WowBB 1.70 Import?

[StuartW]

I've reviewed the ImpEx documentation and determined that WowBB 1.63 is categorized as Tier II. I've got 3000+ users, 10000+ posts, and years of history stored in a WowBB 1.70 database so the ability to migrate is very important. Does anyone know if the importer will work with WowBB 1.70? I've tried searching this forum without finding a conclusive answer ...

Please advise / thanks!

[Lynne]

I looked through some tickets we had where the users imported from WowBB and a couple of users successfully converted from WowBB 1.70. There is this other info in the manual about what information actually gets imported here - http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/impex_module_dump

[StuartW]

Hi Lynne,

Thanks for the reply. Looks like I may lose some peripheral data (like custom user profile fields) but the core data will map over.

I'm assuming that this is a non-destructive import, meaning that the WowBB database and environment is left intact. My plan would be to install vBulletin on my server and get it running in parallel with my WowBB instance, run the import, fix anything that's broken, apply styles/etc., and prepare user notes before having to shut down the WowBB forums and cutting over to vBulletin. Make sense?

Also, are there any recommendations about how to handle URLs that users may have saved pointing to WowBB-specific pages that are no longer applicable once the cutover is complete?

Please advise / thanks,

Stuart

[Lynne]

Impex will only take the database from the other database, it won't modify. That being said, I'm one who never feels you can have too many backups.

And yes, it is always recommended to test things out on a test installation first. You'll want to take notes, see what works right, and what didn't, so when you finally go to upgrade your live site, you are all prepared.

I don't know what most users do to handle the broken urls. The thing is, it isn't just a matter of the format of the url, but the fact that threadids will have changed also. So really, you almost need to write a php script that goes through, find the old URLS, breaks it down to the threadid, figures out the new theadid, then replaces the old URL with the new one. Ugh. I'm not good enough to do something like that, but I know there are some users who could probably easily do that, not sure if that is something you are capable of doing.

[StuartW]

And yes, it is always recommended to test things out on a test installation first. You'll want to take notes, see what works right, and what didn't, so when you finally go to upgrade your live site, you are all prepared.

So if I take a snapshot import into vB to get the configuration (and learning curve) started, will I then be able to clear out the old threads and repeat the import to get all of the latest posts before cutting over? Or is there some way to just import postings after a certain timestamp?

Thx in advance.

[Lynne]

Once you get it all working on a test site, you can do things like export your styles and export your settings, but then you will have to repeat this whole Impex thing to your live database (after doing a backup, of course) in order to upgrade your live site. After doing the Impex and getting it going, you can import your styles and settings (and any products/plugins). You can't just upgrade your test site database with the new posts/users from the live site.