Possibly a 'Dumb' Question

[The_Big_K]

Okay, I'll go ahead & put this question. Don't think I'm dumb (I'm seriously thinking about buying VBulletin :) )

I currently run PhpBB 2.0.18 at say http://forum.somedomain.com . Now I want to replace PhpBB with VBulletin. As I learn from the various posts that you can use ImpEx once VBulletin is installed. How can I install VBulletin software on existing PhpBB directory :confused: ?? Will it not corrupt my existing installation?

Also after successfull installation, can I 'move' forums (along with its contents) to various sub-forums of VBulletin?

I hope I've put my question correctly. If not, let me know :).

THe Big K

[Onimua]

You cna place vBulletin in another directory, port the information over, delete the phpBB installation, and then move vBulletin back into the directory you want.

So yes, you can move your forums.

I am unsure what you mean by this though:
Also after successfull installation, can I 'move' forums (along with its contents) to various sub-forums of VBulletin?

[SpArKs]

Will it not corrupt my existing installation?Remember to backup your forum database in case anything goes wrong.

[feldon23]

Realize that database-driven forum software doesn't really care where it is installed since all the data is in the database. You can set up your vBulletin forum in /forums_vb/ and when you get everything working the way you want, "swap" the directories. You would rename your phpBB forum dir to /forums_old/ and rename your vB forum dir to /forums/ and change a couple of configuration files.

If you want to maintain the same look-and-feel of your forum with vBulletin, you could spend the hours/days to design your forum style in a test copy of vBulletin and then export it as an XML file. Then when you do the actual phpbb->vBulletin import/export and do the switchover, you'd have that style ready-to-go as an XML file.