WebBBS to vBulletin 2.2.x Conversion Script

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.

[dustyb]

Originally Posted by tgmorris

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]

Originally Posted by tgmorris

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]

Originally Posted by woodp

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]

Originally Posted by 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?

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!

Originally Posted by Paul

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