Potential Customer looking for advice..

[Shane Greer]

Hi Guys

As a long standing vB customer I have finally bitten the bullet and realized that vB is a bloated, waste of space that detracts from my enjoyment of running a forum. So last night I decided to have a look at the other products out there that could fill the niche of my websites forum once I decided to move on.

Xenforo got my vote and although I haven't purchased it yet (must wait until payday) I would like all the resources at hand so as soon as that day arrives in the near future I can get stuck straight in.

My website is www.thefewgoodmen.com

A relatively small vBulletin site with roughly 200 members and about 100k posts.

I will be looking to import my vB data into Xenforo and believe this can be done.

I sure would appreciate all and any advice from you folk. I am new to this and am looking to get myself up to pace pretty darn quick.

Some things you can help me with if you have the time...

How do I set up Xenforo?

How do I import my stuff from vBulletin?

How do I use Xenporta as a front page?

What mods do you recommend?

I know its a biggie asking all these questions but Im hoping someone has the time to reply and assist me.

Thankyou so much in advance.

Shane Greer

 

[M@rc]

How do I set up Xenforo?

This guide helps you with installing xenForo: http://xenforo.com/help/installation/

How do I import my stuff from vBulletin?

You can use the unofficial vB4 to xenForo importer: [re-packed] vBulletin 4 to XenForo Importer

How do I use Xenporta as a front page?

I've never used that addon but most likely there's an option to set it as the front page (someone can correct me if I'm wrong).

What mods do you recommend?

Both threads contains what you might be searching for (recommended mods from forum owners)

http://xenforo.com/community/threads/your-top-5-favorite-xenforo-modifications.29740/
http://xenforo.com/community/threads/xf-add-on-favourites-recommendations.14056/

I'd recommend recent statuses, bd banking (if you need a point system of course), XenUtiles, XenMedio and TapaTalk. Of course, those are what I use,
< ad > Also, you can try out my User-Friendly Profile Links as well (it's free, btw, haha) < / ad >

 

[Shane Greer]

Excellent M@rc thank-you. That gives me a great starter for 10. Will be raring to go come payday. Any more suggestions folks.


A few of the downloads I looked at have this beside them. Do I have to make so many posts before it will let me download?

 

[craigiri]

I think perhaps you have to be a license holder to download resources??

 

[Shane Greer]

Aha that'll be it then. I will wait until payday in that case. Thanks for that I was wondering.

 

[Nudaii]

Welcome to xenforo, you will really enjoy it

 

[Shane Greer]

Thanks Richard.... has anyone here tried the vbulletin >> Xenforo transfer?

 

[Slavik]

Thanks Richard.... has anyone here tried the vbulletin >> Xenforo transfer?

The p8ntballer forums (my sig link).

Best thing we ever did after the disaster of vb4.

 

[Nudaii]

i moved gardenerscorner.co.uk from vb to xf

 

[Shane Greer]

And how did you guys find the transfer process?

Im a total beginner in things like this so any tips or pointers I may encounter would be appreciated.

 

[Nudaii]

the import went really well

i'm about to move over another site, (300k posts 6k users) so far ive done 3-4 test imports and they all went very well also

 

[Slavik]

And how did you guys find the transfer process?

Im a total beginner in things like this so any tips or pointers I may encounter would be appreciated.

Perfect, you can see our transfer thread here: http://xenforo.com/community/thread...m-finally-turns-on-xenforo.25349/#post-307465

 

[Shane Greer]

the import went really well

i'm about to move over another site, (300k posts 6k users) so far ive done 3-4 test imports and they all went very well also

Excellent... I may question you over the coming days if you dont mind.

Perfect, you can see our transfer thread here: http://xenforo.com/community/thread...m-finally-turns-on-xenforo.25349/#post-307465

Sweet... Im getting excited about finally getting shot of VBulletin but slightly apprehensive about the work ahead.

 

[CurveGotti]

Im a total beginner in things like this so any tips or pointers I may encounter would be appreciated.

As Richard subtly mentioned in his post, make a backup of your data and run test conversions. I think it's pretty obvious, but worth pointing out since you said your a total beginner, do not use your live database to make the transfer.

 

[Slavik]

And how did you guys find the transfer process?

Im a total beginner in things like this so any tips or pointers I may encounter would be appreciated.

Alternatively you could use a third party such a SchmitIt or myself to do the data transfer for you

 

[craigiri]

Shane, I second the opinion that saving up a small nest egg and getting someone with experience to do it is worthwhile.

As we used to say in my old trade - Many things are relatively easy to do, except the first time (learning curve). The problem is you ONLY get to do it the first time.....

 

[Shane Greer]

Ok can you guys interested in assisting me set my website up pm me with what kind of cash we are talking about. Im not sure I can afford it but a ball park figure would be nice.

 

[Ingenious]

Shane just to add to this thread, I migrated a similar sized vB3 forum (190,000 posts at the time) and it went like clockwork, the import process is well written and mostly painless. Also don't be too worried by the lack of some things you have in vB. I spent (wasted) months fretting over the lack of this or that feature but this is all outweighed by the positives. For example no-one has even noticed the lack of member galleries and only a few people have asked where the calendar is

 

[Matthew2D]

Some things you should is: your ladder's and tournament add-on's aren't available for xenforo. Looking at your style, you could use this, http://xenforo.com/community/resources/darkness.456/. Here are some mod's I recommend.

http://xenforo.com/community/resources/8wayrun-com-xenmedio-media.97/
http://xenforo.com/community/resources/8wayrun-com-xenporta-portal.90/
http://xenforo.com/community/resources/xfr-user-albums.54/

 

[Shane Greer]

Shane just to add to this thread, I migrated a similar sized vB3 forum (190,000 posts at the time) and it went like clockwork, the import process is well written and mostly painless. Also don't be too worried by the lack of some things you have in vB. I spent (wasted) months fretting over the lack of this or that feature but this is all outweighed by the positives. For example no-one has even noticed the lack of member galleries and only a few people have asked where the calendar is

Thats excellent. Just wondering does the post count get carried across to the new forum from vB?

Some things you should is: your ladder's and tournament add-on's aren't available for xenforo. Looking at your style, you could use this, http://xenforo.com/community/resources/darkness.456/. Here are some mod's I recommend.

http://xenforo.com/community/resources/8wayrun-com-xenmedio-media.97/
http://xenforo.com/community/resources/8wayrun-com-xenporta-portal.90/
http://xenforo.com/community/resources/xfr-user-albums.54/

Thanks for that.. I actually used that style a while back for vbulletin....

Is there an equivalent site for Xenforo like vb.org?