[Chuckie]

I was not able to use the previous phpBB importer as it was failing right at the start. This new version seems to work better! However, I have some comments about this.

1/ A possible problem.

Here is my log (which I paused in the end):

Import Stopped (by User.)

9.Calculating topic stickies (7 through 100 of 100)100%
9.Calculating topic stickies (100 through 7 of 7)100%
9.Calculating topic stickies (7 through 100 of 100)100%
9.Calculating topic stickies (100 through 7 of 7)100%
9.Calculating topic stickies (7 through 100 of 100)100%
9.Calculating topic stickies (100 through 7 of 7)100%
9.Calculating topic stickies (7 through 100 of 100)100%
9.Calculating topic stickies (100 through 7 of 7)100%
9.Calculating topic stickies (7 through 100 of 100)100%
9.Calculating topic stickies (100 through 7 of 7)100%
9.Calculating topic stickies (7 through 100 of 100)100%
9.Calculating topic stickies (100 through 7 of 7)100%
9.Calculating topic stickies (7 through 100 of 100)100%
9.Calculating topic stickies (100 through 7 of 7)100%
9.Calculating topic stickies (7 through 100 of 100)100%
9.Calculating topic stickies (100 through 7 of 7)100%
9.Calculating topic stickies (7 through 100 of 100)100%
9.Calculating topic stickies (100 through 7 of 7)100%
9.Calculating topic stickies (0 through 99 of 100)0%
8.No anonymous topic authors to import
7.All topics imported100%
7.Converting topics (900 through 928 of 928)90%
7.Converting topics (800 through 899 of 928)80%
7.Converting topics (700 through 799 of 928)70%
7.Converting topics (600 through 699 of 928)60%
7.Converting topics (500 through 599 of 928)50%
7.Converting topics (400 through 499 of 928)40%
7.Converting topics (300 through 399 of 928)30%
7.Converting topics (200 through 299 of 928)20%
7.Converting topics (100 through 199 of 928)10%
7.Converting topics (0 through 99 of 928)0%
6.No forum subscriptions to import
5.All forum parents imported100%
5.Calculating forum hierarchy (0 through 25 of 25)0%
4.All forums imported100%
4.Converting forums (0 through 30 of 30)0%
3.Skipping password clean-up
2.Skipping user clean-up
1.Skipping sync-table clean-up
Starting Import...
Ready to go.

The issue was step 9 where it seemed to be in a ever repeating cycle of:

9.Calculating topic stickies (7 through 100 of 100)100%
9.Calculating topic stickies (100 through 7 of 7)100%

2/ Feature Request

Because I was not able to previously import content I came up with a new simplified set of forum categories etc in my bbPress forum. Therefore, ideally I would love to be presented with a list of forums that are going to be imported so that I can map them to the existing forums I have created. So some would be merging several into one if that makes sense.

At the moment (even though I hit stop on point 9) I was able to view the forum and could seem many boards imported – a quick look it looked great. It is just that I wanted control over how the topics were imported. Thus my idea for the mapping from old forums to current forums.

Can this be done?

Please let me know if I need to give more info.

I don’t know if this should be a “trac ticket” or not.

Well done guys.

Andrew

PS. The related question (which can be closed and linked to this new one is: https://bbpress.org/forums/topic/importing-from-phpbb-5/).

[estefa37]

Hello everyone.
I am looking for some help here.
I am trying to migrate a rather large forum from phpbb to bbpress using the bbpress importer.
I filled the details with the right database information and started the import.
However, it keeps showing me an error and does not let me import anything.
When I click on “start” the import, it inmediately shows this text:

Repair any missing information: Continue
WordPress database error: [Unknown column ‘topics.topic_replies’ in ‘field list’]
SELECT convert(topics.topic_id USING “utf8mb4”) AS topic_id,convert(topics.topic_replies USING “utf8mb4”) AS topic_replies,convert(topics.topic_replies_real USING “utf8mb4”) AS topic_replies_real,convert(topics.forum_id USING “utf8mb4”) AS forum_id,convert(topics.topic_poster USING “utf8mb4”) AS topic_poster,convert(posts.poster_ip USING “utf8mb4”) AS poster_ip,convert(posts.post_text USING “utf8mb4”) AS post_text,convert(topics.topic_title USING “utf8mb4”) AS topic_title,convert(topics.topic_status USING “utf8mb4”) AS topic_status,convert(topics.topic_type USING “utf8mb4”) AS topic_type,convert(topics.topic_time USING “utf8mb4”) AS topic_time,convert(topics.topic_last_post_time USING “utf8mb4”) AS topic_last_post_time FROM phpbbli_topics AS topics INNER JOIN phpbbli_posts AS posts USING (topic_id) WHERE posts.post_id = topics.topic_first_post_id LIMIT 0, 100
No topics to convertNo forum parents to convert

It only shows that text and does not import anything. All user accounts are existing inside my phpbb database.

Does anyone know why this is happening or how can I solve this in order to make the import?

Thank you.

[Robin W]

I’ve never used phpbb, but suggest you need to get the database loaded somewhere, which will then have access. You can then convert from there

[tomijolkkonen]

Sorry for the confusion. I did mean that I had no access to the old database but I got the sql.gz file of the old database backup that I transferred to a new phpmyadmin that the service provider had made with a wordpress site install. I’m not sure where to continue this anymore. Should I just whipe everything and start over or try to work it out. Again sorry for the confusion. So to put it simply so there is not confusion as I know I’m not the most clear when trying to explain something. I’m making a forum site for father-in-law. He has a old forum still on that is running phpBB. I need to transfer the forum posts etc from sql.gz file to the new site. I don’t know how the transfer tool works and couldn’t find a tutorial. Also if I did get it right I have no idea how to make it show up in bbPress.

[tomijolkkonen]

Ok yes, starting with I’m completely new to this and I need to redesign my Father in laws, forum website. This would be my first time doing this and he said that there is no hurry as he heard from my wife that I know how to code but the thing is I’m only at the basics of C# so not sure if any use here but on to the point.

So he is not able to connect to the old website host site because I dont think it really exists anymore and/or was transferred to another host service. But he has a backup from the old database that used phpBB and he is not really willing to part with everything that was stored in that forum as it contains over 10 years of garthered info on the matter which is central to the forum. So I don’t feel that copying every post would be really a good way as there are around 200k posts on it.
So I have a wordpress site setup with BBpress and have the basics and the serviceprovider has the database on phpmyadmin. I’m looking to use the backup to somehow have the posts etc showup without messing with the actual site but im ok even if it wipes the new design.

I have tried using bbPress import tool but to no avail. I have not found any info considering this. So the old site is still active but I have no access to the old database but I have the old backup. The import tool did not make much sense to me but I tried.For example I am not sure do I use the root name when typing in the database name in the import tool so I have tried to look for a deeper explanation.Also I dont know how the old posts would show up in bbPress.

[Chuckie]

Yeah, but in forums like phpBB, if you close a topic you are locking the topic. This is indicated to the user by a icon. I added some styling which I had gleaned from the internet:

#bbpress-forums .status-closed > li.bbp-topic-title > a.bbp-topic-permalink:before {
	content: "[Locked]";
	text-shadow: 1px 1px 0 #ffffff;
	color: #ff0000;
	margin-right: 5px;
	font-size: 16pt !important;
}

This gives me a lock symbol but the look and feel of this symbol is not as nice as the paper clip which is visible for topics with attachments (using the GD Attachments plugin).

[Chuckie]

I tried doing this with a staging website and it would not convert. Has this importer been tested with recent editions of phpBB?

[Chuckie]

I have read your article about importing from phpBB. I would like to know how much control we have over importing. I have already created a new forum structure with bbPress and I would like to selectively import just certain forums into these new formats in bbpress.

[evelioml3]

Hi All !!
I have upgraded phpBB 3.0.4 to 3.2.8 recently following steps on Upgrading from 3.0 to 3.2

When trying to import to bbpress 2.5.4 on a WP 5.2.3 I get this message:

Error en la base de datos de WordPress: [Unknown column 'forums.forum_topics' in 'field list']
SELECT convert(forums.forum_id USING "utf8mb4") AS forum_id,convert(forums.parent_id USING "utf8mb4") AS parent_id,convert(forums.forum_topics USING "utf8mb4") AS forum_topics,convert(forums.forum_posts USING "utf8mb4") AS forum_posts,convert(forums.forum_topics_real USING "utf8mb4") AS forum_topics_real,convert(forums.forum_name USING "utf8mb4") AS forum_name,convert(forums.forum_desc USING "utf8mb4") AS forum_desc,convert(forums.left_id USING "utf8mb4") AS left_id,convert(forums.forum_type USING "utf8mb4") AS forum_type,convert(forums.forum_status USING "utf8mb4") AS forum_status FROM phpbb_forums AS forums LIMIT 0, 100
No hay foros que convertir
No hay datos que limpiar

Effectively column forum_topics was on table forum in phpbb version 3.0.4 but it is not anymore on phpbb version 3.2.8.
Script to import from phpbb must have a bug or expect a different database structure for phpbb.

Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance

[OscarGuy]

I am attempting to convert my message board to bbPress, but have run into a problem trying to convert the database. I get the following errors:

Repair any missing information: Continue

WordPress database error: [Unknown column 'users.user_website' in 'field list']
SELECT convert(users.user_id USING "utf8mb4") AS user_id,convert(users.user_password USING "utf8mb4") AS user_password,convert(users.user_form_salt USING "utf8mb4") AS user_form_salt,convert(users.username USING "utf8mb4") AS username,convert(users.user_email USING "utf8mb4") AS user_email,convert(users.user_website USING "utf8mb4") AS user_website,convert(users.user_regdate USING "utf8mb4") AS user_regdate,convert(users.user_aim USING "utf8mb4") AS user_aim,convert(users.user_yim USING "utf8mb4") AS user_yim,convert(users.user_icq USING "utf8mb4") AS user_icq,convert(users.user_msnm USING "utf8mb4") AS user_msnm,convert(users.user_jabber USING "utf8mb4") AS user_jabber,convert(users.user_occ USING "utf8mb4") AS user_occ,convert(users.user_interests USING "utf8mb4") AS user_interests,convert(users.user_sig USING "utf8mb4") AS user_sig,convert(users.user_from USING "utf8mb4") AS user_from,convert(users.user_avatar USING "utf8mb4") AS user_avatar FROM phpbb_users AS users LIMIT 0, 100

No users to convert

Starting Conversion

There are two problems I see. One is that it’s having trouble converting part of it. The other is that it says there are no users to convert and there are a ton, so what do I do?

[maximemue]

its really a pitty. It runs so smoothly, but will only convert 15000 replies. Last try: does anyone moved from phpBB to bbpress with more than 15000 replies???

[lantaarntje]

Has any one succeeded in a good conversion? from PHPbb3 3.2.x to Bbpress – i’m following these threads for ages and made a dozen attempts to convert to BBpress from PHPbb3 3.2.x but each conversion stops with different bugs, loops, etc. I tried all the changed scripts file but they have also the same issues.

Hoping that the guys at BBpress will take a serious look at this script and help us pls!

Help us Obi Bbpress Kenobi you are our only hope

[Robin W]

As the ‘about’ page says ‘We’re keeping things as small and light as possible while still allowing for great add-on features through WordPress’s extensive plugin system.’

so bbpress will be maintained, but their will not be lots of features added – many are provided by others eg

Private groups This Plugin creates unlimited private forum groups
bbp style pack Lets you style bbpress, and add display features
bbp topic count Adds any combination of topics, replies and totals under the authors avatar in topics and replies
bbp profile information Adds up to 4 fields to the bbp user profile and displays any combination of these under the authors avatar in topics and replies
bbp user ranking Lets you add ranking and badges to topics and replies and profiles
bbP Toolkit Swiss knife tweaking and hacking Toolkit for bbPress. Set global options and style your forums.
bbpress sort topics/replies Sort topic replies in ascending or descending order for each bbPress Topic. You can choose to save setting for each topic, for the whole Forum or set globally for every Topic
bbPress Genesis Extend Provides basic compatibility with bbPress and the Genesis Framework with a few extra goodies
bbPress – Moderation Tools Add the ability to moderate and approve new topics and replies in bbPress
bbP Signature This plugin adds user signature support to bbPress
bbPress2 BBCode This plugin adds support for popular bbcode forum code to posts, comments, pages, bbpress forums and buddypress activity and group forums.
GD bbPress Attachments Implements attachments upload to the topics and replies in bbPress plugin through media library and adds additional forum based controls.
bbPress Go To First Unread Post Allows registered bbPress users to quickly jump to the first unread post in a topic
bbPress Topics for Posts Replace the comments on your WordPress blog posts with topics from an integrated bbPress install
Inline Image Upload for BBPress Upload inline images to BBPress forum topics and replies.
bbpress Simple Advert Units Insert advert units (such as adsense or Amazon widgets) into your bbpress forum.
bbPress – Private Replies A simple plugin to allow your bbPress users to mark their replies as private.
bbPress Messages bbPress Messages – User Private Messages with notifications, widgets and media with no BuddyPress needed.
bbP Move Topics Move topics from one forum to another, convert post/comments into topic/replies in the same site.
bbp user online status A WordPress plugin to show user online/offline statuses in bbpress topics and replies
bbp-valoration Adds thumbsup, visits and replies count to topics on bbpress, display results on a widget.
BBP Auto-Close Topics BBP Auto-Close Topics will automatically close bbPress topics after an admin-specified time period.
bbResolutions bbResolutions, will let you set topic resolutions (Resolved, Not resolved and Not a question).
Inline Image Upload for BBPress Upload inline images to BBPress forum topics and replies
bbPress Advanced Statistics Achieve phpBB / vBulletin-esque statistics for your bbPress Forum
bbPress Custom Email Notifications Modify subscription emails sent to users
Canned Replies Let’s moderators and keymasters create standard replies and use these in responses
BBP Improvements for yoast This is a very simple but very helpful tool to help yoast wordpress seo support bbpress better.
bbPress GDPR bbPress GDPR plugin extends new Data Export & Data Erasure feature bundled with WordPress 4.9.6 Release.
AsynCRONous bbPress Subscriptions Amends how bbpress sends emails

This may or may not suit what you require

[fantomx90]

Hello, I have set up bbPRess forums on my website (albeit very simple ones). As they are currently built they are all just listed in 7 straight topics and it looks very bland and boring.

I would like to be able to add some category headings however, or at the very least break them up into different sections. I am not very technical as far as HTML or CSS coding… but I Figured if there is going to be a way that’s how its going to happen.

To clarify, I kind of want them broken up like a PHPBB bulletin, but I do like the functionality and ease of use of the bbpress forums.

Is there any SIMPLE way to do this, or at least a bbpress expert I could pay that could probably knock this out in an hour (or less)?

Thank you in advance.

[Morphim]

Sorry no one was able to help here.

But, I managed to do it by seeing in THIS thread that there is a 2.6 beta candidate of BBPress.
I installed that and used the BBPress1 importer and this worked.

The same importer in the current version (2.5.?) had the same options (BBPress1) but places the DB name at the beginning of the DB prefix and then couldn’t find this extended prefix … which it wouldn’t as it didn’t exist.

So, version 2.6 beta seemingly didn’t add this so all went well.

I do like the integration on BBpress into WP rather as a separate entity. I might move my PHPbb forums to this at some point.

[maximemue]

Hi all,

still having trouble to migrate from phpBB 3.2 to latest WP and bbpress. After having added some lines in the phpBB database and changed everything to UTF8 it runs smoothly, converts all 1700 users, converts the forums converts the topics (22,000) and then starts with all replies (200,000). And it will always stop at Topics 14,000 to 14,099. No error message.

What can I do?? I really need this conversion…

Thanks for your help!

Best

Maxime

[artichoku]

I’m having the opposite issue. Our forum is really old and really full. Anytime someone replies, it carries them back to page 1. I don’t want to use threaded replies, because these guys are old and are used to phpBB (that’s what we migrated from). I just want it so that when someone replies, it goes to the last page and not back to the beginning. They are getting confused.

[stinsonowners108]

I have taken over an aviation club website from a guy that had stuff spread all over the place.
I’m trying to centralize so that I and those after me can easily manage the site.

I would like to move his phpbb forum to BBPress so I can protect some sections of the forum using MemberPress.

I used Fivvr to try to get it transferred but the guy didn’t really know what he was doing.

I have a phpbb backup and need help migrating.

As an extra challenge, I have a backup from a Yahoo Groups and Facebook group that I would love to migrate into BBPress as well.

This is a small aircraft owner site with less than about 400 members so my budget is not large, but I would like to work with someone to get it done.

http://stinsonowners.org is the site. where you can see the Fivvr developer got data into BBPress but its not right.

My direct email is will.ware@me.com if you can help.

[spellman]

I’m trying to figure out how to add shortcodes/bbcode to my bbpress website. I used to do this a lot with phpbb, but I can’t figure out how to do it with bbpress.

I want my users to be able to type in [card]Serra Angel[/card] and have the posted code be <div class=”card”>Serra Angel</div>.

How can I add this? Ideally, it would reside in forum posts as button, much like the LINK IMG CODE etc buttons.

[dekudigital]

Hello all.

I have done a fair bit of research on this topic already and have made some progress.

I have managed to get the BBPress importer working on a few occasions (using localhost and also remotely) and I know it’s working because it starts converting the users, then moves on to forums, topics etc.

I did actually manage one full successful import, not sure how exactly but since then I’ve been struggling.

I had to manually create the following blank columns just to get the importer started:

USERS
user_website
user_aim
user_yim
user_icq
user_msnm
user_occ
user_interests
user_from

TOPICS
topic_replies
topic_replies_real

FORUMS
forum_recent_topics
forum_topics
forum_posts
forum_topics_real

More recently the importer just seems to be getting stuck.

I have 1333 users in my forum, after the importer has converted all the users (1300-1399) it just stops. It does actually import all the users correctly but then it doesn’t move on to the next task.

When I don’t include users, it converts the forums and hierarchy, but then freezes on converting topics (0-99).

It just doesn’t seem to be working smoothly.

I am contemplating upgrading the forum from phpbb 3.1.9 to 3.2 using this guide:
https://www.phpbb.com/support/docs/en/3.2/ug/upgradeguide/upgrade31/

Tt seems like a lot of work and I’m not sure it will make such a difference with regards to this task.

If anybody has faced any similar issues doing this import (freezing at certain points, not moving on to the next task etc).

Any help would be MASSIVELY appreciated.

Thanks
Antony

[artichoku]

using the added converter that was found here: https://bbpress.org/forums/topic/fix-for-phpbb3-to-bbpress-conversion-script/

all I get is “Starting Conversion”

[artichoku]

if it helps, this is the error i get when using the phpbb converter that comes with the installation of bbPress 2.5.14…

WordPress database error: [Specified key was too long; max key length is 1000 bytes]
CREATE TABLE wp_bbp_converter_translator ( meta_id mediumint(8) unsigned not null auto_increment, value_type varchar(25) null, value_id bigint(20) unsigned not null default '0', meta_key varchar(255) null, meta_value varchar(255) null, PRIMARY KEY (meta_id), KEY value_id (value_id), KEY meta_join 

[artichoku]

hey there. So I’ve been trying to get the import to work for a few weeks and have zero luck whatsoever. I’ve tried the updated script found here:

Hi All,

Had the same issue as described above. The default phpbb.php import script didn’t convert anonymous users of topics and replies and the Pixenated script looped infinately with the conversion of users.

I’ve fixed the script and uploaded to PasteBin. Feel free to share widely.
https://pastebin.com/FpWsxsUG

How To:
1) Upgrade phpBB to v.3.2.5
2) Install BBpress 2.6 RC7
3) Upload to /wp-content/plugins/bbpress/includes/admin/converters/phpbb.php

Remember that real men don’t do backups. They cry a lot. 🙂

but it has not aleviated the import problem. I no longer see errors, but it just sits at “Starting conversion”. Not sure what my next step is…

[Michał]

I still need help with migrate forum xoops newbb to bbpress, it`s similar mysql structure like phpbb. I can pay for help. My mail: michal [ at ] kulturystyka.org.pl

Best ragards.

[spaceman_qc]

bbPRess-wordpress is really slow on my site. 7 to 10 seconds loading the main forum page. Submitting a new topic can go over 20 sec. 75% of that time is waiting for a reply…

It’s hosted on a VPS and when I monitor the CPU and RAM memory, it is always under the max, CPU runs at 50-70% on a request and ram stays around 70% used.

It seems to me that the requests to mySql takes a long time to execute.

We have 11500 topics and 75000+ replies. It was a phpBB forum that has been converted to bbPRess.

What can I do to improve performances?