Xenforo VS Vbulletin 6
- Thread starter Zweeper
- Start date
There are various folks on this forum that can assist you with a managed migration. Check out https://xenforo.com/community/forums/third-party-services-offers.42/ for various folks offering services.
Otherwise, with XenForo, assuming that you have already configured and installed XF: Within your customer portal at https://xenforo.com/customers/ - Click the Download down arrow icon, download the importers addon. Install that XenForo Importer addon to your XenForo forum, then go to Admin CP -> Tools (category) -> Data Maintenance (section) -> Import Data. You'll be presented with this list of mediums to import to XenForo.
Select the appropriate forum you're going to import from. All given items are fairly straight forward on the import process.
Thanks for the reply Brett. We haven't even got to the stage of purchasing the software, never mind installing it.
I thought I seen a step-by-step guide to installing Xenforo but I'd rather pay for the installation service.
If it's simple enough I'll probably get my host to run in the import the data from vBulletin. If he can't then I'll get in touch with one of the third-party providers.
Your advice if greatly appreciated. Now I'm off to convince my admin team to make the switch. Wish me luck!
I thought I seen a step-by-step guide to installing Xenforo but I'd rather pay for the installation service.
If it's simple enough I'll probably get my host to run in the import the data from vBulletin. If he can't then I'll get in touch with one of the third-party providers.
Your advice if greatly appreciated. Now I'm off to convince my admin team to make the switch. Wish me luck!
@MySiteGuy provides migration/upgrade services, so he should be able to help you with that.
Personally I'm of the mind that you should do this yourself. Experiencing how everything works is important to being an Administrator so you can better understand it, and resolve problems as they appear.
I migrated from vBulletin as well. I set up a test board to do a migration test, set up new skins, install addons to replicate features/functions. Once I was happy with that, we did the live migration and moved over fully.
Members were quick to point out issues, or things they missed from vBulletin. Easy fixes since I was so immersed by this point with how Xenforo works.
Personally I'm of the mind that you should do this yourself. Experiencing how everything works is important to being an Administrator so you can better understand it, and resolve problems as they appear.
I migrated from vBulletin as well. I set up a test board to do a migration test, set up new skins, install addons to replicate features/functions. Once I was happy with that, we did the live migration and moved over fully.
Members were quick to point out issues, or things they missed from vBulletin. Easy fixes since I was so immersed by this point with how Xenforo works.
Thanks for the reply Dragonfruit. It won't be me doing the upgrade, it'll be my host, assuming he can (I think he will). If I run into any problems, I know where to come. I was thrown into the deep end with vBulletin so I'm sure I'll manage with Xenforo. Your help is appreciated.
vBulletin = Full exploitable / vulnerability, security weakness, lacks UI, and has a lot of issues.
XenForo = More secure and better security and SEO, mobile UI responsive friendly, modern UI, easier to build add-ons, and understand the board to use, future-proofing.
This is the number one reason i have not moved from vBulletin 6. to Xenforo.
To move I am going to pay almost $400 for the license and add-ons to achieve the functions I use now and then have to spend yet more to pay a third party to facilitate the move because there is no intrinsic method for migration.
Talk to @MySiteGuy he's very skilled and experienced. Best there is.
You can always ask @Slavik who is a mod on here as well if you're having troubles with all this.
Both he and @MySiteGuy are awesome at migrating your forum.
You post here which is another point.
I'm sure he's very good and as such i would not expect that he would offer his services for free. I'd actually have a concern that he was undervaluing himself if he did.
But that my point, after spending $400 just to license the software the necessity of further expenditure to actually make use of it prices it out of consideration.
I'm certain there are many out there like me, currently using recent versions of vB due to a long history of doing so but with no simple path to leave, who would move in a heartbeat if a 'factory' migration tool was available.
For me the interest is mainly that Xenforo seems to have better support, a more engaged user base which means a broader pool of experience and knowledge to draw from and from what I've been told is better coding.
My previous hosting company was owned by a friend who hosted numerous forums. He told me that the comparison of resources used between vBulletin and Xenforo was very noticeable in Xenforo's favor.
Honestly if I could anything I wanted it would be vBulletin 3.8.x eternally maintained. I really liked that version and it ran flawlessly for years.
i haven't used vB in a looong time. but i have to admit, i still get their mails regularly alerting me about new updates and the new features added in them. even their minor updates would bring features that seems useful. i am not sure if they announce them in advance and deliver them after a few years or they are beta tested. but it is fun to get those emails. and then i open their community to see how it looks and behaves these days and yeah nope. can't deal with what it is even today.
Why would you want anything less? Nobody offers expert service for free. But he DOES offer educational ADVICE for free. I didn't say buy anything - I said TALK TO.
I wouldn’t call it flawless, it really showed its age on just how poorly optimized it was compared to Xenforo. Since the change we were able to drop from a dedicated server to a VPS due to how much better Xenforo performed. There’s cost savings there.
XF has a factory migration tool... it has been mentioned multiple times in this thread. The third party services is for those who understand nothing about moving a site. Honestly, you can use chatgpt to help you move your site and be ready for import via the XF import addon, you don't need a third party or any further cost. You just need to move.
Windows and Mac both have terminals. Chatgpt, ask it to talk you through moving a website via terminal commands, to give you a dummies guide and that you've never done anything like that before. Ask for step by step. All you will need to know is the IP of both servers and login details. It will talk you through the entire process and have you zip the public_html and DB, scp or similar across, reinstall, DNS, test, done.
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I recently upgraded a forum from vb 3.x to Xenforo, and migrated the data across using one of the tools available on here. As a database and software developer, I know the prices for installation and data migration and what you'll get charged on here is very low, considering the development hours put in by the team. The CMS software I used to sell, install and migrate would easily cost upwards of 2k. For what you're getting here, it's a bargain - assuming you're willing to put a bit of work into it.
Yes, but it doesn't cover the vB 6 by default, which is the version that the OP is using.
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