Phpbb Migration to XenForo

[kotarou]

Hi,

I currently have a forum with Phpbb 3.1.6 and before buying XenForo I would like to know if there is a conversion tool to migrate the contents, users from this version.

Is there a tool that actually does this conversion?
What kind of things this I will probably lose and have to do manually ? (Permissions I guess?)

With this it will be easier to plan the migration and purchase Xenforo. I tried the forum already but I can't have an idea of the migration, if it will be smooth or not.

 

[Paul B]

There is an importer available XF1.

You would install XF1, do the import, then upgrade to XF2.

That can all be done with a single license.

 

[kotarou]

Is the PHPbb version that i'm using ,compatible with this importer?
Any tutorial or manual available?

 

[spider]

https://xenforo.com/xf1-docs/manual/importing/

Note that XF1 is not officially supported now, however you only need it up/running to use the importer feature really. Then once the data is all there you can upgrade XF1 to XF2. There will be according to the docs the importers for other platforms in XF2 anyway but at the moment (iirc) XF2 does not have one for phpBB but XF1 does ,

I have to confess my lic is not currently active so I do not have the very latest XF2 version to see what is in that importer however previous ones did not, but the import to XF1 then the upgrade to the latest XF2 is not difficult.

Regarding the link I posted above:

At the time of writing, XenForo 1 supports importing data from the following sources:

• XenForo 1.2+
• vBulletin 3.6, 3.7/3.8, and 4.x
• IP.Board 3.1, 3.2/3.3, 3.4, and 4.0/4.1/4.2
• phpBB 3.0.x, 3.1.x, 3.2.x
• MyBB 1.6/1.8
• SMF 2.0

So from that as you say you're using phpBB 3.1.6 you're good. Here is an attached pic of XF1.5 importer, you can clearly see its listed:

 

[GPA-R]

From my experience, Xenforo has probably the best migration tools not only from other forums to XF but also between older versions and new. I have migrated large phpBB (and vBulletin) installations to Xenforo without any issues. The only thing that you need to take care is the SEO. You need to create redirects from old URLs to the NEW.

After migration I never looked back

 

[Kirby]

We did migrate two phpBB 3.0 to XF 2.1 last december via XF 1.5 - did work without any major issues.

 

[kotarou]

That's great!
I'm really looking for this.

So basically I won't have problems to migrate users and topics?
Do I have to ask to the users to change passwords or something like that after migration or it is transparent for them?

 

[CarpCharacin]

So basically I won't have problems to migrate users and topics?

The import process is pretty straightforward.

Do I have to ask to the users to change passwords or something like that after migration or it is transparent for them?

I'm pretty sure that passwords will be imported.

 

[Chris D]

I'm pretty sure that passwords will be imported.

They are, that's correct.

 

[justified]

Does anyone know if the latest XF imports phpbb now?

 

[Paul B]

Yes, there is a phpBB 3.2 importer available for XF2.

 

[justified]

Great thanks Brogan, really considering making the move now since that is the case.

 

[darkeye]

Yes, there is a phpBB 3.2 importer available for XF2.

This means, I can now migrate phpBB3.2.8 directly to xenforo 2.1? I do not need Xenforo 1.5 anymore?

 

[Paul B]

Correct.

 

[darkeye]

Where I can download the migration addon? Cannot find it in https://xenforo.com/customers ? Does it cost something?

 

[Paul B]

It is available as a separate download.

 

[justified]

Hi Brogan what happens if I want to upgrade from 3.0.13 I read somewhere it doesn't support under 3.1 ?

 

[Paul B]

Our recommendation is to upgrade the phpBB version to 3.2, which is what the importer has been confirmed as working with.

 

[x1lclem]

Did anybody end up pulling the trigger on this? How'd it go, and how does Xenforo compare to PHPbb3?

 

[Chris D]

In terms of comparing the software, the best thing to do is get a free demo here: https://xenforo.com/demo/

We've had many customers over the years come over from phpBB. In recent months we've helped a few customers come over to XenForo Cloud from phpBB and feedback has been incredibly positive.