• Registered: 2005-11-25
  • Posts: 12

Topic: The easiest way to convert from phpbb to punbb.

Hi,

At the present time I run phpBB, but I'd like to use punBB instead.

Now, the "problem" is that I don't have much experience in this area (php, databases etc) and knowing myself I can think of at least 10 ways I can screw something like this up. My host thankfully had a button in their control panel, "on" or "off" which installed everything pretty neatly for me.

I have downloaded "PunBB_Migration_Tool-1.4.0.zip", the "punbb-1.2.10.zip" and now I'm thinking: "what's the right approach for this? How can I do this relatively easy with as little screwups as possible?"

Things that make me nervous about switching:
I have 139 registered users and a lot that just browse the forum, I don't want them to notice anything else then "oh, he switched forums, nice".
I do not want them coming to the boards and see chaos and total destruction smile

I don't want any posts or topics MIA afterwards. There are at the moment 2945 'articles' in the forum, I want them to stay there.

There are a lot of images uploaded as attachments, I've read somewhere that while some mods for phpbb work on punbb, not all will, and this makes me hesitate a little about this.

The forum might be considered "small-time", but nevertheless it's existence does make a difference to my users, so I want this to be painless on them smile Can anyone tell me how I should do this or perhaps know of a guide of some sort? Can't seem to find one myself hmm

Anyway, thanks a million in advance and have a nice day!

  • From: 127.0.0.1
  • Registered: 2001-11-02
  • Posts: 9,167

Re: The easiest way to convert from phpbb to punbb.

The problem here is that you have attachments. PunBB does not support attachments other than via a mod and I don't think the migration tools transfers your attachments over to PunBB.

"Programming is like sex: one mistake and you have to support it for the rest of your life."

Rickard's Website

  • From: Canada
  • Registered: 2004-12-12
  • Posts: 148

Re: The easiest way to convert from phpbb to punbb.

Whatever you do, make a database backup immediately. That way if you somehow go wrong you can just upload your local backup database into your host's control panel and all will be well.

I don't HAVE a signature, ok?

creaturecorp's Website

  • Registered: 2005-11-25
  • Posts: 12

Re: The easiest way to convert from phpbb to punbb.

Rickard wrote:

The problem here is that you have attachments. PunBB does not support attachments other than via a mod and I don't think the migration tools transfers your attachments over to PunBB.

As I suspected then. That's not really a problem though, the files are stored anyway so adding them later on with a mod for punBB is easy. Just have to keep track of where the files were in the first place smile

But my main problem still remains, how to do this conversion 100% flawless?

5 Reply by Mark (edited by Mark 2005-11-25 14:22)

  • Mark
  • PunBB Donor
  • Offline
  • From: England, North West
  • Registered: 2004-09-21
  • Posts: 834

Re: The easiest way to convert from phpbb to punbb.

http://punbb.org/download/contrib/PunBB … -1.4.0.zip

Mark's Website

  • Registered: 2005-11-25
  • Posts: 12

Re: The easiest way to convert from phpbb to punbb.

creaturecorp wrote:

Whatever you do, make a database backup immediately. That way if you somehow go wrong you can just upload your local backup database into your host's control panel and all will be well.

I take backups regularly, both of the forum and our DKP-site (we're a World of Warcraft guild) to ensure i won't get hunted down and beaten senseless smile

I'm off to try this now. For safetyreasons I'll keep both forums running until i know everything works smile Thanks so much for your replies, they've made me realize I've probably just overdramatised this whole thing..

  • Registered: 2005-11-25
  • Posts: 12

Re: The easiest way to convert from phpbb to punbb.

Ok guys, the forum is installed and the database is converted, all is good. But there are still some issues.

There seems to be something wrong with the cookie, at first new posts weren't going away when i read them, they were still marked as new. I clicked on "mark all topics read" and now, even though there are new posts, they are marked as read?

Any idea on how to fix this?

Thanks a million for your help earlier, if you'd like to see the forum, it can be found here: http://www.vikholm.se/forum

Have a nice day!

  • Connorhd
  • Connorhd
  • Former PunBB Developer
  • Offline
  • From: Leeds, UK
  • Registered: 2004-06-13
  • Posts: 4,195

Re: The easiest way to convert from phpbb to punbb.

Thats how PunBB works, unread posts stay highlighted until your next visit, it is being changed in 1.3

FluxBB.
Connorhd.co.uk.

Connorhd's Website

9 Reply by Vikholm (edited by Vikholm 2005-11-26 16:02)

  • Registered: 2005-11-25
  • Posts: 12

Re: The easiest way to convert from phpbb to punbb.

Connorhd wrote:

Thats how PunBB works, unread posts stay highlighted until your next visit, it is being changed in 1.3

Ok, by next visit you mean when i log on again the next time?

10 Reply by hcgtv

  • hcgtv
  • hcgtv
  • Senior Member
  • Offline
  • From: Charlotte, NC
  • Registered: 2004-06-25
  • Posts: 1,991

Re: The easiest way to convert from phpbb to punbb.

Vikholm wrote:

Ok, by next visit you mean when i log on again the next time?

In the admin area, under options:

Visit timeout - Number of seconds a user must be idle before his/hers last visit data is updated (primarily affects new message indicators).

The default is 600 seconds on new installs. so the new indicators will stay lit for 10 minutes irregradless if you've read the thread. Rickard plans on changing this for 1.3.

What I do to read PunBB forums is this:
a) Click on: Show new posts since last visit - top right
b) Click [New posts] on each thread, read them, press the back button to read the next one, etc.

It took a little getting used to after using phpBB on other forums but I find PunBB to be quicker.

PHPCrossRef . TXP Make . TXP Themes . TXP Tags . TXP Planet . We Love TXP

hcgtv's Website

  • Registered: 2005-11-25
  • Posts: 12

Re: The easiest way to convert from phpbb to punbb.

hcgtv wrote:
Vikholm wrote:

Ok, by next visit you mean when i log on again the next time?

In the admin area, under options:

Visit timeout - Number of seconds a user must be idle before his/hers last visit data is updated (primarily affects new message indicators).

The default is 600 seconds on new installs. so the new indicators will stay lit for 10 minutes irregradless if you've read the thread. Rickard plans on changing this for 1.3.

What I do to read PunBB forums is this:
a) Click on: Show new posts since last visit - top right
b) Click [New posts] on each thread, read them, press the back button to read the next one, etc.

It took a little getting used to after using phpBB on other forums but I find PunBB to be quicker.

Ah ok, thanks for the reply.