Major Additions - ImpEx

I am not the original creator of impex, just a maintainer of community sourced fixes, and sometimes my own work/improvements.

I will use this to keep the most recent impex master build hosted here. Unstable/Beta fixes will not be hosted here.

To view the most recent up to date build of my version of impex please see it here: https://github.com/vBZachery/vbimpex

Change log: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?p=2555842



User Documentation
The Impex manual is still housed on vBulletin.com. We suggest reading it before getting started.

User Documentation


Installation
The basics of the installations are as follows:

1. Download the package from github and extract the files from the zip.
2. Rename the vbimpex folder to impex.
3. Rename the ImpExConfig.php.new file to ImpExConfig.php
4. Edit the ImpExConfig.php file, you'll need to enter the database information for the database you wish to import to, and import from.
5. Upload the ImpEx files to your server in the same folder as your vBulletin file(s).

ImpEx passcode
Since ImpEx is no longer distrubuted though the vBulletin build servers, a passcode feature has been added. This allows you to secure your installation. We highly recommend you set a good and secure password. This will be the password you use to get into the impex system.

By default it is set to

596d0eb1300aaec1100f204633013782

Bugs
I would appreciate bugs being reported here: https://github.com/vBZachery/vbimpex/issues
However bugs and feedback can also be reported in this thread.


License
Copyright (c) 2014, Internet Brands, Inc.
All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.

2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

3. Neither the name of the copyright holder nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.


Closing thoughts
I'd just like to give a big thanks to Jeremy Hutchings, who was the original creator of ImpEx, as well as Freddie Bingham who continued to maintain ImpEx when he could after Jerry. Also thanks to Kevin Sours for getting the repository initially hosted on GitHub so we can continue to do keep it alive.

[Ds3Sport]

There is still an issue with impex when importing any phpbb forum of 3.1.x or higher.

Unlike phpbb 3.0 version 3.1 has an extra table that stores the user post count and I think the date. This is not supported in the last version of impex and so when you import a phpbb 3.1 forum it will "appear" to come across ok but when you check you will see all user post counts are set to zero and the last post appears as 1970!

Also attachments again "appear" to migrate but they don't show up in VBulletin, just the bbcode placeholder.

These are major problems for those of us with phpbb 3.1 forums. I have over 10,000 members on mine. I can't have a situation where all the above are not working. Just a shame that when I asked about the migration in the pre-sales on vbulletin.com I was not told about this. They said it would be fine when they must have known it would not be?

Anyway if anyone has a solution to these issues I would be very happy to hear about them.

[Paul M]

Originally Posted by Ds3Sport

They said it would be fine when they must have known it would not be?.

Why would they "must have known it would not be" ?

Impex is not an official vb product, and hasnt been for a few years.

Even if it were, no one is likely to know every single issue, with every single version of importer.

[Ds3Sport]

Why would they?

Because it is their job to advise potential customers. That is what the pre-sales forum is for. We ask questions and hopefully get an honest answer. If they didn't know they should have said so. Not yes it will be fine. How do they know it will be fine? It clearly isn't and never can be because impex does not support versions of phpbb higher than 3.0.x

If the team at VB can't write their own importer then just tell people honestly that their is a third party importer but it has not been updated for years and may not work and you can't help with any problems that arise as a result of using it. Advise people to do a lot of research before going ahead and buying a VB license.

Right now I am left with a useless bit of software and ?234 less in my bank account and so far no help at all from VB or the VB community.

[Paul M]

Sales are not technical advisors.
They certainly should have mentioned that Impex isnt a vB product.

Attacking the sales team isnt going help.
"the community" are not a 24 x 7, know everything, support team.
If no one is answering you then that probably means no one knows the answer.

[Ds3Sport]

"Sales" should know the product inside out. If they can't comment on technical issues potential customers are asking about then they should go find a different occupation.

What is the point of a pre-sales forum if they cannot answer questions about whether the product will work or not?

[MarkFL]

Originally Posted by Ds3Sport

"Sales" should know the product inside out. If they can't comment on technical issues potential customers are asking about then they should go find a different occupation.

What is the point of a pre-sales forum if they cannot answer questions about whether the product will work or not?

Knowing what an add-on product to vBulletin is capable of doing (or not) doesn't really fall under knowing vBulletin itself, at least in my opinion.

I can certainly appreciate that you are in a frustrating position now, and I am sorry to hear of it, but the onus is ultimately on the buyer to ensure that there are solutions already in place capable of handling all of the expected issues. Even then, it's not a guarantee that there will be nothing but smooth sailing, but that's true of any software.

There are likely relatively few people here who have followed the migration path from phpBB 3.1.x to vB, and so a solution may be a while in coming. However, most folks here are genuinely helpful, and so if someone who has successfully navigated that migration path comes along, chances are good that they will share some help to get you going.

[Paul M]

Originally Posted by Ds3Sport

"Sales" should know the product inside out.

Impex isnt a vBulletin product, as you have already been told.

Originally Posted by Ds3Sport

If they can't comment on technical issues potential customers are asking about then they should go find a different occupation.

Sales people are rarely technical, if they were, they would likely not be in sales.
No one can fully know a complex product "inside out".
I probably know more about vbulletin than 99% of people, but I dont know everything about it.

[Ds3Sport]

Fair enough. Would anyone then be able to tell me where in the VB database I can edit things like Last Post and user post count manually? At the moment I can see there is no solution to the import thing but if I can at least get the 'last post' and some of the main users posts counts sorted that would at least enable me to move to VB and then take care of any other issues over time.

[Maximux]

works on vb version 4.2.4? One vb 4.2.2 I want to move 4.2.4. But inter serverr error

[Ds3Sport]

Originally Posted by Maximux

works on vb version 4.2.4? One vb 4.2.2 I want to move 4.2.4. But inter serverr error

Depends on which phpbb version you are trying to import. Needs to be 3.0 I think for it to work properly. 3.1 and 3.2 will import but most of the useful stuff will be missing. No attachments and all post counts set to zero might be ok for a very small forum but no way it would work for mine. I have over 10,000 members and 60,000 posts to move.