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[Converter] ProBoards v5/Forums.net to SMF 2.0.x

Started by Hauzer, May 24, 2014, 04:01:47 PM

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Hauzer

If you're currently with Forums.net, which utilises the ProBoards v5 software; then you can request a backup/dump of your MySQL database from ProBoards, i.e. all your data. Once you have this backup/dump, you can use it to convert your bulletin board over to SMF using the converter attached.

The converter successfully converts:

  • Groups
  • Ranks
  • Members
  • Categories
  • Boards
  • Topics
  • Posts
  • Polls
  • Personal messages
Before we get started, I'd like to thank SimianSteam for introducing this community to Forums.net, and also providing the necessary database file(s), alongside margarett. So without further ado, let's begin.

How-To:

  • Install a fresh copy of SMF where you desire your new board to be located (or if you're going to overwrite your current installation, create a backup.)
  • Import your ProBoards/Forums.net database into the same database as your SMF installation (via phpMyAdmin or other alternative.)
  • Download the zip file in this post, and extract/upload both files ("convert.php" and "forums.net_to_smf.sql") into the root directory of your SMF installation.
  • Then via your browser, access the convert.php file on your host; for example, http://www.example.com/smf/convert.php and then run it.
  • After running the tool, your Forums.net database should be converted over to SMF. Congratulations! But we have one more step: log into your SMF board as admin (for login issues see below), and go to your ACP -> Maintenance -> Recount all forum totals and statistics.
If you are presented with an error message to enter a "Path to Forums.net," using a file manager, CHMOD the convert.php file to 0777. For any other problems, please leave a post in this thread.

Issues board administrator's need to be aware of and resolve immediately after conversion:

  • A distinction cannot be made between staff members (Admins and Mods) from your Forums.net database; therefore all staff members will be made admin. Before you set your board back online (and the first thing you should do after converting), you NEED to change the groups of certain staff back to a Moderator, or another group individually per staff user.
  • 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.
The converter does not convert:

  • A member's timezone setting, i.e. the time may need to be readjusted by the member via Account Settings.
  • Attachments
  • Uploaded avatars (avatars which link to a remove host are converted however)
  • Passwords
With the last point, passwords are not converted over due to encryption. You and your members will need to use the password recovery feature in order to reset passwords. If you no longer have the e-mail address to your admin account, then no worries; you'll need to use phpMyAdmin (or your preferred tool) to manually set yourself a new password.

QuoteUse phpMyAdmin (or similar) to locate (within the "_members" table) the member whose password is to be reset. In the database field entitled "passwd", enter a new password using plain text. Then, clear out (erase) any existing content in the database field entitled "password_salt". The next time the member logs in (using the new password), SMF will automatically re-encrypt his credentials.
Source: SMF Wiki.

All the best, and we welcome you to SMF. :)

Note: You need to be logged into view downloads.

margarett

Se forem conduzir, não bebam. Se forem beber... CHAMEM-ME!!!! :D

QuoteOver 90% of all computer problems can be traced back to the interface between the keyboard and the chair

coder4life

Do you have the actual dump file, as I like to write some conversions for other software as well.

Burke ♞ Knight

Hmmm... This site is for SMF, not other forum software.
I'd say that we only deal with converter to SMF, not to those others.

Illori

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.

coder4life

Not so much other forum software.  Just easier to see the database structure with a dump file then guessing.  So if someone has a dump file that is always a plus with dummy information.

coder4life

I was not insinuating that, please read before jumping to conclusions.  I am well aware of security issues of people dumping their database and posting it online, and that was not what i was asking.  The question was really meant for the developer of the script, who most likely used a dummy database dump (from other posts I have read related to the author). All I am asking if the person who wrote the converter script has a dump he/she can share is all I am asking.

Burke ♞ Knight

Um... The best advice I can give, is get a Forums.net account, wait the six months, and then you'll have one. :)

Illori

Quote from: coder4life on February 11, 2015, 01:10:49 PM
I was not insinuating that, please read before jumping to conclusions.  I am well aware of security issues of people dumping their database and posting it online, and that was not what i was asking.  The question was really meant for the developer of the script, who most likely used a dummy database dump (from other posts I have read related to the author). All I am asking if the person who wrote the converter script has a dump he/she can share is all I am asking.

from what i have seen most of the time the actual database with real data is required due to formatting of the information and needing to convert that to formats that SMF can understand. just ask margarett, he has worked on many converters, i have not seen him be able to use dummy data and be able to have it all work out in the end.

margarett

That depends on the skills of the converter author... In my case, the lack of :P

I can only do this kind of stuff by carefully creating content and checking the information growing in the database, then defining the right place for it in SMF's tables ;)

It IS possible to write a converter with just a database dump. Not for me, tough :P
Se forem conduzir, não bebam. Se forem beber... CHAMEM-ME!!!! :D

QuoteOver 90% of all computer problems can be traced back to the interface between the keyboard and the chair

Illori

Quote from: margarett on February 11, 2015, 02:34:55 PM
It IS possible to write a converter with just a database dump. Not for me, tough :P

but could you write a converter with just dummy data? i guess that depends on how much of it is dummy and if that is somewhat accruate info.

margarett

it should be, yes, because everything is related with ids. One just has to be able to relate everything together. But for me it's far more easy to add "controlled" data and see how it is added onto the database
Se forem conduzir, não bebam. Se forem beber... CHAMEM-ME!!!! :D

QuoteOver 90% of all computer problems can be traced back to the interface between the keyboard and the chair

sirgonzobonzo

Hello all, did anyone actually successfully covert a hxxp:forums.net [nonactive] database?


I am two months into my hxxp:forums.net [nonactive] account and the forum is growing and so is the monthly fee (£42 at the last count).

I've basically found myself out of my depth as someone who is completely computer illiterate. I created a forum for some fans of my sports team and now it's grown far larger than I expected but the cost is far too much.

my forum is hxxp:hammerschat.forums.net [nonactive] and I've just set up an smf account at hxxp:hammerschat.com/smf [nonactive]

I've spent the whole afternoon just trying to change the colours and upload my logo to get it to look similar but I can seem to do even that.

If anyone has any suggestions I'd be very grateful.

margarett

Read this
http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=535713.0

IMO that service is... A rob! It is incredible the amount of money they charge...

That being said, you still need to wait 4 more months until you can get your dump. I was able to convert the dump from that topic successfully but it took me a lot of manual fixing...
Se forem conduzir, não bebam. Se forem beber... CHAMEM-ME!!!! :D

QuoteOver 90% of all computer problems can be traced back to the interface between the keyboard and the chair

sirgonzobonzo

Quote from: margarett on August 16, 2015, 04:33:42 PM
Read this
http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=535713.0

IMO that service is... A rob! It is incredible the amount of money they charge...

That being said, you still need to wait 4 more months until you can get your dump. I was able to convert the dump from that topic successfully but it took me a lot of manual fixing...



Thanks for the reply Margaret, I'm just wondering if it would be better to just start fresh and PM all my users notifying them of the URL change. As you say I have 4 months to think about it but our Soccer season has just started so it's going to keep increasing in traffic and subsequently cost.

I guess I have two questions for you.

1. Would you be interested in assisting me converting the forum please?

2. Do you think it possible to start a smf from scratch and have it look almost the same (logo, banner, bubbles in the background etc?)

Unlike the chap in your other thread I will not be giving up my job to run a forum but I don't want to let the posters down and feel a duty to give them somewhere to discuss their football team but clearly the costs are becoming too much.

As it stands I pay $32pm for 200,000 page views which I exceed so I would not be unwilling to just start a new forum early as it would save me from the additional costs for exceeding my plan.

Today I tried to set up smf on my hxxp:namecheap.com [nonactive] hosting but it would not let me tinker with the colours on the html (although I was probably doing it wrong).

Thanks again and sorry for the long message, it's becoming quite frustration particularly for a technaphobe like me.

:)

margarett

I would advise you against ditching your current forum... Yes, Forums.net was a bad choice but you have now 53k posts... It's not a small thing anymore.

Of course it's your money so you should decide what's best for you.

If you can get the database dump I am willing to help you in the conversion. Making SMF look like your current site is not my "thing", I seriously suck at theming :P
Se forem conduzir, não bebam. Se forem beber... CHAMEM-ME!!!! :D

QuoteOver 90% of all computer problems can be traced back to the interface between the keyboard and the chair

fawfulthegreat64

So few questions as I am new to this whole thing. I have a ProBoards forum and I am contemplating whether it would be wise to switch over to SMF, as I was once an active member on a SMF forum long before I made my own, and I'm more familiar with its layout.

Does this work for normal ProBoards forums, and is it possible to keep the ProBoards forum in case the conversion fails or does not work. How do users go about resetting their passwords?

Edit: Also is it possible to do this if my SMF forum is hosted by a free host?

sirgonzobonzo

Quote from: margarett on August 16, 2015, 05:55:29 PM
I would advise you against ditching your current forum... Yes, hxxp:forums.net [nonactive] was a bad choice but you have now 53k posts... It's not a small thing anymore.

Of course it's your money so you should decide what's best for you.

If you can get the database dump I am willing to help you in the conversion. Making SMF look like your current site is not my "thing", I seriously suck at theming :P


Thank you Margaret, I genuinely appreciate your quick reply's so what I'll do is contact you closer to the time and bump this thread backup to the top. In the meantime should I try and get my smf page prepared and looking as close to my main forum as possible?

Thanks

sirgonzobonzo

Quote from: fawfulthegreat64 on August 17, 2015, 01:19:25 AM
So few questions as I am new to this whole thing. I have a ProBoards forum and I am contemplating whether it would be wise to switch over to SMF, as I was once an active member on a SMF forum long before I made my own, and I'm more familiar with its layout.

Does this work for normal ProBoards forums, and is it possible to keep the ProBoards forum in case the conversion fails or does not work. How do users go about resetting their passwords?

Edit: Also is it possible to do this if my SMF forum is hosted by a free host?


Your proboards should be free (it's only when it's transferred to hxxp:forums.net [nonactive] that it starts costing) so you will be able to keep it indefinitely in theory.

Unfortunately proboards will not allow you to transfer your database (posts, threads, usernames etc) so you would need to switch to hxxp:forums.net [nonactive] for 6 months first and that costs $'s.

KK_slimer

Thank you so much for this script!

Unfortunately, I am very new to... everything. Right now I'm using a local installation of SMF using XAMPP in order to experiment with porting my forum over and getting everything looking and behaving the way I want. That seems to work fine, with a functional forum with me as a user who can post and so on.

I run into trouble somewhere around step two or four, I guess. I think I imported my hxxp:forums.net [nonactive] database correctly? But, it is possible that I am wrong and made an obvious error somewhere. When I attempt to run the conversion script, it throws me the error "Table 'smf.user' doesn't exist". I've googled around a bit but while I've found similar errors, they aren't exactly the same and I haven't been able to map the solutions to my problem.

So: does anyone know where I might be going wrong? Import error? Version error? General pebkac? I really don't know anything about databases.

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