convert. Setup xenForo and use it for a while and see how it works. If you didn't like it you can restore the backup and convert the links back to vBulletin 4 structure. The total loss is the number of posts that were posted after the conversation. For small boards I think this is the best option.

 

[Mark Wein]

I think the best choice is to take a complete backup before you convert. Setup xenForo and use it for a while and see how it works. If you didn't like it you can restore the backup and convert the links back to vBulletin 4 structure. The total loss is the number of posts that were posted after the conversation. For small boards I think this is the best option.

We set up a test forum with the Xenforo with an old copy of our database for us to both test but to let the community get used to it before we made the change. That made the transition much easier and we got them to help with the beta testing too...

 

[Khaleal]

We set up a test forum with the Xenforo with an old copy of our database for us to both test but to let the community get used to it before we made the change. That made the transition much easier and we got them to help with the beta testing too...

Setting up a test forum won't give you the ability to test SEO and revenue impact. The only way to know if a software is doing well is to examine it in a real production environment.

 

[Mark Wein]

Setting up a test forum won't give you the ability to test SEO and revenue impact. The only way to know if a software is doing well is to examine it in a real production environment.

true. We had a couple of bumps with Adsense revenue that I didn't see until we had been up for a week or so. The SEO part of it was pretty incredible in terms of how much better it was almost immediately.

 

[David Copeland]

We are on our own dedicated server. Am I correct in thinking we could install the full version, including XenForo Resource Manager and XenForo Enhanced Search, take it live, as some of our members to try it out . . . and if it works out, merge the VBulletin past posts and threads into the XenForo forum?

Below are some of our stats that we currently have:

Members 46,550
Posts 509,887
Threads 32,686
Dedicated Server Type: Linux
Web Server: Apache (cgi-fcgi)
PHP: 5.3.10
PHP Max Post Size: 200.00 MB
PHP Maximum Upload Size: 100.00 MB
PHP Memory Limit: 1.00 GB
MySQL Version: 5.1.70-cll
MySQL Packet Size: 32.00 MB
Data Usage: 831.61 MB
Index Usage: 344.98 MB
Attachment Usage: 8.08 MB
Avatar Usage: 7.30 MB
Profile Picture Usage: 251.9 KB

David

 

[Paul B]

You could do that but you wouldn't be able to retain existing IDs due to the new content.

Most people set up a test site, invite some of the members to try it out while keeping the existing site running and then convert into a clean installation.

 

[Carlos]

We are on our own dedicated server. Am I correct in thinking we could install the full version, including XenForo Resource Manager and XenForo Enhanced Search, take it live, as some of our members to try it out . . . and if it works out, merge the VBulletin past posts and threads into the XenForo forum?

If you're going to move to xenForo, and you think things will go bad, my suggestion is to keep the old vB4 instance in the background. That way, when you think things aren't working out as you envision, you can just swap back to normal.

In short: Don't delete your current vB4 files/database - keep it as backup, and then when you want to go live with xenForo; you can import the database and do whatever. Then if you think things aren't going as you envision: Swap back. You have the backup.