Now that ProBoards has finally given us prisoners a window to escape through I was wondering if anyone was working on a converter to move ProBoards/Forums.net DBs over to SMF?
For anyone that reads this and goes, "You can't download your ProBoards Database!" The situation has changed... Kinda. ProBoards set up a new paid service called Forums.net that does allow you to download your database. To do this you have to move from ProBoards to their new service and sign a 6-Month Contract. Lowest tier is 9.99 a month, but $60 is well worth it for me to get the hell away from their lack of customization, terrible servers, and just plain crappyness.
Is it possible to have a copy of the basic structure? That'd be the basic requirement if someone were to make a converter
Quote from: Dragooon on April 25, 2014, 10:50:15 AM
Is it possible to have a copy of the basic structure? That'd be the basic requirement if someone were to make a converter
No clue. I'm a total newb to SQL or I'd figure out how to do it myself. How would one go about getting the basic structure?
Quote from: SimianSteam on April 25, 2014, 10:51:44 AM
Quote from: Dragooon on April 25, 2014, 10:50:15 AM
Is it possible to have a copy of the basic structure? That'd be the basic requirement if someone were to make a converter
No clue. I'm a total newb to SQL or I'd figure out how to do it myself. How would one go about getting the basic structure?
Well, if they give the database in SQL the basic structure would be the tables/columns. Basically a sample of the database for a ProBoards forum
Quote from: Dragooon on April 25, 2014, 10:57:55 AM
Quote from: SimianSteam on April 25, 2014, 10:51:44 AM
Quote from: Dragooon on April 25, 2014, 10:50:15 AM
Is it possible to have a copy of the basic structure? That'd be the basic requirement if someone were to make a converter
No clue. I'm a total newb to SQL or I'd figure out how to do it myself. How would one go about getting the basic structure?
Well, if they give the database in SQL the basic structure would be the tables/columns. Basically a sample of the database for a ProBoards forum
Hmmm... That's gonna be fun to get. I guess I could just pay them $10, set up a new account with Forums.net and just fill it with BS, then download the DB. Let me poke around a bit and see what I can come up with. Is it cool to PM you if I find something?
do you have access to phpmyadmin? you can do a custom export of just the structure of all the tables and that may be good enough to get this started.
Oh I should tell you, I don't have jack squat of an idea how converters are made :P. You should stick to this thread. If you find something I'll try and take a peak but can't guarantee anything.
Quote from: Dragooon on April 25, 2014, 11:18:27 AM
Oh I should tell you, I don't have jack squat of an idea how converters are made :P. You should stick to this thread. If you find something I'll try and take a peak but can't guarantee anything.
LoL. No worries, man. I'll cross my fingers and hope that someone with experience sees this and takes on the challenge. I'm willing to chip in some money if it'll help the process along. I know a lot of folks would LOVE to get away from ProBoards, especially since this is the first possibility of escape in what? Four years?
Proboards doesn't allow you to migrate from there servers. It's against their TOS and everything I have seen available in the past Patrick has personally put a stop to it.
As far as getting the database from forum.net then you will need someone to make a convertor for you.
You could hire someone to create a scrapper that will essentially copy and post every thread and post.
Try Odesk.com, plenty of guys with experience there.
Quote from: Liam_michael on April 25, 2014, 01:10:56 PM
You could hire someone to create a scrapper that will essentially copy and post every thread and post.
Try Odesk.com, plenty of guys with experience there.
That's possible just fine, but he implied that a SQL DB can be exported which would be easier to work with
Quote from: AllanD on April 25, 2014, 12:57:48 PM
Proboards doesn't allow you to migrate from there servers. It's against their TOS and everything I have seen available in the past Patrick has personally put a stop to it.
As far as getting the database from forum.net then you will need someone to make a convertor for you.
Your information is out of date. Forums.net IS ProBoards, and Forums.net allows you to download their database and migrate. You do have to pay for the privilege, but it's an option now.
Quote from: Dragooon on April 25, 2014, 01:41:21 PM
Quote from: Liam_michael on April 25, 2014, 01:10:56 PM
You could hire someone to create a scrapper that will essentially copy and post every thread and post.
Try Odesk.com, plenty of guys with experience there.
That's possible just fine, but he implied that a SQL DB can be exported which would be easier to work with
Not an implication. Statement of fact. I've talked to Forums.net CS to make sure that the DB is SQL and it is.
Quote from: Illori on April 25, 2014, 11:17:03 AM
do you have access to phpmyadmin? you can do a custom export of just the structure of all the tables and that may be good enough to get this started.
Sorry, missed this one on the first go-around. Is there a multi-quote option that I'm not seeing, BTW?
Don't have access yet. I'm making sure I've got all my ducks in a row before I make the switch, the big one being a converter. If I moved to the Forums.net service right now I'd be paying something like $60 a month based on the number of monthly pageviews my forum has (380K as of this month). Not ready to bite that bullet since once you move to Forums.net it's unclear whether you'll be able to go back to a free PB account.
We need a database dump. With that we can try to build something.
Can you get us one?
Quote from: margarett on April 25, 2014, 02:12:05 PM
We need a database dump. With that we can try to build something.
Can you get us one?
Hmmm... I'll try to figure out a way to do it. Worst case I just sign up for a $10 account, fill the forum with crap, dump the DB, and let the account expire. First I'm going to contact their CS and see if they'll just give me a sample DB dump.
Will this help, or do you need the actual file?
--
-- Table structure for table `Example Table`
--
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `Example Table` (
`id` int(10) unsigned NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
`name` varchar(25) NOT NULL,
`value` text NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (`id`),
KEY `name` (`name`)
) ENGINE=MyISAM DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1 AUTO_INCREMENT=3 ;
--
-- Dumping data for table `Example Table`
--
INSERT INTO `Example Table` (`id`, `name`, `value`) VALUES
(1, 'Test', 'Example'),
(2, 'More', 'Data as a sample');
I emailed PB Support and asked for a sample database.
Uhm, I don't understand your question? I know what SQL is, I'd or someone else will need the actual SQL from a forum even if it contains dummy data
Quote from: Dragooon on April 25, 2014, 04:45:11 PM
Uhm, I don't understand your question? I know what SQL is, I'd or someone else will need the actual SQL from a forum even if it contains dummy data
Asked for an SQL database from them, that's what I got. I replied saying that I'd really like to see the actual database file. Fingers crossed.
And it's a no-go. They won't give me a complete database dump.
That's a table example, alright :P
But a totally general example, nothing related to proboards...
Are you actually a PB customer? How much does it cost you a dump of your database?
Quote from: margarett on April 25, 2014, 05:21:35 PM
That's a table example, alright :P
But a totally general example, nothing related to proboards...
Are you actually a PB customer? How much does it cost you a dump of your database?
I am a ProBoards customer. The cost of a database dump isn't straightforward, unfortunately, or I already would've done it. You have to switch from ProBoards free service to their new Forums.net service ($9.99 a month per 60K pageviews), and sign a 6 month commitment before you can get a dump, and there's also no word on whether you can switch back to the free service afterwards.
I'll keep my eye out for someone that switches. The big problem is I don't think anyone's going to be willing to give up a copy of their database file. Too much personal info to just hand out.
10 bucks a month? Jeezz....
We can't really promise you anything, except that we (I, personally, if no one else) will give it a careful look. But even so, it might happen that we can't really understand the database relations so we can't have a functional converter in the end. And you wasted (at least) $60 :(
I created a converter from XF from scratch, but I had a local install of it, so I could add content and check how the database was being filled. With a service like PB where you have no idea what software do they use, it's that much difficult...
I wasn't outdated, I said that you can't migrate proboards but you would need someone to make you converter to migrate from the other service forums.net and paying 60 bucks for that service is a lot in my book.
Quote from: AllanD on April 25, 2014, 07:49:32 PM
I wasn't outdated, I said that you can't migrate proboards but you would need someone to make you converter to migrate from the other service forums.net and paying 60 bucks for that service is a lot in my book.
3 months ago I would've agreed with you, but I'm 200 members, 800 threads, and 1800 posts in now. The other option is to start from scratch and hope that my members stick around. I'd rather pay the $60.
It's a hard to choice to make, also remember you will need a domain name and hosting which just add more to the total.
Quote from: AllanD on April 26, 2014, 08:47:39 AM
It's a hard to choice to make, also remember you will need a domain name and hosting which just add more to the total.
Not a concern. We've got a domain name already. Hosting's gonna be about $20 a month, and I've got vendors that'll take care of that for me.
sounds great wish you the best of luck getting this sorted, margarett is great at this sort of stuff.
Thanks! I'm putting feelers out where ever I can to get ahold of a database, but I think what needs to happen is a throway account. It's $10 for a service that I'm not going to use, but if it helps get this project off the ground...
margarett, how much do you actually need? If I start a forum and immediately download the database without any posts is that enough, or should I make some categories and subforums, get some friends to babble in it for a bit?
We always need a database with content.
Tell me something... If you pay that service, do you get access to your database on-the-fly or you need to request your dump/backup every time you want it? Or do you need to pay to get that dump?
Quote from: margarett on April 26, 2014, 05:44:30 PM
We always need a database with content.
Tell me something... If you pay that service, do you get access to your database on-the-fly or you need to request your dump/backup every time you want it? Or do you need to pay to get that dump?
According to the Forums.net web site you can dump it yourself through the admin panel.
That might be interesting... 10 bucks?
Quote from: margarett on April 27, 2014, 04:10:03 AM
That might be interesting... 10 bucks?
Yup. I've got an account up and running right now, getting some of my members to post random ****** in it, add avatars, fill in profile info, calendars, etc. You can join in if you want, or just swing by to take a look at the structure. It's https://epf.forums.net/
Ok, I'm in. Please create child boards and all you can think of ;)
You have my email now, send me a database dump when possible ;)
Quote from: margarett on April 27, 2014, 11:17:02 AM
Ok, I'm in. Please create child boards and all you can think of ;)
You have my email now, send me a database dump when possible ;)
Thank you so much! Child boards are in place and I've got people working on posting so we can get a good database sample. I really appreciate your work!
Quote from: margarett on April 27, 2014, 11:17:02 AM
Ok, I'm in. Please create child boards and all you can think of ;)
You have my email now, send me a database dump when possible ;)
Did you PM me your email? I didn't get it. *EDIT* Derp. Forum registration. Nevermind. I'm trying to do too many things at once. LoL.
If it'd help I can make you an Admin on the test forum.
Thanks. Please do that ;)
I've had some of my members crawling all over the test forum all day. It's got 11 Members, 4 categories, 7 subforums. 13 threads (at least one per category) and 78 posts. Is that enough to start with?
Yes, it is.
Please note that, if PB allows attachments, it will not be possible to restore them as we will not have access to the files...
Quote from: margarett on April 27, 2014, 05:45:28 PM
Yes, it is.
Please note that, if PB allows attachments, it will not be possible to restore them as we will not have access to the files...
No worries. I had to disable the ability to add attachments early on because of the lack of space.
I'll start the DB dump now and email it to you. Thank you again!
Thanks. I'll check it ASAP (or when possible at least :P )
We can only hope that a dump from PB migrated to Forums.net is the same...
Quote from: margarett on April 27, 2014, 05:49:31 PM
Thanks. I'll check it ASAP (or when possible at least :P )
We can only hope that a dump from PB migrated to Forums.net is the same...
I can't imagine they wouldn't be. They use the exact same software.
If someone is working on a converter for Forums.net, that's great and no problem at all. However if no converter is being developed, I am willing to create one. However I'm not familiar with Forums.net. I have recently browsed their site and test-drove their offering, but was not able to obtain a DB dump.
Again, if no one is developing a converter I'm willing to, and if necessary, please could I obtain a copy of the sample database?
Thank you very much. :)
Quote from: Hauzer on April 27, 2014, 07:15:21 PM
If someone is working on a converter for Forums.net, that's great and no problem at all. However if no converter is being developed, I am willing to create one. However I'm not familiar with Forums.net. I have recently browsed their site and test-drove their offering, but was not able to obtain a DB dump.
Again, if no one is developing a converter I'm willing to, and if necessary, please could I obtain a copy of the sample database?
Thank you very much. :)
Margerett's going to be working on one as soon as PB gives me the database from my sample board. I have no issue with you working on it as well, but it's up to him/her.
Quote from: SimianSteam on April 27, 2014, 07:17:08 PM
Margerett's going to be working on one as soon as PB gives me the database from my sample board. I have no issue with you working on it as well, but it's up to him/her.
Indeed, yes I agree. It's completely Margerett's call. If he/she's already working on one, that's no problem. I was simply offering, but of course, I am still willing to help/assist if necessary. :)
This Forums.net is all new to me, but it does seem a little strange how you have to request for a DB file from PB when you're paying for the service. In a real scenario, by the time you receive your DB export/dump, it may be already outdated unless the board is set offline.
Anyhow, thank you and kindest regards. :)
Quote from: Hauzer on April 27, 2014, 07:25:01 PM
Quote from: SimianSteam on April 27, 2014, 07:17:08 PM
Margerett's going to be working on one as soon as PB gives me the database from my sample board. I have no issue with you working on it as well, but it's up to him/her.
Indeed, yes I agree. It's completely Margerett's call. If he/she's already working on one, that's no problem. I was simply offering, but of course, I am still willing to help/assist if necessary. :)
This Forums.net is all new to me, but it does seem a little strange how you have to request for a DB file from PB when you're paying for the service. In a real scenario, by the time you receive your DB export/dump, it may be already outdated unless the board is set offline.
Anyhow, thank you and kindest regards. :)
No kidding. At least we CAN get a database dump from them now. Up until this point if you were on ProBoards you were stuck there. No DB access at all.
Howdy.
Nothing was received yet ;)
It's a HE :P
@Hauzer, I have absolutely no issues with you working with us in this or any other subject ;) In fact, help is something I really think we need :)
Quote from: margarett on April 27, 2014, 07:56:26 PM
Howdy.
Nothing was received yet ;)
It's a HE :P
@Hauzer, I have absolutely no issues with you working with us in this or any other subject ;) In fact, help is something I really think we need :)
I just got it. Took them forever. So looking forward to getting away from PB. It should be in your mailbox, share it with whoever you want. :)
Great to hear! Thank you for permitting me to assist margarett. :)
Glad you were able to obtain the database SimianSteam, hopefully I can take a look at it soon; and hopefully you can convert your board over as soon as possible. :)
All the best.
Quote from: Hauzer on April 27, 2014, 09:51:57 PM
Great to hear! Thank you for permitting me to assist margarett. :)
Glad you were able to obtain the database SimianSteam, hopefully I can take a look at it soon; and hopefully you can convert your board over as soon as possible. :)
All the best.
If you PM me your email I shoot a copy over to you right away.
Quote from: SimianSteam on April 28, 2014, 11:49:24 AMIf you PM me your email I shoot a copy over to you right away.
No problem at all, thank you very much; I do appreciate it. :)
@Hauzer, I have a dump ready. Please PM me an email address ;)
Thank you very much for the dump.
I'll try and get forum groups and users converted tonight, and then progress with it later when I can find some spare time. :)
margaret: You stated you masked some sensitive information when you sent me the database. Would that happen to be the user's password? If so, are they initially just plain text? If they're plain text, perhaps we can transfer passwords over to SMF; so users are not required to password reset.
All the best.
Yes, amongst other things. They are not plain text, there's some encryption of course. But we have no idea how do they encrypt it, so it's pretty much useless...
LoL. I just noticed your sig, margarett. Reminds me of a acronym and old techie taught me when I was in school for PC repair:
PICNIC: Problem in chair, not in computer.
@margarett, I'm a member of the pro boards forum Simian is trying to convert and offered to help. I have the schema dump from PB and have looked over it. I'm guessing the only real work to be done is mapping the tables/fields. Sadly I don't know my way around the Simple Machines schema, but I've downloaded it and am checking it out.
Just wanted to see if there was anything I can do to help your effort, or at least to coordinate to avoid duplicated work. Unfortunately I'm primarily a Java dev and don't know PHP, but I'm guessing the scripting is a lot simpler than the mapping. I'm happy to take a subsection (notifications, etc) and work out the mapping to divide up the work if that's helpful.
Thanks!
Hi.
I still haven't picked it up as I'm working on yet another converter...
But Hauzer is working on it and another team member is also giving it a look.
Anyway, it's more or less straightforward... You pick an existing converter and edit the .sql file to match the origin tables map. The destination is automatically handled by the converter.
Quote from: margarett on April 30, 2014, 04:03:43 AM
But Hauzer is working on it and another team member is also giving it a look.
Anyway, it's more or less straightforward... You pick an existing converter and edit the .sql file to match the origin tables map. The destination is automatically handled by the converter.
Ah, good. @Hauzer, if I can help interpret any of the tables/fields in the PB schema, let me know.
I know I'm sounding like a broken record here, but thank y'all for all your work. My members and I really appreciate it. Well, they might not yet, but once they see the difference... Lol.
I'm trying to make the converter, so I have a noob question about running converters in general:
I've got a local instance of SMF installed and dropped the convert.php and my modified _to_smf.sql file into the SMF dir. I can hit the convert.php page, and it prompts me to enter the "Path to ProBoard". I have no idea what to enter here. I have SMF installed and the ProBoard database in the same instance of MySql. There is no ProBoard app/dir, just the database. I was expected the form to prompt for the ProBoard db url and login. Can someone enlighten me as to what to enter here? Thanks.
That needs to be tweaked ;) You can point it to SMF folder but you need to create a fake config file with at least the database name
Right. It looks like I can make a configuration file (configuration.php?) and put it anywhere, then point to that dir on the config page. What I can't find is the format of the configuration file. I want the simplest possible way to pass in the database name. Are there any docs or examples of a working configuration file that I can use?
I would also like to see the convertor if it is made/db structure.
Progress Update: I have the converter up and functional, however it doesn't convert much yet. Only the groups and ranks are being converted at the moment, I will progress on it further tonight. Been busy with exam revision for university, apologies about that. :)
Shouldn't be too long hopefully. :)
Awesome Hauzer! Let me know if you need any help converting a subset of the sql. Otherwise it sounds like your way to getting this finished off.
Quote from: Hauzer on May 02, 2014, 07:06:49 PM
Progress Update: I have the converter up and functional, however it doesn't convert much yet. Only the groups and ranks are being converted at the moment, I will progress on it further tonight. Been busy with exam revision for university, apologies about that. :)
Shouldn't be too long hopefully. :)
Apologies? You've got to be kidding! It's only been, what, a week since I started this thread? You guys are freaking awesome! I actually started the exact same thread on the phpBB and the only responses I got was some jerky, link to an old thread about ProBoards demanding that sites take down workaround converters, and Hauzer here asking helpful questions. I'm not going to follow up on it. It's obvious to me that the SMF community is much more helpful, and I hope a bunch of people follow in my footsteps when leaving PB.
Thank you very much SilentJay and SimianSteam, I appreciate your responses sincerely! :D I need to get back to my exam revision, but before I do, another progress update. :)
At the moment, the converter successfully converts:
- Groups
- Ranks
- Members
- Categories
- Boards
- Topics
- Posts
- Polls
- Poll options
- Poll votes
- Personal messages
Here's a screen shot of the successful conversion, simply for eye candy (right click > view image to view it at it's full resolution.) ;D
(https://www.simplemachines.org/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FId76zCF.jpg%3F1&hash=736564984ae1ae6adf725f90c9d7269b14c893e5)
However there are a few glitches at the moment, which I will now list below (yeah, unfortunately it's that long :( ):
- Passwords are not converted over, a user will need to reset password via e-mail, or contact a board administrator to reset for them. If you are the board administrator, then you can manually change your password via phpMyAdmin (will go in more detail when the converter is released.)
- A distinction cannot be made between staff members (Admins and Mods), since Forums.net uses the boolean "is_staff" therefore, if the user is a staff member, they'll be set as an Admin on SMF. An admin will be required to change them to a Mod or another group individually.
- Category/Board permissions are not converted over, so those may need to be adjusted manually before the board is made live, as you may have admin/mod/other group only sections which can be seen by regular users after the conversion. You need to reapply the permissions.
- All polls may be open to voting, unless the thread is locked.
- A member's
birthdate or timezone setting is currently not converted over; may have a fix for this soon. Category, board, topic, signature, post names/text which includes apostrophes may have a backward slash before them, e.g. "I\'m testing an apostrophe". A fix for this will also be released shortly.Forums maybe in reverse order within categories; this could also be an easy fix.- Attachments
and avatars are not converted over at the moment. - All private messages show up as new
, and the private messages you have sent show up in your inbox as well. Some images are not displayed in posts, i.e. ProBoards/Forums.net uses a different syntax for images at different times.
I think those are all the problems for now, where most of them can pretty much be sorted out by an Administrator when the board is converted over. However, I will try to solve all, or at least most of the above before this converter is released; I'm also willing to share the progress I have made so far if anyone is willing to expand on it (I'll try and tweak if further before releasing it for others to contribute.) I'll make more progress on it soon, and will keep you all updated.
Thank you very much. :)
/me likes this
Thank you. An honest thank you.
Btw: passwords will probably will never be able to be converted because we don't know what PB uses. Don't worry about that point too much ;) A password reset is not uncommon when converting ;)
Great job all, this is something that is going to help alot of people.
Wow. I really want expecting it to be this quick. As for all of the "glitches", I think they're all pretty tolerable.
Wow, really amazing work Hauzer. Very thorough, and fast too. Our forum and so many other will be pleased.
Hauzer, can I get a copy of the converter as it is now? I want to give it a dry run.
Thank you very much for your responses everyone, I sincerely appreciate them. :)
SimianSteam: Definitely, no problem at all. I'll get one to you as soon as I fix/tweak a few things, which hopefully will be as soon as possible. The converter looks for your Forums.net data inside your SMF database (so both your ProBoards/Forums.net and SMF tables/data should be inside one database), so if you can import your Forums.net database (i.e. all the tables and data of Forums.net) into your SMF's database, then I'll give you a copy of the converter straight away. I had difficulty importing the database, so before I can hand over the converter even for testing, I need to ease the process, as you may not even be able to run the converter - but if you have already imported the Forums.net database, then you're free to test the converter I have at the moment. :)
Anyhow guys/gals, I need some assistance! :( One of the limitations of the converter at the moment is that images are not always displayed correctly in posts, as Forums.net uses a different syntax. Using PHP, MySQL or both, would it be possible for anyone to contribute to solving this issue (don't worry, more details below)?
At the moment, images are being displayed in posts in the following formats (however some are already in the correct format with images correctly displaying):Quote
removed
Would it be possible for someone to make some basic PHP coding (perhaps preg_replace, preg_match with regex?) to put them in the correct format? In other words, they should start with an IMG bbcode, and end in a closing IMG bbcode, with the link in between.
I apologise if I'm causing any inconvenience to any of you, but don't worry I'm still working on a solution. But if anyone gets to it before me, that would be grand.
SOLVED. :D
No worries, Hauzer. I can wait until you or someone figures out the database import thing. Thank you!
Quote from: SimianSteam on May 07, 2014, 09:41:12 AM
No worries, Hauzer. I can wait until you or someone figures out the database import thing. Thank you!
No problem at all, I'm working on the database import at the moment. Once that's solved, the converter will pretty much be ready for use (I'll continue to patch up things here and there.) I'm just curious, are you having difficulty importing your ProBoards/Forums.net database using phpMyAdmin (or any other application, if another application, please state)?
If you are having issues with importing the database provided by ProBoards, then for me, that just clarifies I'm not the only one with the problem; hence the workaround I'll be developing is worthwhile. Also I once again apologise for slowing down on development a little, I'm also trying to focus on my university exams. Haha, apologies. :)
Kindest regards.
Quote from: Hauzer on May 08, 2014, 07:37:07 PM
Quote from: SimianSteam on May 07, 2014, 09:41:12 AM
No worries, Hauzer. I can wait until you or someone figures out the database import thing. Thank you!
No problem at all, I'm working on the database import at the moment. Once that's solved, the converter will pretty much be ready for use (I'll continue to patch up things here and there.) I'm just curious, are you having difficulty importing your ProBoards/Forums.net database using phpMyAdmin (or any other application, if another application, please state)?
If you are having issues with importing the database provided by ProBoards, then for me, that just clarifies I'm not the only one with the problem; hence the workaround I'll be developing is worthwhile. Also I once again apologies for slowing down on development a little, I'm also trying to focus on my university exams. Haha, apologies. :)
Kindest regards.
I honestly hadn't tried importing with with phpMyAdmin. Is it a relatively straightforward process?
Quote from: SimianSteam on May 08, 2014, 07:38:40 PMI honestly hadn't tried importing with with phpMyAdmin. Is it a relatively straightforward process?
Indeed yes, it is a simple process. Although once the converter I'm working on is complete, you won't need to touch phpMyAdmin or any other administrative software for the purpose of conversion (i.e. the converter will be made easy to use.)
But to import using phpMyAdmin, you simply open it up and you'll notice a tab (usually the last tab) which states "Import." Once you select import, you can then select a .sql file (the one you received from ProBoards/Forums.net) and click "Go" to import it into an existing, or create a new database. Whether the data is imported into an existing database or new will depend on the commands in the SQL file; the one provided by ProBoards/Forums.net/one you sent me creates a new db titled "pb," therefore is easy to delete again.
That's all you have to do in phpMyAdmin to import. However I was returned with multiple errors when attemping to import, therefore I had to create the tables in ProBoards/Forums.net manually. I'm just curious whether others have the issue too; if so, then the "script" I will create to import the database is a necessity. ;)
Kindest regards.
Quote from: Hauzer on May 08, 2014, 07:48:21 PM
Quote from: SimianSteam on May 08, 2014, 07:38:40 PMI honestly hadn't tried importing with with phpMyAdmin. Is it a relatively straightforward process?
Indeed yes, it is a simple process. Although once the converter I'm working on is complete, you won't need to touch phpMyAdmin or any other administrative software for the purpose of conversion (i.e. the converter will be made easy to use.)
But to import using phpMyAdmin, you simply open it up and you'll notice a tab (usually the last tab) which states "Import." Once you select import, you can then select a .sql file (the one you received from ProBoards/Forums.net) and click "Go" to import it into an existing, or create a new database. Whether the data is imported into an existing database or new will depend on the commands in the SQL file; the one provided by ProBoards/Forums.net/one you sent me creates a new db titled "pb," therefore is easy to delete again.
That's all you have to do in phpMyAdmin to import. However I was returned with multiple errors when attemping to import, therefore I had to create the tables in ProBoards/Forums.net manually. I'm just curious whether others have the issue too; if so, then the "script" I will create to import the database is a necessity. ;)
Kindest regards.
I just imported it into a new database with now issues. What would the prefix be?
Quote from: SimianSteam on May 08, 2014, 07:54:11 PMI just imported it into a new database with now issues. What would the prefix be?
You've imported the database successfully? That's great to hear. :D
The prefix set by ProBoards/Forums.net from the database I received, is that there is no prefix. There is no prefix to the tables, but it's all located within a database called "pb."
The problem is that you cannot import a big database via phpmyadmin interface. You either have access to command line (not likely in most cases) or you use a tool for staggered import --> http://www.ozerov.de/bigdump/
@Hauzer, you probably shouldn't add this to the converter. There are other ways to do that ;)
What you are doing mixes the conversion with the database handling itself. That's more stuff for you to support later :P
Very cool. I understand maybe about 1/4 of what I see in here, but it just makes me appreciate y'all's work that much more.
I've got a headache now. LoL.
Quote from: margarett on May 08, 2014, 07:59:14 PM@Hauzer, you probably shouldn't add this to the converter. There are other ways to do that ;)
What you are doing mixes the conversion with the database handling itself. That's more stuff for you to support later :P
Haha, ahh I see. No problem at all. I'll keep the database management separate. Since that's the case, the converter should be finalised soon; but for users of the converter unfortunately, you'll need to import the Forums.net database into your SMF database manually using phpMyAdmin or other tool.
SimianSteam: The converter isn't final yet, but would it be possible for you to demo it (and NOT run it on a live board)? Just for testing purposes to see if it converts your board correctly, and if there are any issues with your board after conversion. FYI, unfortunately you'll need to manually import your Forums.net database into your SMF database (you should have a clean installation of SMF before you run the convert.) :)
All the best. :)
Quote from: Hauzer on May 09, 2014, 02:50:40 AM
Quote from: margarett on May 08, 2014, 07:59:14 PM@Hauzer, you probably shouldn't add this to the converter. There are other ways to do that ;)
What you are doing mixes the conversion with the database handling itself. That's more stuff for you to support later :P
Haha, ahh I see. No problem at all. I'll keep the database management separate. Since that's the case, the converter should be finalised soon; but for users of the converter unfortunately, you'll need to import the Forums.net database into your SMF database manually using phpMyAdmin or other tool.
SimianSteam: The converter isn't final yet, but would it be possible for you to demo it? Just for testing purposes to see if it converts your board correctly, and if there are any issues with your board after conversion. FYI, unfortunately you'll need to manually import your Forums.net database into your SMF database (you should have a clean installation of SMF before you run the convert.) :)
All the best. :)
I'd be happy to give it a shot. I'll pm my email so you can shoot it over to me.
Quote from: SimianSteam on May 09, 2014, 02:52:27 AMI'd be happy to give it a shot. I'll pm my email so you can shoot it over to me.
Thank you very much. I hope it works for you, and please report back on any issues/keep us updated. :)
All the best.
First run-through with the converter didn't work. Did a fresh SMF install on a fresh DB, logged out of the forum just in case, and ran the converter. Got this message:
QuoteSorry, the database connection information used in the specified installation of SMF cannot access the installation of Forums.net. This may either mean that the installation doesn't exist, or that the Database account used does not have permissions to access it.
The error that was received from the Database was: Table 'epipefor_smfa1.user' doesn't exist
I did notice that the table in phpMyAdmin was capitalized, while it's not in the error message. Also, I saw that it asked for a DB password, but no login. Not sure if it's either of those things that's causing the issue, or something else that I'm too ignorant to recognize. :D
Quote from: SimianSteam on May 09, 2014, 09:53:11 AM
First run-through with the converter didn't work. Did a fresh SMF install on a fresh DB, logged out of the forum just in case, and ran the converter. Got this message:
QuoteSorry, the database connection information used in the specified installation of SMF cannot access the installation of Forums.net. This may either mean that the installation doesn't exist, or that the Database account used does not have permissions to access it.
The error that was received from the Database was: Table 'epipefor_smfa1.user' doesn't exist
I did notice that the table in phpMyAdmin was capitalized, while it's not in the error message. Also, I saw that it asked for a DB password, but no login. Not sure if it's either of those things that's causing the issue, or something else that I'm too ignorant to recognize. :D
The converter does request for a database password with no username, this is the norm for all SMF converters and is not a problem at all. We already have the user, dbname, host port and password for connecting to the database; when it prompts for a password, it's purely for security, preventing anyone who accesses the convert.php script from executing a board conversion.
The error message which is being displayed should only occur if it cannot find or access your Forums.net database. Using a file manager, try setting the convert.php file only to CHMOD 777 (full permissions.) If that doesn't seem to do it, then please ensure that your Forums.net installation is in the same database as your SMF installation and it should work.
However, you did state your table is capitalised; if this is the case, then your dump must vary from the one I received, although I doubt anything else is of different nature. If this is the case, then that could indeed be causing the issue. With Windows servers, database tables are not case sensitive, however with Linux/Unix (the most common for web hosts), they are case sensitive.
Please try setting the convert.php file to CHMOD 777 first, and please reply back on how that goes.
P.S. Did you delete the lines around 22-23, which state "usb pb" etc? :)
All the best. :)
I totally forgot to mention that these two lines:
CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS `pb` DEFAULT CHARACTER SET latin1 COLLATE latin1_swedish_ci;
USE `pb`;
Weren't in the sql file when I tried to edit it with Notepad++ like you directed.
Sigh. We can slow down development on this. Just got his with a nasty piece of news from ProBoards. Apparently you have to wait until the 6-month contract is up before they'll give you a database backup of your transferred forum. Bastards.
I wonder if it's possible to get someone to manually go through the forum and enter everything into a fresh database? I know it would be an extreme amount of work, but there's cheap tech labor out there. Would it even function?
Quote from: SimianSteam on May 09, 2014, 04:09:32 PM
Sigh. We can slow down development on this. Just got his with a nasty piece of news from ProBoards. Apparently you have to wait until the 6-month contract is up before they'll give you a database backup of your transferred forum. Bastards.
I wonder if it's possible to get someone to manually go through the forum and enter everything into a fresh database? I know it would be an extreme amount of work, but there's cheap tech labor out there. Would it even function?
Wow, that sucks! I'm sorry to hear that.
I'm assuming the database dump you sent me was a Forums.net database, and the converter I created will convert it successfully. However the database you attempted to convert was a ProBoards one, or one of different structure? If so, hopefully after six months you'll be able to use the converter. Apologies. :(
Regarding the database you have now, the one you tried to convert; is that a database of your current ProBoards forum? If so, perhaps we can do something with that; but that means we'll have to create another converter.
As for hiring someone to manually transfer your bulletin board to SMF, yes it is definitely possible and will most likely be a more accurate conversion (as long as the person converting is aware of how to convert.) But to be honest, that would consume a lot of hours, totalling up to days/weeks/and maybe even months depending on the amount of time spent per day. Within that time set, you may just get the members done, depending on member count. Personally I wouldn't go down that route, due to the sheer workload. The best way would be for an automated way to achieve this, something like nneonneo's crawler converters which scrapes your forum for all the content and inserts it into a database.
nneonneo had one which converted ProBoards, but had to have it removed due to ProBoard's TOS. Something similar for Forums.net would be great, but since we can get database dumps it maybe better to convert via the db (plus it's most likely against Forums.net TOS as well.) I know six months waiting is just a major downfall, and one which repels most people away from ProBoards/Forums.net.
Is it not possible to pay $60 all in one go to ProBoards, and have them simply give you your database, instead of monthly instalments? I know monthly billing is more affordable, but perhaps paying them all in one go could persuade them.
Apologies again for the news, and all the best. :)
Quote from: Hauzer on May 09, 2014, 05:09:26 PM
Quote from: SimianSteam on May 09, 2014, 04:09:32 PM
Sigh. We can slow down development on this. Just got his with a nasty piece of news from ProBoards. Apparently you have to wait until the 6-month contract is up before they'll give you a database backup of your transferred forum. Bastards.
I wonder if it's possible to get someone to manually go through the forum and enter everything into a fresh database? I know it would be an extreme amount of work, but there's cheap tech labor out there. Would it even function?
Wow, that sucks! I'm sorry to hear that.
I'm assuming the database dump you sent me was a Forums.net database, and the converter I created will convert it successfully. However the database you attempted to convert was a ProBoards one, or one of different structure? If so, hopefully after six months you'll be able to use the converter. Apologies. :(
Regarding the database you have now, the one you tried to convert; is that a database of your current ProBoards forum? If so, perhaps we can do something with that; but that means we'll have to create another converter.
As for hiring someone to manually transfer your bulletin board to SMF, yes it is definitely possible and will most likely be a more accurate conversion (as long as the person converting is aware of how to convert.) But to be honest, that would consume a lot of hours, totalling up to days/weeks/and maybe even months depending on the amount of time spent per day. Within that time set, you may just get the members done, depending on member count. Personally I wouldn't go down that route, due to the sheer workload. The best way would be for an automated way to achieve this, something like nneonneo's crawler converters which scrapes your forum for all the content and inserts it into a database.
nneonneo had one which converted ProBoards, but had to have it removed due to ProBoard's TOS. Something similar for Forums.net would be great, but since we can get database dumps it maybe better to convert via the db (plus it's most likely against Forums.net TOS as well.) I know six months waiting is just a major downfall, and one which repels most people away from ProBoards/Forums.net.
Is it not possible to pay $60 all in one go to ProBoards, and have them simply give you your database, instead of monthly instalments? I know monthly billing is more affordable, but perhaps paying them all in one go could persuade them.
Apologies again for the news, and all the best. :)
I was using the same Database that you got. No clue why it doesn't show up in mine and does in yours.
I'm thinking of hiring someone on oDesk. If I can get it in at $3-$5 an hour, even if it takes them 100 hours of work to do it I'll still be ahead financially, and MUCH further ahead timewise.
I tried getting them to take the total payment for the 6 months up front. I even tried getting them to take the 6-month total up front for the package I would have to have (400K+ pageviews would be about $55 a month.) They wouldn't. Let this be a lesson to you, avoid ProBoards like the PLAGUE. Their CS is the worst I've ever seen.
So that's where I'm at. I can budget spend $55 a month with ProBoards, and wait it out for six months, I can try to figure out some way to manually copy the data, as I said, or I can just say F it and move anyways, leaving all my content behind.
I hate ProBoards.
Quote from: SimianSteam on May 09, 2014, 07:21:18 PMI was using the same Database that you got. No clue why it doesn't show up in mine and does in yours.
I'm thinking of hiring someone on oDesk. If I can get it in at $3-$5 an hour, even if it takes them 100 hours of work to do it I'll still be ahead financially, and MUCH further ahead timewise.
I tried getting them to take the total payment for the 6 months up front. I even tried getting them to take the 6-month total up front for the package I would have to have (400K+ pageviews would be about $55 a month.) They wouldn't. Let this be a lesson to you, avoid ProBoards like the PLAGUE. Their CS is the worst I've ever seen.
So that's where I'm at. I can budget spend $55 a month with ProBoards, and wait it out for six months, I can try to figure out some way to manually copy the data, as I said, or I can just say F it and move anyways, leaving all my content behind.
I hate ProBoards.
Indeed yes, no harm in trying over at oDesk; but I'm not too sure if there are many who will be able to convert for SMF, to be honest it's not too hard. Again though, nothing to lose. I'm surprised ProBoards was not willing to provide you your database, even after willing to pay the full amount. It is pretty ridiculous in my opinion.
Leaving the ProBoards data could cause issues like you did mention earlier, depending on whether all your members will stick around or not. They may not be as motivated to register and create new threads/posts again; of course, I'm sure you know your community better than I do.
By the way, would it be possible to get the copy of the database you have for Forums.net (to ensure compatibility for the converter)? Is your database the one provided directly from ProBoards? If so, it should be compatible unless it's something on my end.
I'm really sorry to hear you're stuck in this situation, and apologies for any bother which I may have created, and I appreciate everything you have provided. Without you, there would be no converter in the first place! Thank you. :)
All the best.
Quote from: Hauzer on May 09, 2014, 08:33:39 PM
Quote from: SimianSteam on May 09, 2014, 07:21:18 PMI was using the same Database that you got. No clue why it doesn't show up in mine and does in yours.
I'm thinking of hiring someone on oDesk. If I can get it in at $3-$5 an hour, even if it takes them 100 hours of work to do it I'll still be ahead financially, and MUCH further ahead timewise.
I tried getting them to take the total payment for the 6 months up front. I even tried getting them to take the 6-month total up front for the package I would have to have (400K+ pageviews would be about $55 a month.) They wouldn't. Let this be a lesson to you, avoid ProBoards like the PLAGUE. Their CS is the worst I've ever seen.
So that's where I'm at. I can budget spend $55 a month with ProBoards, and wait it out for six months, I can try to figure out some way to manually copy the data, as I said, or I can just say F it and move anyways, leaving all my content behind.
I hate ProBoards.
Indeed yes, no harm in trying over at oDesk; but I'm not too sure if there are many who will be able to convert for SMF, to be honest it's not too hard. Again though, nothing to lose. I'm surprised ProBoards was not willing to provide you your database, even after willing to pay the full amount. It is pretty ridiculous in my opinion.
Leaving the ProBoards data could cause issues like you did mention earlier, depending on whether all your members will stick around or not. They may not be as motivated to register and create new threads/posts again; of course, I'm sure you know your community better than I do.
By the way, would it be possible to get the copy of the database you have for Forums.net (to ensure compatibility for the converter)? Is your database the one provided directly from ProBoards? If so, it should be compatible unless it's something on my end.
I'm really sorry to hear you're stuck in this situation, and apologies for any bother which I may have created, and I appreciate everything you have provided. Without you, there would be no converter in the first place! Thank you. :)
All the best.
Bother? You've got to be kidding! You were a HUGE help.
I'll shoot the latest DB over to you. It's a little more populated, maybe it'll help to have a converter for people in the future.
It's looking like my members are going to be OK with moving to the new forum and figuring out a way to archive posts from the old one without messing with Databases. Maybe I can find a copy of that scraper floating around and we can pull everything in one go. Regardless, I do expect a drop-off in traffic for a bit, but we'll bounce back. It's a great community!
I apologise for my late reply, finished my university exam yesterday.
I'd like to thank you for everything you have provided, and for sending over the latest database. With the database you sent me, I also had the same error you had; so that has now been fixed (it was purely the capitalisation of the letters.)
I hope your community is doing great, and if you're still with Forums.net, then perhaps if you wait a couple of months, you can use the converter I have just finalised; I know the waiting time is ridiculous with Forums.net, but hopefully if you're going down that route, it'll be worth it. :)
Well, hopefully someone will be able to benefit from it.
To share an infuriating epilogue to my whole ProBoards experience: I got a call from ProBoards/Forums.net customer service last week. We'd already moved over a couple weeks before that, not long after I found out that they wouldn't give my DB access for six months. I got the usual spiel of "What can we do to get you to stay?". I told him how ridiculous it was that current members couldn't get database access for six months. He said he'd look into it, but I didn't think anything would come of it since I'd already been told that it was policy, and we all know ProBoards doesn't give a rat's tookus about keeping their customers happy once they have them locked in.
Two days later got another call. Ignored it since I was sick of talking to them, but the guy left me a voicemail saying he'd gotten authorization to allow me immediate database access if I switched from ProBoards to Forums.net. Not going to do a thing for me since I've already moved, but it does show that if you get pissed off enough, and pester them, they will bend the policy.
Hey there,
New to the boards. I am in the same predicament. I just started a forum, but we are very active. As we grow I have been coming to realize how limiting proboards is and how much I need to get into phpbb. How would I go about getting a copy of this converter? I think its amazing you guys have worked so hard on this. This was an excellent read. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
The converter is available to download here: http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=522954.0
It will convert over your Forums.net/ProBoard v5 software over to SMF.
All the best. :)
SimianSteam: Apologies didn't notice your reply. Damn that sounds as if they tie you in; I hope you are able to get your Forums.net database soon, or whatever you're planning to do from now. If you're willing to wait it out, the converter is always available. I hope the best for you and your community. :)
With all respect but if you really want to go to phpBB, you came here because... ??
I'm new to all of this Maragrett. Sorry if I offended anyone. Does simple machines integrate into wordpress? I have a website: www.artqltd.com which is hosted on wordpress. If simplemachines would wok for my needs color me interested :)
And I also found this thread via google search. I didn't even realize it was for proprietary forum software. Apologies again.
No need for apologies, but you do understand my question... Right?
As for WP, there is no integration available. There were some old plugins but I don't know if any still works.
Does anyone have the actual dump file?
as i posted elsewhere...
Quote from: Illori on February 11, 2015, 01:03:18 PM
also who would really trust a user with 1 or 2 posts with their whole database... that includes their content as well as users email addresses and passwords. i would not.
Has anyone managed to successfully convert proboards to SMF? I'm in the market for a new forum software (one that I can actually host myself), and am thinking about going this forums.net for 6 months route...
Wow, just saw this after posting that I need help moving my Forums.net database into an SMF forum. Should I delete my new thread and just post in here?
Quote from: margarett on May 03, 2014, 06:05:53 PM
Btw: passwords will probably will never be able to be converted because we don't know what PB uses. Don't worry about that point too much ;) A password reset is not uncommon when converting ;)
Do you still have an pasword, hashed, unhashed, salt and don't mind to give it free. Say somthing like 12345 or secret that don't need to be realy secret?
I was thinking that when they used a common hash and algoritm it should by possible to figure out what they use.
However; I'm not an securety specialist, so I can by completly wrong.
Not sure if I understand what you meant, sorry. It would be an incredible security flaw to set known passwords for users. Not knowing the hash mechanism, the safest way is to generate random garbage password, so that the user is forced to recover it through SMF's interface after conversion
Quote from: margarett on June 29, 2015, 04:26:32 PM
Not sure if I understand what you meant, sorry. It would be an incredible security flaw to set known passwords for users. Not knowing the hash mechanism, the safest way is to generate random garbage password, so that the user is forced to recover it through SMF's interface after conversion
I thought the other way around. because password safety needs high priority and tested systems, ProBoards most likely uses a known security system. When you try your known password and the return is the same as the hashed password ProBoards delivered you can intergrate that into the smf forum so users don't need to reset there password and there are no security risks.
EDIT: To find this hash and algorithm I need an hassed password, the salt the included if the uses one and the real password, unhassed
Oh, yeah, gotcha now ;)
But I can't give it to you because I don't run any PB forum