Forum Move

[PGAmerica]

Somewhere along the way, I have put one too many hacks on my forums.

The question is not how do I solve this problem, but how do I start over.

If I install the forum software from scratch into a fresh database, how do I move the users, usergroups, forums and posts from one DB to another?

I looked at Impex, but it does not seem to have an option to import from vbulletin 3.7.2 to vbulletin 3.7.2.

Ideas?

[Jake Bunce]

An import will only cause you more problems. You need to stay with your current database and manually remove the customizations. There are 4 kinds of hacks:

1. File hacks. These can be removed by uploading the original files from the zip file.
   
2. Plugins & Products. These can be disabled / removed in your Admin CP:
   
   Admin CP -> Plugins & Products -> Product Manager -> Uninstall (in each product menu)
   
   Admin CP -> Plugins & Products -> Plugin Manager
   
   ...or by adding this line to the includes/config.php file:
   
   

   define('DISABLE_HOOKS', true);

3. Template hacks. These can be removed by reverting the customized templates in your:
   
   Admin CP -> Styles & Templates -> Style Manager -> Revert All Templates (in the menu)
   
4. Database hacks. You need to use a program like phpmyadmin to browse your database and remove custom tables and fields.

[PGAmerica]

My issue is that I wanted to complete start from scratch in the simplest way possible without losing my forums, usergroups and users. Is there not an easier way to do this?

[Jake Bunce]

There is no easy way to do that. ImpEx is not for cleaning out hacks. The hacks need to be removed manually.

[PGAmerica]

So if I successfully used Impex and got the data to a new DB, how would this cause more problems?

[Jake Bunce]

For example, autoincrement ids are not preserved during an import so all previous internal links and bookmarks will be broken.

[Jerry]

So if I successfully used Impex and got the data to a new DB, how would this cause more problems?

There is a lot of data that isn't brought over, there is a lot of cleanup, typically more than is involved with restoring the source board in the manner that Jake is describing.

[PGAmerica]

I understand that statement that Jeff made. I am just trying to figure out where to best spend my time. I do not have much and therefore need to spend it wisely. Thank you for your advice.

I did manage to import using impex and see the amount of work that is involved. I was just trying to get a new system up and running quickly so the users were not inconvenienced by significant downtime.

For example, autoincrement ids are not preserved during an import so all previous internal links and bookmarks will be broken.

Well, that just sinches it. I will not be importing. The question remains, if this is such an issue, why when using impex, do i even have the option for vBulletin 3.7.x?