WebBBS to vBulletin 2.2.x Conversion Script

[Paul]

Hello all!

After much painstaking oogling at php code, I've created a conversion script to convert WebBBS messages to vBulletin. I created this a bit ago, but feel that it might be of use to someone out there so I thought I'd share it.

This was written to convert from a very old version of WebBBS (circa 1998), but has since been modified to work with 5.0. It should be a good start for anyone out there wanting to do this.

All of the instructions are included in the file as comments. Read them carefully! When finished, don't forget to update counters and the search table.

Anticipating vB3 like you wouldn't believe,
Paul

Update:

Now corrects for GMT offset for older WebBBS versions (the newest versions use unix timestamps, so this isn't needed)
Situation where extra carriage returns were being added should now be resolved.
Link URLs and Images are now processed. URLs/Images in the actual message body (assuming you had HTML enabled on WebBBS) are not processed. Anyone willing to add this functionality, let me know.
Situation where certain date strings would offset the timestamp incorrectly has now been corrected.
Connection to the database is now handled much more efficiently.


NOTE: By downloading this, you agree that you will not send me countless PMs/e-mails asking for help with it. If you have a question, post it on this thread. I am by no means an expert. This is my first script in php. It was written to fill my need and may or may not fill yours. I do not have the time nor resources to provide support for it.

Also, as with all hacks on this site, this script is for registered vBulletin users ONLY. You are not permitted to distribute this script to anyone, under any circumstances.

[TheComputerGuy]

Three round of applause for Paul!!!!!!

Man you just dont know how much I Love ya!

[Paul]

Please let me know how it works out :)

[TheComputerGuy]

I will, and I soon will know, in about another week, after we buy another vB license

[Paul]

If you're buying a license on the premise that this will work for you, I'd suggest trying it out with the "light" version that is freely downloadable from vbulletin.com. I have no idea what the database structure is compared to the full version or if it would matter (although I sincerely doubt it since the conversion doesn't insert any thing special.. just the basics (nick, ip address, e-mail, etc..)). Just remember, there are no guarantees that it will work. I'd hate to see you spend up to $160 only to find out it's not suitable for you.

[TheComputerGuy]

I get some parase error on line 79 which is the local host line and nothing has changed......any ideas

[Paul]

Have you tried re-downloading the script? Perhaps there's a missing semicolon or something silly like that?
Are you using php3 or 4? I wrote it using four, although I don't know if it's compatible with 3.

[TheComputerGuy]

I am using php 4, I test the script out and I see it will work, but I have the board in a cgi-bin folder, and I keep getting a forbidden error on there, will I have to remove permissions off the file or such?

[Paul]

The script should be using the nobody account (assuming that's what apache is using) and therefore should have read access to anything that webbbs has access to. If you want to make sure, you can move the messages into a different folder or make a copy of them and change the permissions.. the script doesn't edit the message files.. it simply reads them and imports relevent values into the vb database.

Sorry it's taken me so long to respond... have you had any success with this?

[Paul]

Anyone interested in this conversion script:

It is not functioning due to a few syntax errors. I added a few variables that were formerly hardcoded into the script before posting it here and did not test the script prior to that as I had already completed my install. There are a few problems to note as well.... This script will NOT convert the timestamps on your messages to GMT, therefore messages may be off a number of hours when viewed in vB.. I have since written a script to correct for that error, but it is in no way in any condition to handle this problem for other users. Some points to consider: daylight saving time, your time zone, etc.

I will post an updated version of the conversion script later today that will hopefully fix the runtime errors.

Paul

[Paul]

Updated the original attachment to what I believe is a working version.

[voclain]

.....HERE's WHAT IT Looks like after I activate the script in my browser:

Script Version 1.04r
WebBBS-to-vBulletin 2.2 Message Converter

Connected successfullyQuery failed inserting post

Yours,

Kirk Voclain

[Paul]

Originally posted by voclain
.....HERE's WHAT IT Looks like after I activate the script in my browser:

Script Version 1.04r
WebBBS-to-vBulletin 2.2 Message Converter

Connected successfullyQuery failed inserting post


Did you make sure to edit the following part of the file?:


// Server: Change this the server your mySQL database is on.
$server = "localhost";

// Sqldatabase: Change this to the name of the database on your server that vBulletin is on
$sqldatabase = "vbulletin";

// Sqluserid: Change this to the username for your mySQL server database
$sqluserid = "username";

// Sqlpassword: Change this to your password for your mySQL server database
$sqlpassword = "password";

Make sure your database name, SQL username, and SQL password are all correct. Use the same settings that vBulletin uses.

[voclain]

YEP!!

I did that. INFACT when I go the the MySQL data base and look under Threads, IT posted ONE of the 25 I tryed to import. But that ONE does not show up on the Forum???

I'm sorry to say, I'm confused???

Yours,

Kirk Voclain

[Paul]

Have you specified the correct forumid?

[voclain]

Also:

Does it matter that the files in WebBBS look like this (I mean within the sequencial numbers):

SUBJECT>Re: This board is cool.
POSTER>Kirk Voclain
EMAIL>kirk@internet8.net
DATE>1021396575
IP_ADDRESS>64.165.69.139
PREVIOUS>5999
NEXT> 6008
IMAGE>http://www.pro4um.com/heli/rg.jpg
LINKNAME>The Pro4uM
LINKURL>http://www.pro4um.com
<P>This is a cool shot of my new helicopter.

I'm running version 5.00 of WebBBS. And version 2.2.6 of VB.

YOUR help is GREATLY appreciated!!!

Yours,

Kirk Voclain

[voclain]

YEP!!

And again in the data base, it lists it under the correct forum ID.

Yours,

Kirk

[Paul]

I have checked your web site and see that you are running webbbs 5.0. I did not design this conversion script for that version. Please post an two or three message files as attachments from your forum so we can look at the fields it's using and adjust the script to work for you.

Paul

[voclain]

Here are those file you requested. ALSO, when you go to my web site: http://www.pro4um.com well VB is not running there. I have VB set up and only working on an IP address.

MY HOST who currently has my site refused to upgrade his system to PHP and MySQL so I could use VB, so I'm switching.

IN THE process of swithching, I have not transfered the DNS yet, so VB is working, but only with an IP address.

I'm telling you all of this, to ask IF it matters or not???

LET ME KNOW and here are those files:

Kirk

[Paul]

Hah! While I was posting my response, you posted an example of one of the data files from your forum. It appears that your version of WebBBS uses unix timestamps instead of a string to specify the date, so that would cause my script to break. Try using the attached script and see if you get better results. Let me know how it works.

[voclain]

Paul:

LOOKS like it's doing the same thing:

Script Version 1.045t-WebBBS5.0x
WebBBS-to-vBulletin 2.2 Message Converter

Connected successfullyQuery failed inserting post

AGAIN, your help is GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!

Yours,

Kirk Voclain

[voclain]

IT'S is also interesting to note that it does the first one??? When I go to the Data Base, it assignes the very first file (in this case number 157) to the data base. EVERYTHING is correct!! The threadid, title, lastpost, forumid, polit, open, replycount, postusername, postuserid, everything, even the originalid thing you had me add has the proper number in it: 157.

But when I go back to the forum, it does not show up???

NOW is it something to do with VB that is causing this???

AS I SAID, it's not 100% hooded up, I'm in the learning stages and getting it ready to swith the DNS stage.

I'm hoping I can just convert??? And then switch??? NOT have to switch and open my site up with an empty board???

ANYWAY again, THANKS FOR ALL OF YOUR HELP!! IT IS GREATLY APPRECIATED.

Kirk

[Paul]

I was just about to ask if you remembered to insert the originalid field. I actually messed up in the directions. :o You need to add the originalid field into both the thread and post tables. I've updated the instructions. Try the script attached after adding the additional originalid field to the post table so that you have an originalid in both post and thread.

[Paul]

Originally posted by voclain
IT'S is also interesting to note that it does the first one??? When I go to the Data Base, it assignes the very first file (in this case number 157) to the data base. EVERYTHING is correct!! The threadid, title, lastpost, forumid, polit, open, replycount, postusername, postuserid, everything, even the originalid thing you had me add has the proper number in it: 157.

It might be a good idea to delete that entry. Also, after you've run the script, log into vBulletin's Admin CP and update all of the counters.

[Paul]

I also noticed on your site a lot of posts seem to have pictures attached. I didn't account for pictures or links in this conversion script, simply because there weren't that many on my posts. I'll try to add it into the script now.

[voclain]

Did it do something????

HERE is the message I got when I ran the latest thing you sent me:

Script Version 1.05t-WebBBS5.0x
WebBBS-to-vBulletin 2.2 Message Converter

Connected successfullyQuery failed getting counts for forum: SELECT `replycount`,`threadcount` FROM `forum` WHERE forumid =

----------------

YOU HAVE NO IDEA how much I appreciate this!! I don't suppose you need a professional photographer for something??? OR an Adobe Photoshop GURU?? I am both and I would LOVE to repay the favor!!

Yours,

Kirk Voclain

[voclain]

Paul:

AS INFO, it did not work. I did an update of all counters in the admin. NOW when I go to the main board, it says there are 2 messages (used to only say one) but when you click on it, it still only shows ONE message.

So we are getting closer??? But it is still not working. PLUS it still only does ONE message, not all of them as intructed.

Yours,

Kirk

[Paul]

Originally posted by voclain
Did it do something????

HERE is the message I got when I ran the latest thing you sent me:

Script Version 1.05t-WebBBS5.0x
WebBBS-to-vBulletin 2.2 Message Converter

Connected successfullyQuery failed getting counts for forum: SELECT `replycount`,`threadcount` FROM `forum` WHERE forumid =

Alright.. we're getting there I suppose :) Thanks for the patience with this thing, as I've not tested it at all since I used it to convert 40,000 messages :)

Try the attached file. I added support for links and images since they seem to be used a lot in your forum. Hopefully, this will fix that error you got and not create any new ones! ;)

[voclain]

WE are getting close!!!

HERE is the latest message, IT LOOKS different???

Parse error: parse error in /home/virtual/site1/fst/var/www/html/cmc/bbs0/webbbs.php on line 285

LET ME KNOW...Thank you so much!!

Kirk

[Paul]

WHOOPS! :D

Forgot a silly little parenthesis. ;)

Try the attached version.

[Paul]

You've got me sitting on the edge of my seat... any luck? ;) I'll be away from the computer until late tonight (four-five hours) so I won't be able to help with any other problems until then. Let me know if it was successful for you. I've updated the original post on this thread with the latest version. You'll note I've added the $useunixtime variable in case there's anyone out there that needs the date processing I did with the old version I had. For 5.0, just leave it set to "1".

Paul

[voclain]

...... :D :D :D :D

Well sorry to tell you, the contractions are still there.

NEW PROBLEM:

Parse error: parse error, expecting `T_STRING' or `T_VARIABLE' or `T_NUM_STRING' in /home/virtual/site1/fst/var/www/html/cmc/bbs0/webbbs.php on line 310


KEEP ME POSTED!!

Kirk

[Paul]

I always forget the little things ;) This time it was two periods ;)

Here's the updated file. Please work! ;)

[voclain]

GETTING CLOSER!!! This time it says this:

Script Version 1.09t-WebBBS
WebBBS-to-vBulletin 2.2 Message Converter

Connected successfully
Query failed getting counts for forum: SELECT `replycount`,`threadcount` FROM `forum` WHERE forumid =

THANKS AGAIN!!

Kirk

[Paul]

Keep pushing.

Edit: Hah. I uploaded the same file as last time ;) Try again! :D

[Paul]

What a waste of a perfectly good thread :D

[voclain]

OK this looks promising!!! But still not working!!! I really would like to give birth to a boy or even a girl!!!

HERE's what it says:

Script Version 1.10t-WebBBS
WebBBS-to-vBulletin 2.2 Message Converter

Connected successfully

Warning: Unable to jump to row 0 on MySQL result index 2 in /home/virtual/site1/fst/var/www/html/cmc/bbs0/webbbs.php on line 146

Warning: Unable to jump to row 0 on MySQL result index 2 in /home/virtual/site1/fst/var/www/html/cmc/bbs0/webbbs.php on line 147
Query failed updating forum counts: UPDATE forum SET replycount=, threadcount=, lastpost=-1, lastposter='Ralph Tomaccio' WHERE forumid = ''

Where are you from??? I'm going to owe you some family portraits or something when this is all over!!

Thank you so much!!!

Kirk Voclain

[Paul]

It's a girl:

[voclain]

IT's a girl??? But I don't think it human yet. But it definately has arms and legs!!!

OK, First here is the results of what happened, it's long, but here goes:

Script Version 1.11r-WebBBS
WebBBS-to-vBulletin 2.2 Message Converter

Connected successfully
Processed 157
Connected successfully
Processed 158
Connected successfully
Query failed inserting post: INSERT INTO `post` (`postid`, `threadid`, `username`, `userid`, `title`, `dateline`, `attachmentid`, `pagetext`, `allowsmilie`, `showsignature`, `ipaddress`, `iconid`, `visible`, `edituserid`, `editdate`, `originalid`) VALUES ('', '17', 'Rick McDaniel', '0', '4x5 view camera.', '-1', '0', 'You need the movements to keep the camera out of the reflections. You can do it as you suggested, if you do it well, but then the volume of shots you need to do it on, is significant, so that isn\'t really the best way. If you only had a handful to do, that might be a different story. 1. Dark gray paper 2. I would use a diffused spot, so the contrast reflected is reproducible. 3. Probably wouldn\'t use that technique. Since I don\'t Photoshop extensively, uncertain what might be best. 4. Edge reflections should be adequate with diffusion panels skimming the frames, with gobos to control the spill, and a light on either side. 5. Use hanging methods that keep the frame as flat to the wall as possible. If you use a hanger on each side, placed with a level for precision alignment, and group them by size, then you should be able to keep them fairly flat. Use spacers under the bottom edge, to tilt the base of the frame back up for top to bottom level. Use Polaroid or digital for previewing, to be certain everything is correct, before final exposure. Good luck. L'allure Photographic (http://garagephotogs.com/group1/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=RickMcDaniel) ', '1', '0', 'IP_ADDRESS>165.95.207.169', '0', '1', '0', '0', '159')


--


NOW the good news is that this is the first time that when I go back to my messages board on VB that I actually see more than just the test messages on the home page.

HOWEVER, when I click on the board, NOTHING is there except the test message that I put there previously.

I did an "update counters" but it did not fix the problem.

Thanks, can I at least send your wife some flowers or something?????????

Kirk

[Paul]

This time it's a girl. Like it or not. ;)

The ' in L'allure Photographic was what was messing it up. I had to rearrange some code, but this time it will work. ;) That's part of the code I added to include image and link attachments from WebBBS.

I also noticed that the format used in WebBBS 5.0 for storing the IP address has changed and have altered the code to account for that as well.

Hopefully we've thought of everything so far! :D

[Paul]

Originally posted by voclain
HOWEVER, when I click on the board, NOTHING is there except the test message that I put there previously.


Can you post the temporary address to your new forum? If you'd rather, PM me the IP address and I'll take a look at it. Try converting 40 or so messages and then look at the forum home and see what you get.

Paul

[voclain]

IT'S A GIRL!!! WELL SORTA!!

See your PM.

Yours,

Kirk

[voclain]

I'M AN IDOT!!!
I'M AN IDOT!!!
I'M AN IDOT!!!

All I had to do (esp. since the test was old) was to change the "last 30 days" to "BEGINNING" and there it was!!

OH MY GOODNESS!!

YOU ARE WONDERFUL!!

OK, I'm naming my next child PAUL!!!

Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!!

OK, now PM me and tell me where you are!! I travel all over the country and teach Professional Photography!! IF you are in a city that I go to, I want to photograph your family, or take them to dinner, or do something for you!!

YOU HAVE NO IDEA how thankful I AM!!

A little girl!! So cute and sweet!!

Thanks again my friend!!

Yours,

Kirk Voclain

[Paul]

Heh. Not so fast. Note the date it claims all those posts were made. Something tells me you didn't have a really popular site in 1970... I'm off to examine the date function :) Be back with some updated code in a few...

[Paul]

do you have $useunixtime="1" set in the options?

[voclain]

Do you want me to go in and delete everything to retry the test???

Kirk

[voclain]

YES!!

$useunixtime="1"

That is how I have it.

Kirk

[Paul]

Just check for me and let me know if you have $useunixtime="1" in the settings at the top of the file before I go crazy trying to figure out what went wrong ;D

You *SHOULD* have $useunixtime="1" since you're using WebBBS 5.0

[Paul]

Ok. Yet another mistake on my part. Download the attached file, delete all of the posts you've already converted, and try again. :)

This time the dates should be correct.

Paul

Edit: The updated file can be found in the first post in this thread.

[voclain]

Here is and exact copy of what is in the script!! NOTICE that I have the offset to -0 could that have caused the problem???

HERE YOU GO:

// Earlier versions of WebBBS used local server time values for your messages. Enter in
// the offset from GMT to insert the correct timestamp into the database. For example, if
// the server where WebBBS files were saved was EST (GMT -5), you'd set the following value
// to "-5". You only need to change this if you've set $useunixdate = "0" (below):
$gmtoffset = "-0";

// Are you using an older version of WebBBS that does not use unix time? If so, set the
// following to "0". If you are using 5.x, leave the value below to "1":
$useunixdate = "1";

Yours,

Kirk

[Paul]

Originally posted by voclain
Here is and exact copy of what is in the script!! NOTICE that I have the offset to -0 could that have caused the problem???


Nope, you had the right settings. I misspelled $useunixdate in the script where it checks the value. It was trying to process the date for older versions of WebBBS. I went back as I made the various revisions we tried and made sure that it would be backwards compatible for anyone using earlier versions of WebBBS such as the one I was using. ;)

[voclain]

LOOK,,,,LOOK,,,,at my new baby girl!!!

She is so cute!! Has the right dates, the correct names, EVEN the pictures!!

YOU ARE THE MAN!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you so much!!

YOU have my codes, go and check it out!! She's working!!!!

WONDERFUL!!!

Kirk Voclain

[Paul]

Looks great! :D Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to bed. ;)

Early appointment tomorrow morning! :D Let me know if you have any other problems.

The majority of the problems that have been experienced in the past with this script was my failure to globally define the $forumid variable. Thanks to Kirk's feedback, I was able to get down the right track to figure it out. There are multiple functions being used in the script and I neglected to realize that I wasn't doing a global $forumid; ... that and the occasional snag with versions. ;)

This should work great with both older versions and the newest versions of WebBBS.

[Paul]

I have uploaded version 1.15r of the script which should fix any problems with extra line breaks being added by the script.

For those of you who have already converted, running the following queries should correct this problem. Run the queries in the order specified below:

First:

UPDATE post set pagetext=replace(pagetext,'\n\n\n\r','\r\r');


Second:

UPDATE post set pagetext=replace(pagetext,'\n\n\r','\r\r');


Third:

UPDATE post set pagetext=replace(pagetext,'\n\n','\r\r');


Fourth:

UPDATE post set pagetext=replace(pagetext,'\n',' ');


Backup your database before attempting this. :)

[Don Z.]

What's the latest on this? Does the 116 WebBBS converter work with vB3? Or is there a newer version?

I've got a big WebBBS 5.12 system I'd like to import into vB3.

Thanks

[Paul]

What's the latest on this? Does the 116 WebBBS converter work with vB3? Or is there a newer version?

I've got a big WebBBS 5.12 system I'd like to import into vB3.

Thanks

No. This works with vBulletin 2.x. You would have to install vB2, import with this script, then upgrade the results to vB3.

[Don Z.]

Thanks!

[tgmorris]

What's the latest on this? Does the 116 WebBBS converter work with vB3? Or is there a newer version?

I've got a big WebBBS 5.12 system I'd like to import into vB3.

Thanks
I've got a version of this I updated to work with WebBBS 5.12 and vb3. Let me know if you are interested. Going directly to vb3 allows the threads to remain intact.

[Paul]

I've got a version of this I updated to work with WebBBS 5.12 and vb3. Let me know if you are interested. Going directly to vb3 allows the threads to remain intact.

It'd probably be very helpful to others if you post it here as an attachment or create a new "hack."

[tgmorris]

It'd probably be very helpful to others if you post it here as an attachment or create a new "hack."Here it is. It will likely need tweaking for each individual as I tuned it to handle how I did smilies on my site. The vb3 sections could probably be used for any other system as well.

[dustyb]

Here it is. It will likely need tweaking for each individual as I tuned it to handle how I did smilies on my site. The vb3 sections could probably be used for any other system as well.
Outstanding! I've got an ancient installation of WebBBS that I'm converting to VB3. About the only thing I needed to adjust was the table names in all the SQL. I have the vb prefix in front of everything.

Some comments... follow the instructions VERY carefully in regard to the sequences. You have to convert in order, you can't bounce around. It's probably easiest to copy your webbs files from each forum out of their respective bbs(x) directories and into a single location and run the script. One forum at a time.

One extremely important point. If you have multiple webbbs forums, which I presume most people do, you will need to clear the originalid and previousid bookmark fields from the vbulletin post table after each forum conversion, (using an update query). This is not documented in the instructions. The script relies on these "bookmark" fields and if you don't clear out the previous forum's data from these fields, your threads will be hopelessly jumbled.

Also, given the above two points on multiple forum conversions, it follows that you need to turn off your webbbs forums and do the conversions all at once. It would be extremely difficult to come back and update a multiple forum conversion process as you'd have lost your original/previous references for all but the last forum you converted. It really is a one shot deal.

Again, great work. This script saved me who knows how many hours and probably a fair chunk of $$$ in consulting expense. Many thanks!

[woodp]

Here it is. It will likely need tweaking for each individual as I tuned it to handle how I did smilies on my site. The vb3 sections could probably be used for any other system as well.

Tom,

I looked at your wbb3.php code and it seems to be exactly what I need - And I can follow every instruction except the MySQL changes.

Can anyone walk this phpMySQL newbie through the

ALTER TABLE post ADD COLUMN originalid int(5);
ALTER TABLE post ADD COLUMN previousid int(5);

steps. After that I'm fine, but what exactly do I need to do here?

[garymill]

Well, To think that I can convert from WebBBS to VB3.03 sounds truely fantastic.

I did run into a problem it seems.

My error message is this.

Script Version 1.3-WebBBS
WebBBS-to-vBulletin 3.0 Message Converter

Fatal error: Cannot redeclare html_entity_decode() in /hsphere/local/home/cybermac/cybermacro.com/forums_webbbs/forum1/bbs0/wbb3.php on line 130

I appreciate any help to get this working.

Thanks,

Gary

[garymill]

For my above post, is it a problem that the messages were created in WebBBS 5.00, not 5.12?

Gary

[oldengine]

Tom,

I looked at your wbb3.php code and it seems to be exactly what I need - And I can follow every instruction except the MySQL changes.

Can anyone walk this phpMySQL newbie through the

ALTER TABLE post ADD COLUMN originalid int(5);
ALTER TABLE post ADD COLUMN previousid int(5);

steps. After that I'm fine, but what exactly do I need to do here?

I'm in the same boat - I have phpMyAdmin but it looks like I could really mess things up without help to make the changes. Anyone have a step-by-step?

EDIT: Found this!

In phpMyAdmin, click "SQL". Then copy and paste this:
ALTER TABLE post ADD COLUMN previousid int(5);
there and click "Go".

EDIT: WORKED GREAT!

64,949 posts including 13,667 threads imported!

Is there any way to get these "imported existing user posts" to sync up with "user profiles" as new profiles for the poster are entered on the board?

[oldengine]

After successful conversion of my major WebBBS archive boards, I'd like to proceed to converting my other WebBBS boards into my vb board.

One major question comes up: Since I have created an additional board on my vb site, will these current threads and posts interfere with more WebBBS archive posts converting in?

Obviously, these interim posts have been numbered with the vb thread and post counters, so I'm looking to find out if this will upset the wagon. Can I add more archival posts to the same board as I converted before, or do they need to go to a "new" board?

It it apparent that ALL posts and threads on a vb system share the same counters.

[oldengine]

I set up another forum, got its assigned number (21) and placed it into wbb3convert and then imported an additional 735 posts including 238 threads.

I ran "Rebuild Forum Information" before and after converting. After the import, running "Rebuild Forum Information" reducess the above numbers to 547 posts including 238 threads.

I have repeated this process several times with the same results. (I'm getting good at mysqldump and mysql restore!)

It is apparent that the missing posts from board #21 have landed into forum #2. They don't belong there. Why is this happening?

[Paul]

I set up another forum, got its assigned number (21) and placed it into wbb3convert and then imported an additional 735 posts including 238 threads.

I ran "Rebuild Forum Information" before and after converting. After the import, running "Rebuild Forum Information" reducess the above numbers to 547 posts including 238 threads.

I have repeated this process several times with the same results. (I'm getting good at mysqldump and mysql restore!)

It is apparent that the missing posts from board #21 have landed into forum #2. They don't belong there. Why is this happening?

You will have to clear out the values in the originalid column as the post numbers that webbbs uses overlap on seperate forums (for example, foruma.cgi might have a post #423 and so will forumb.cgi). Run a query similar to the following after importing each individual forum:

UPDATE `post` SET originalid = NULL;

I'm not sure if changes to the script to support a direct vb3 conversion would require additional changes.

[oldengine]

Thank you for the command!

UPDATE `post` SET originalid = NULL;
I'm not sure if changes to the script to support a direct vb3 conversion would require additional changes.I'm getting it! I was just in on myphpadmin looking at the data and I see that each record retains this previous/next numeric data. After the records are converted in, Vbulletin doesn't need that information and the ONLY reason that I would need it is if additional records from the SAME board were to be brought in.

I also saw that records added by Vbulletin were NULL in those fields, therefore, interim posting on Vbulletin shouldn't matter.

It is when I need to bring in an unrelated board with record numbers in a lower or different range than before, that the new fields need to be NULLed.

My board system has related forums and unrelated forums. I'm thinking of having two sets of "originalid and previousid" fields (named differently) and using two different import scripts (fields renamed) so as to manage importing these related and unrelated forums.

EDIT: It worked! The additional fields worked! All finished! I imported 18,207 threads including 81,327 posts from seven different boards! Life is good! Thank you Vbulletin and thank you Paul, TGMorris and Dustyb for the conversion script and the encouraging information!

[garymill]

I have two Web BBS 5.0 forums that I want converted to Vbulletin. I will pay a resonable fee for this work.

PM me if interested.

Gary

[The Doctor]

The function processquotes does not seem to be working for me. The routine is changing my WebBBS quote symbol into the tempsymbol okay, but the conversion of lines preceded by the tempsymbol into vBulletin quoted text just isn't happening. I'm getting the tempsymbol appearing in my posts.

I've not changed processquotes at all, but I'm afraid my PHP isn't good enough to check how it works. My initial thought was that I'd maybe copies the WebBBS files into the conversion directory as binary files (I can tell that processquotes needs the tempsymbol to start the line), but, after I carefully recopied the files, I was able to rule that out.

Any other suggestions?

[Later]:

I added global $tempsymbol; to the function, and this solved the problem. I imagine that I'm going to have to make $last_indent global as well, though I haven't investgated this yet. I'm just glad to have got this one mysterious bug out of the way.

It's gone two in the morning and it's waaaay past my bedtime.

[Added in the morning]:

Of course $last_indent doesn't need to be global. It's only used to communicate between the processing of lines of a single message.

[Smitty]

Is this for WebBBS by Darryl Burgdorf?

[tgmorris]

Is this for WebBBS by Darryl Burgdorf?Yes.

[Smitty]

Yes.
Thanks for the reply. I though so but I looked for something like this a couple of years ago and didn't find anything so I gave up. I'll have to test this. If it works, I've got several thousand posts in a webbbs forum I had up between 1997 and 1998 which I wouldn't mind importing for 'history'.

[garymill]

I am still looking for someone to import 3 old web bbs forums for me into Vbulletin. I will pay $85.00 for this work.

[Marco van Herwaarden]

If you can provide enough data, Jelsoft might want to add webbbs support to the official ImpEx utility. Try asking at vbulletin.com

Would be the best way to go.

[garymill]

I appreciate your suggestion.

Someone has created a conversion script posted here, and I have read o various success stories in using it, but I was not able to get it to work myself, so was hopeful that someone that was familar with working with it could do the import for me.

Gary

[aacircle]

In the conversion file posted by tgmorris in Dec 2003, the following appears:

**** IMPORTANT ****
In order for this script to keep track of messages and to later serve as a reference
point for old bookmarked messages, you will need to make a change to your vBulletin
mySQL database. You will need to insert rows into the "post" table of the
vBulletin database. THIS SCRIPT WON'T WORK WITHOUT THE ADDITION OF THESE ROWS!

i.e. ALTER TABLE post ADD COLUMN originalid int(5);
ALTER TABLE post ADD COLUMN previousid int(5);

Is this really required? After reading the above commented lines, I assume this is for when users have bookmarked posts found in WebBBS and so they can find the same posts when searching in vBulletin. I wonder will the script work fine if I don't amend the 'post' tables in vBulletin...

[Paul]

In the conversion file posted by tgmorris in Dec 2003, the following appears:

**** IMPORTANT ****
In order for this script to keep track of messages and to later serve as a reference
point for old bookmarked messages, you will need to make a change to your vBulletin
mySQL database. You will need to insert rows into the "post" table of the
vBulletin database. THIS SCRIPT WON'T WORK WITHOUT THE ADDITION OF THESE ROWS!

i.e. ALTER TABLE post ADD COLUMN originalid int(5);
ALTER TABLE post ADD COLUMN previousid int(5);

Is this really required? After reading the above commented lines, I assume this is for when users have bookmarked posts found in WebBBS and so they can find the same posts when searching in vBulletin. I wonder will the script work fine if I don't amend the 'post' tables in vBulletin...

Yes, it is required to determine where the posts will be inserted. Old bookmarks will not work without altering showthread.php and using something like mod_rewrite or a custom perl script to point to the proper vbulletin page.

[daveconz]

Hey just wanted to say huge Thanks! I used the modified script for vB3 and it seems to have worked like a charm. It's only a small forum (a few hundred messages) but it means a lot to the site owner. Awesome :) :)

[Ultan]

My error message is this.

Script Version 1.3-WebBBS
WebBBS-to-vBulletin 3.0 Message Converter


Fatal error: Cannot redeclare html_entity_decode() in /hsphere/local/home/cybermac/cybermacro.com/forums_webbbs/forum1/bbs0/wbb3.php on line 130


I appreciate any help to get this working.


I have the same problem . Any help please?!


Mushabab

[Ultan]

Here it is. It will likely need tweaking for each individual as I tuned it to handle how I did smilies on my site. The vb3 sections could probably be used for any other system as well.

Thank you for your efforts as well as the original Author [ Paul ]. :up:

I am disperate for help!

I have followed the instructions in the modified script [ Script Version 1.3-WebBBS ] to convert my WEBBBS 5.2 post to VB 3.2.5. . This what I got:

I commented lines 130 - 134, where in my machine PHP 5.x . I got this output

Script Version 1.3-WebBBS
WebBBS-to-vBulletin 3.0 Message Converter

Connected successfully
Query failed inserting thread: INSERT INTO thread (`threadid`, `title`, `firstpostid`, `lastpost`, `forumid`, `pollid`, `open`, `replycount`, `postusername`, `postuserid`, `lastposter`, `dateline`, `views`, `iconid`, `notes`, `visible`, `sticky`, `votenum`, `votetotal`, `attach`, `similar`) VALUES ('', 'Welcome !', '0', '929072991', '3', '0', '1', '0', 'Editor of General Forum ( This one )', '0', 'Editor of General Forum ( This one )', '929072991', '0', '0', '', '1', '0', '0', '0', '0', '') "

This was partially convertion of post #1 of webbbs.

Please help to figure out what else can be done from my side to have it works.

Regards;

Mushabab Al-Murayeh, MD

[Ultan]

Where is everybody?!

After strugle I could reach this result where only 4 messages were converted then error.

Script Version 1.3-WebBBS
WebBBS-to-vBulletin 3.0 Message Converter

Connected successfully
New Thread 1
New Thread 2
New Thread 3
Query failed getting counts for forum: SELECT replycount FROM forum WHERE forumid = 2

I still need help :tired:

Mushabab

[oldengine]

A reminder to those using this script: wbb3.php (TGMORRIS POST #60)

YOU MUST NOT BE USING A TABLE PREFIX IN YOUR VB DATABASE!

If you need to change your prefix, use /install/tableprefix.php CAUTIOUSLY!

I am using vB 3.62 and the wbb3.php script imported 100 WebBBS posts into a test board just fine for me. My next process is to import them into my board that has over 100,000 posts.

USE A TEST BOARD and work it out. It can be done, but please don't ask me to do it for you. I do not have the time nor the resources to get involved. I only want to give you the encouragement that this feat is possible.

EDIT:

// can be removed if using PHP 4.3.0 or above
// function html_entity_decode( $given_html, $quote_style = ENT_QUOTES ) {
// $trans_table = array_flip(get_html_translation_table( HTML_SPECIALCHARS, $quote_style ));
// $trans_table['''] = "'";
// return ( strtr( $given_html, $trans_table ) );
// }