i just made a new site, and i'm thinking id rather have a try finishing it not on proboards. i dont know if i can move all my things from there and convert the site to be like this for free?
ProBoards is it's own entity, being a hosted forum.
I do not think there would be a way to do this, as their way of coding is proprietary.
Their forums are not a software that is available, like SMF, VB, etc. Theirs is only hosted at their sites, and the way they have it set, I do not think there is a chance for a converter. They don't let users have access to the database, so that would be the biggest issue, I think. Not to mention the fact that you also have no access to the files. All your modding and such is through the admin panel.
I know this, due to fact that used to use them years ago, before I found SMF. Incidentally, I still have an account at their support site...LOL
Seems Proboards is a hosted forum, meaning you actually create a forum on their site
In order to run SMF, you will need your own website www.yourowndomain.comwhatever, and you will need to access the server it is hosted on.
FYI conversion is well covered. Under On Line manual, you will link to this
http://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/Converting
Which will link to all the conversion utilities here http://download.simplemachines.org/?converters
http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=408474.0
http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=416175.0
Yup, "legally" (following their TOS) you can't...