I’m going through the odious task of importing a Ning forum to bbPress. The hard part (or so I thought) is done. I was able to get about everything from Ning into BuddyPress.

However, when I get to the last phase–BuddyPress to bbPress migration–which I thought would be easy-peasy, I lose all the replies to the forum topics! I’m following the migration process exactly (as far as I know) but it always fails. Here are the details:

I’m currently on a local server using XAMPP.
WordPress 4.2.4
BuddyPress 2.3.3 (using the default theme)
bbPress 2.5.8

The only other plugins I have installed are The Events Calendar (which you kind of need for the Ning conversion) and BackupBuddy, so that I can restore/reset after every unsuccessful attempt.

I have a smallish forum of fewer than 100 people and 4 groups.

At the time of this writing, I’ve restored the site to its last successful state:
– All data successfully imported into BuddyPress
– bbPress is installed and activated
– Final migration has not yet been attempted.

So, you can see all forums and replies, etc., in the BuddyPress theme on the site. The bbPress forums section in the admin menu is empty, as expected.

Now my typical next step, which always fails, is to follow the codex on migrating forums from BuddyPress to bbPress. I’ve been following it to the letter:

Migrating from old forums to bbPress 2.2+

Unfortunately, during Step 5, the actual import step, I get the following error message:


WordPress database error: [Table 'foo.wp_bb_terms' doesn't exist]

SELECT convert(term_relationships.object_id USING "utf8mb4") AS object_id,convert(term_taxonomy.term_taxonomy_id USING "utf8mb4") AS term_taxonomy_id,convert(terms.name USING "utf8mb4") AS name,convert(terms.slug USING "utf8mb4") AS slug FROM wp_bb_term_relationships AS term_relationships INNER JOIN wp_bb_term_taxonomy AS term_taxonomy USING (term_taxonomy_id) INNER JOIN wp_bb_terms AS terms USING (term_id) LIMIT 0, 100


I can’t tell if it is just complaining or if the import has actually failed at that point. Nevertheless, I finish all the steps. At that point, the groups have become forums in bbPress and the topics have transferred but only the first post in each. All replies are gone and I haven’t found any way to restore them.

One additional detail–I don’t know if it’s relevant. In order to do the Ning conversion, it’s best if you use BuddyPress v1.6, which I did. Afterward, I updated to the latest version. (Is that why wp_bb_terms didn’t get created?)

I’d greatly appreciate any insight on this. I’m so happy to be getting away from Ning–I can’t believe I’m getting tripped up on the WP side! 🙂

[@netweb Keymaster 9 years, 3 months ago]

I don’t like the Ning to BuddyPress converter, been there done that, tried to help fix it and all 😉

I’m pretty sure this relates to which version of bbPress you are using when doing the import, what version of bbPress are you using in BuddyPress 1.6? Is it the “included” bbPress 1.x using just “group forums” or do you have bbPress 2.x installed and activated here as well?

The Table 'foo.wp_bb_terms' doesn't exist] is a bbPress 1.x table, bbPress 2.x does not have this table.

[@keithadv Participant 9 years, 3 months ago]

Thanks for responding, Stephen!

Yeah, I agree that the converter is a pain! I was excited because I had gotten past that step (I think). My unexpected brickwall is between BuddyPress and bbPress.

The complete process I used is one that I originally documented here: https://wordpress.org/support/topic/how-i-got-import-from-ning-to-work-for-me

tl/dr answer: I used BuddyPress 1.6.1 and the latest version of bbPress. I installed only BuddyPress during the Ning migration. After that was complete and looked good, I let BuddyPress update to its latest version and installed the latest version of bbPress. All topics AND replies existed at that point. I did the final migration from BuddyPress to bbPress and all replies disappeared.

I don’t know either of these two plugins well yet but the only clue I have is the wp_bb_terms error message. Perhaps the migration is failing at that point and causing the replies to become disconnected. I just don’t know.

It’s so frustrating to be THIS close!

[@netweb Keymaster 9 years, 3 months ago]

Do you have a wp_bb_terms table at all?

You should have a table setup similar to this:

(This is my BP 1.6.x database I use for testing bbPress imports, it should be pretty much what I’d expect your setup should also look like)

[@keithadv Participant 9 years, 3 months ago]

> Do you have a wp_bb_terms table at all?

No, or at least I didn’t. My database looked the same as yours. I had a wp_bb_messages_meta table that you don’t. I didn’t have wp_bbp_converter_translator table.

Get ready to cringe, because here’s what I did. I know most people like to solve problems through information and insight but I prefer to bat at my keyboard like a monkey until something happens.

I duplicated wp_terms, calling the new table wp_bb_terms. I reran the buddypress->bbpress migration and this time all topics and replies converted. I did a happy dance, captured it all in backupbuddy and haven’t looked back. So far, so good–I haven’t noticed any glitches yet.

Thank you for the assist!!!

[@atquest Participant 7 years, 9 months ago]

You just saved me a mental breakdown. Have a banana! Thanks!