Switching from vb3.8 to XF - still a few concerns

Bellinis

Active member
Hi all,


We are currently running vb 3.8x (for 6 years now) and we'd really like to make the switch to XF.
Preferably as soon as possible, but we are still having a few concerns and questions:
  • We use vbseo - how would URL redirection be accomplished?
    The forum is currently in www.mydomain/board. We'd like to have the new forum under www.mydomain/forum. How about all internal links? Will they be converted too?
  • We have a few custom profile fields: nationality, gender, occupation, hobbies etc. We definitely don't want to loose those! Can they be imported too? And if not, can we import them later?
  • How about Photopost Pro. How well does it get along with XF?
  • From vbadvanced we use vba links directory. It contains hundreds of useful forum-related links. Any suggestion on what to do with those?
  • Is there something like "Un-Activated User Management" ? (we use this mod a lot)
Anything else I might have forgotten that can NOT be imported from vb3.8?

If anyone would be willing to do the total conversion for us, then please PM me. (paid of course)

Thanks!
 
Hi all,


We are currently running vb 3.8x (for 6 years now) and we'd really like to make the switch to XF.
Preferably as soon as possible, but we are still having a few concerns and questions:
  • We use vbseo - how would URL redirection be accomplished?
    The forum is currently in www.mydomain/board. We'd like to have the new forum under www.mydomain/forum. How about all internal links? Will they be converted too?
  • We have a few custom profile fields: nationality, gender, occupation, hobbies etc. We definitely don't want to loose those! Can they be imported too? And if not, can we import them later?
  • How about Photopost Pro. How well does it get along with XF?
  • From vbadvanced we use vba links directory. It contains hundreds of useful forum-related links. Any suggestion on what to do with those?
  • Is there something like "Un-Activated User Management" ? (we use this mod a lot)
Anything else I might have forgotten that can NOT be imported from vb3.8?


If anyone would be willing to do the total conversion for us, then please PM me. (paid of course)

Thanks!

 
Ok, but how about our currently vbseo-ed URL structure? Can everything be redirected to the new corresponding location?
  • Country, Gender, Occupation, Hobbies: There are all built-in features in xenForo. I think they are imported automatically.
Can someone confirm this? We also have a few 'non-standard' fields like "your link to the forum subject?"
 
Ok, but how about our currently vbseo-ed URL structure? Can everything be redirected to the new corresponding location?
Here mate, look at this thread:
http://xenforo.com/community/threads/redirects-for-vbseod-urls.5098/


Can someone confirm this? We also have a few 'non-standard' fields like "your link to the forum subject?"
Oh no, no the last. XenForo has no Addition Profile Fields yet. I also don't think there's an add-on, but I'm sure it will come sooner or later.
 
Sadly, one of the things that stop us from converting IS the lack of additional profile fields because we use it a lot.
I have imported our vB database a dozen times and it worked without a problem so that is not the reason to wait for the switch.

Just like you, my main concern is the new url structure. We are using vBSEO for several years now, half a year ago the add-on stopped working. I fixed it after a day but we have lost 45% of our traffic and we have not yet fully recovered.

XenForo is great and we would love to switch as soon as possible but there are some things that need to be addressed first.
 
Sadly, one of the things that stop us from converting IS the lack of additional profile fields because we use it a lot.
I have imported our vB database a dozen times and it worked without a problem so that is not the reason to wait for the switch.

Just like you, my main concern is the new url structure. We are using vBSEO for several years now, half a year ago the add-on stopped working. I fixed it after a day but we have lost 45% of our traffic and we have not yet fully recovered.

XenForo is great and we would love to switch as soon as possible but there are some things that need to be addressed first.

I too have been using vBSEO for a long long time and was nervous about the switch and loosing our links from the various search engines BUT

Using Kier's URL redirect scripts and Shadab's tool I know I do not need to worry. All the vBSEO urls are redirected to the correct XF url with a nice 301 response.
 
Oh no, no the last. XenForo has no Addition Profile Fields yet. I also don't think there's an add-on, but I'm sure it will come sooner or later.

Ouch. I must admit I just asked the guy who I run multiple vBs for to buy XenForo so I can give it a go and try an import. But I may be rushing in and not researching... didn't think about it lacking features like this.
 
Ok, but how about our currently vbseo-ed URL structure? Can everything be redirected to the new corresponding location?
Can someone confirm this? We also have a few 'non-standard' fields like "your link to the forum subject?"
In addition to the custom profile fields not yet implemented, I am not quite sure about the 'country' you are referencing. vb3.8 and xf both have 'location' as a field, and when I did a vb3.8 -> import that came across fine. But I am not 100% about 'country', that may be a custom field you created as opposed to the vb3.8 'location'.
 
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