Have you ever moved your forum from one software to another?
- Thread starter Baw$e
- Start date
Many times at this point, the first time is always the scariest!
I've done several freeware transfers, though I'm blanking on platforms because I've used so many, but on the paid side I've done UBB.Classic -> vBulletin, wBB 2 -> vBulletin, vBulletin -> XenForo (x 4), and even done XF -> XF mergers. It's pretty straight-forward these days, thankfully. The why behind changing were various, some for security, some for preference, and some because I felt I needed to change things up.
I've done several freeware transfers, though I'm blanking on platforms because I've used so many, but on the paid side I've done UBB.Classic -> vBulletin, wBB 2 -> vBulletin, vBulletin -> XenForo (x 4), and even done XF -> XF mergers. It's pretty straight-forward these days, thankfully. The why behind changing were various, some for security, some for preference, and some because I felt I needed to change things up.
I've got a number of forums that started on vBulletin 1 or 2, were upgraded to 3 and then 4 (the upgrade to 4 being a huge mistake) and then migrated on to Xenforo 1 and finally ended up on SMF.
I would have preferred to stay on Xenforo but a large number of my members had issues with the editor, most of which have never been addressed. If and when they replace the editor I might take another look but Xenforo lacks some of the functionality present in SMF that is essential to my member's requirements and I don't particularly want to have to employ a coder to replicate those functions.
Back on topic, if the migration tool does its job, getting your content across is usually pretty painless.
I would have preferred to stay on Xenforo but a large number of my members had issues with the editor, most of which have never been addressed. If and when they replace the editor I might take another look but Xenforo lacks some of the functionality present in SMF that is essential to my member's requirements and I don't particularly want to have to employ a coder to replicate those functions.
Back on topic, if the migration tool does its job, getting your content across is usually pretty painless.
KensonPlays
Dinosaur Friend & MH Creator!
Not migrated, but restarted a couple times. Started on SMF, then I tried IPB for a short while (can't find my old license), and am on XF right now.
Dismal_Bliss
Reputable
Yes. My first forum was on Phorum. Eventually HostGator kicked us off shared hosting because we got too popular. So we got a VPS. But then Phorum was not kept up to date by the devs and wasn't compatible with the latest software on the new VPS, so we migrated to Invision.
We hired gConverter to do the transfer for us.
We hired gConverter to do the transfer for us.
saoussen5765
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vBulletin is quite deprecated nowadays and no longer maintained.
vBulletin is still actively developed, just (IMO) not well.
Also when I say I migrated from vBulletin I'm talking in the 2.x and 3.x days, so many moons ago 🙂
I recently moved Detroit Sports Forum from vBulletin 3.8 to XenForo 2.2. This was my first time migrating from one software to another.
I looked into using gConverter, but the quote they gave me was insane.
Received quotes from a couple other companies, and both of those companies gave me a quote that was a fourth of what gConverter wanted.
I looked into using gConverter, but the quote they gave me was insane.
Received quotes from a couple other companies, and both of those companies gave me a quote that was a fourth of what gConverter wanted.
Dismal_Bliss
Reputable
I have done so many different moves and mergers over the years. The last bigger one I did was into XenForo. But I had to do a 3 way dance on it to get it into XenForo. I think it was Vanilla to IPB to XenForo.
Driven2Services is a great alternative.
Ken is a good person to work with. Tries his best to transfer a forum flawlessly.
I've converted many vB3, vB4 websites to various versions of xenForo, all flawlessly, and on my own, except for one. It was a IPB/invision forum.
I acquired a IPB site, and had problems with transfer, and hired Ken to do it.
I have merged and moved a few forums in the past and just recent, I decided to reopen a forum that was on Jcink. I moved to self hosting, I had to convert from IPB 1.3 to phpBB2 to SMF. (I was running into issues when trying to upgrade from phpBB2 to phpBB3 so I just decided to move to SMF.) I've moved other forums in the past too, I feel it's much easier to convert from one software to another these days.
I’ve made the move before from free software over to Xenforo and if it wasn’t for the converters available and imports etc I’d have been totally lost. The change was well worth it but I’d have hate to have tried it without the importer
greenhost.cloud
Reputable
It's better to switch from phpBB to XenForo due to its superior features and user experience. Using a migration tool, all posts and users can be seamlessly transferred, ensuring a smooth transition.
I think phpBB is good for those who don't have the means to pay for a Xenforo license. Xenforo is great of course, but not everyone can afford it. phpBB has lots of extensions to make it great.
Soulwatcher
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I never migrated from one forum software to another. But I do own one Xenforo and two Invision Community forum software licenses. But I am only running 1 forum at the moment.
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