Steps on giving away a forum.

jonsidneyb

jonsidneyb

Well-known member
I might be giving away a forum and I am afraid I might miss a step if I do.

What are all the steps required to give a forum to someone else?
 
Transfer domain
Transfer licence (if applicable)
Ensure any addons, etc are available for transferring (if you're giving them over too) and then transfer to them.

Think that's the basics - without knowing everything it's hard to give a full checklist.
 
I recently transferred my science and technology forum to one of the key members as I wanted to focus back on CycleChat - from memory we did the following:
  • Check with Xenforo.com that the license was transferrable (I've bought a few from other people that cannot be trasnferred again)
  • Checked that his hosting included PHP 5.4 or newer and MySQL with Innodb engine enabled
  • Asked him to provide me with FTP details for his hosting (and tested that they worked okay)
  • Transferred the domain to him - but kept DNS / Nameservers the same so the site continued to work from my server
  • A couple of days after he took control of the domain we picked a low-traffic time and did the site transfer:
    • I deactivated the forums (Options > Board Active) with a note to tell members the site was moving to a new server (you could advise your membership in advance but since the geeks forum was low traffic it didn't really matter much that we just went ahead when we were ready)
    • Exported the database from phpMyAdmin and uploaded to him via FTP. He extracted and imported into MySQL on his server
    • Zipped all the site files on my server and uploaded the package and unzipped on his
    • Once uploaded we edited the config.php file to remove some of the settings that were specific to my server / set-up and began testing to make sure it was working as expected
  • Once everything was uploaded we flipped Naemservers and DNS to point to his server and whilst we waited for it to start propagating I showed him some of the key ACP settings
  • Once he felt ready he activated the forum and got stuck in!
There may be some minor things that need taking care of in amongst those key steps, but that's roughly how we did it.

It was helped by the fact that he knew his way around a server and could manage the uploading, unzipping, importing, etc. - there may be more hand-holding required for a non-techie. (y)

Cheers,
Shaun :D

PS. Depending on the content of your moderator / admin private forums, you may want to do some cleaning-up before transferring - since you never know who will have access to that area once it is out of your hands. ;)
 
jonsidneyb said:
Hi Kim,

I miss seeing you out here. I have not had the time to be over here much.
Click to expand...


Me either Jon, very busy with my real life business, but it's good to see some familiar faces around here :)

Please be very careful if you are giving away your main site. Yours is a very popular site and is a community in the true sense of the word, the wrong person in charge can kill that dead very very quickly.
 
Kim said:
Me either Jon, very busy with my real life business, but it's good to see some familiar faces around here :)

Please be very careful if you are giving away your main site. Yours is a very popular site and is a community in the true sense of the word, the wrong person in charge can kill that dead very very quickly.
Click to expand...

I had five surgeries that turned out to be the wrong treatment. A sixth surgery turned out to be the right one but all the bad surgeries created a problem. There are other things going on that would take too long to explain.

I am still very sick and can barely get around and I spend most of my day in bed and am not getting any work done.
 
jonsidneyb said:
I had five surgeries that turned out to be the wrong treatment. A sixth surgery turned out to be the right one but all the bad surgeries created a problem. There are other things going on that would take too long to explain.

I am still very sick and can barely get around and I spend most of my day in bed and am not getting any work done.
Click to expand...

Wowsers, you have been through the Mill haven't you!!!

I'm so sorry to hear of your illness Jon, I hope that things are getting better for you now that you have finally had the correct surgery!

It must be very difficult for you with such a busy site and I know you always have had huge demands on your time from members and so on... is there a trusted person who could take over from you for an amount of time, on a temporary basis only? I would hate to see you give it away only to regret it down the line when your health improves.

But then again, if you are sure you won't regret it, and really need the "headspace" to heal and get well, then I say go for it :)

If it is causing you stress or any further health issues then unburden yourself from those.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery xxx
 
What is the niche of the forum Jon? Maybe someone from here with both a great deal of knowledge for your niche, plus knowledgeable with xenForo would be a good candidate.

Hi Kimmeepooh.. nice to see you around again!
 
Mike Edge said:
What is the niche of the forum Jon? Maybe someone from here with both a great deal of knowledge for your niche, plus knowledgeable with xenForo would be a good candidate.

Hi Kimmeepooh.. nice to see you around again!
Click to expand...

There are only three people I would want to have the forum. These people were with me since 2006.
 
Kim said:
Wowsers, you have been through the Mill haven't you!!!

I'm so sorry to hear of your illness Jon, I hope that things are getting better for you now that you have finally had the correct surgery!

It must be very difficult for you with such a busy site and I know you always have had huge demands on your time from members and so on... is there a trusted person who could take over from you for an amount of time, on a temporary basis only? I would hate to see you give it away only to regret it down the line when your health improves.

But then again, if you are sure you won't regret it, and really need the "headspace" to heal and get well, then I say go for it :)

If it is causing you stress or any further health issues then unburden yourself from those.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery xxx
Click to expand...

Thanks Kim,

In 2009 I was able to cover 100 miles in a single day on foot and also did a 700 mile walk is a very short time. Today I can hardly get across a room. I am in bad shape.
 
jonsidneyb said:
Thanks Kim,

In 2009 I was able to cover 100 miles in a single day on foot and also did a 700 mile walk is a very short time. Today I can hardly get across a room. I am in bad shape.
Click to expand...


So sad, I remember your huge walks, it must be devastating. I really hope things get better for you Jon, will be thinking of you and sending positive vibes your way :)

Mike Edge said:
Hi Kimmeepooh.. nice to see you around again!
Click to expand...

Hi Mike! Nice to see you too :)
 
Twuaty_Ak said:
Are we allowed to give our licenses to others? I thought we couldn't.
Click to expand...
XenForo Licenses can be transferred once.

The Software may be permanently transferred by the original purchaser to a third party ("Subsequent Licensee") not before 120 days following purchase, provided that the expiry date of the License falls after the date of the transfer. The original licensee may not retain a copy or installation of the Software. The Subsequent Licensee must agree to the terms of this Agreement and waive the right to transfer.

3. Restrictions
This license is granted to You alone. You may not redistribute the Software in whole or in part. You may not rent, lease, sub-license, sell, assign, pledge, transfer or otherwise dispose of the Software in any form, on a temporary or permanent basis, without the prior written consent of XenForo Limited.
Click to expand...

https://xenforo.com/license-agreement/
 

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