Converting to vb and changing charset - doable?

[Charls80]

Hey guys,
I am finally switching to vb after working with phpbb for 4 years.

some info about my forum:

charset: windows-1256
140+k posts and 11K users
Mods: shoutbox, gallery, post report, moderator CP, user spam mod, "cant post new thread after x amount of post" mod, session mod, etc.

Questions before converting:

1)The coding of the forum. I like to have my forum in utf-8 not windows-1256. so is it possible to convert the users and post from windows-1256 charset (my old phpbb forum) to utf-8 (vb) with impEx and not have any user login problem?

In myphpadmin the forum db is set to latin1_swedish_ci and the users are shown in wierd characters (ex. ÌãäÇäÌ which is definitely not the way the user is shown in the forum)

or is this even nessesery to have utf-8 as my charset? because i can just change the coding of vb to 1256 and not go through the proccess of changing the db to utf-8

what is the advantage of having utf-8 rather than other charsets. Arabic, Hebrew, Farsi, Ordu forums are all trying to switch to utf-8. my forum was running fine under windows-1256 charset.

2) similar mods. now after some researching, i see all the mods that i have on my phpbb are available in vb. Except i couldnt find a mod that prevent new registered users to create a thread. that is very important for me because people post topics that are similar to others and i have to keep merging/deleting them. I like to set it up so that they should have an x amount of posts before they can make a thread.

3) making it RTL. I find my answer but i like to have it all cleared out before purchasing.
-The right-to-left option can be easily done through the admin cp.
-The changing of the language can be done in the language xml file or through replacing phrases.
-is there anything else that needs to be modified?

Thanks,

[Steve Machol]

1. I do not know the answer to this but I have asked the other support staff to take a look.

2. You can stop newly registered users from creating new threads with the built-in Usergroup permissions system. No mod is required.

3. Yes, this can all be done on the Admin CP. Here is the documentation:

http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/languages_and_phrases

[Charls80]

Thanks Steve.
one of the reason im switching is because to get what i wanted in phpbb i had to put alot of mods and with vb alot of them are already built-in.
Im gonna wait to hear from you about the windows-1256 -> utf-8
thats like my main issue. if its not doable i might just go with the old coding (which i heard is not the right way to go)

[Charls80]

I think i found a solution. there is a program that one of its features is converting .sql files to utf-8. Its called EmEditor (http://www.emeditor.com/). So with this i can convert my windows-1256 .sql file to utf-8 and then import it and use that as my db for ImpEx.

any comment on that before i purchase vb and try this?

[Milado]

Just make a move into vBulletin, and then use vCharset Converter (http://www.vcharset.com/) to convert from windows-1256 to utf-8

advantage of having utf-8 rather than other charsets
AJAXy features will work smoothly.

[Charls80]

I just spend days replacing phrases in language file with utf8 data! and now im hearing about vCharset Converter (http://www.vcharset.com/)! does this really work? if it does i have to do the language file ALLLLOVERR AGAIN!!!

does vCharset Converter (http://www.vcharset.com/) works with the latest version of vB?

and also EmEditor (http://www.emeditor.com/) works as far as converting db but its little strange.
any other suggestion on how to convert my windows-1256 db to utf-8

[Milado]

Yes, it really works, but it's still in beta stage.
Yes it works with the latest vB3.6.7

I don't know anything about EmEditor.
I suggest you convert to vBulletin, and run the forum till vCharset goes Gold, and then convert to UTF-8

[Charls80]

so do i need to write the lang file again?
now if i install this beta version, what should i do when the official release come out? and do you know when is it coming out?

more questions:
what collation should i set/change for my vB database now?
right now it is set to utf8

also what about my restored phpbb data base...
should i let it go to its default? (latin1_swedish_ci)

-thanks

[Milado]

so do i need to write the lang file again?
No! It's better to translate it in the admincp.
Convert to vBulletin, and then translate it in the admincp

now if i install this beta version, what should i do when the official release come out? and do you know when is it coming out?
vCharset is for one usage, you use it to convert and then there is no need to have it anymore.

what collation should i set/change for my vB database now?
right now it is set to utf8
This must the same as your HTML charset, so if your current HTML charset it windows-1256, it's better to have the same for the database collation.

When you convert to UTF-8, vCC will automatically convert charset to utf8.

also what about my restored phpbb data base...
should i let it go to its default? (latin1_swedish_ci)

Never mind

[Charls80]

and i should put the comment back in code below right?

config.php
// $config['Mysqli']['charset'] = 'utf8';

[Milado]

Yes, while you don't use UTF-8, then comment that line.

Even if you convet to UTF-8 later, you may don't need to uncomment that line, this depends on your MySQL server settings, particularly server_charset.

[Charls80]

I didnt realize i havent mentioned that ive already purchased vBulletin. its been couple weeks now and i also installed a style and did the whole phrase management thing for my language. Ive done these on a utf8 database and utf8 lang xml file

I thought the EmEditor is going to solve my issue but it didnt quit work as i thought it would.
This is where i am now.
so please see if i understand this correctly.

1.I change the database charset of my currently installed vB
2.I create a new language charset and set the charset to windows-1256
3.Do the whole phrase management again! (Painful!!!)
4.Import the restored phpbb database
5.check the forum. See everything is fine.
6.Then use the vCharset to change everything
and then my forum is utf8 ready to go.

thank you so much for the quick responses

[Milado]

My order will be like this:

1) Restore the PHPBB database without changing anything.
2) Convert to vBulletin.
3) Translate your languages into Arabic, via admincp. using the charset windows-1256.
4) When you done and everything seems to be OK, just wait for better vCharset Converter to use it to convert your database.

Make sure to stabilize your vB installation first, after that convert to utf-8, of course make yourself familiar with vB languages management, there are far differents between PHPBB and vB, for example: phrases in vB are stored in the database rather than in a file like phpbb does.

[Charls80]

I have one problem now. my vbulletin database is filled with imported data that i cant get rid off (or i dont know how to get rid off)

I did a test import 2 days ago. I imported form a database that EmEditor converted to utf8. It didnt work. So i have 11k users transfered durign the test and 160k posts with strange characters. I tried to delete them throu import page (Database cleanup & restart) but there are still there.

now i know when you import the second time those will be cleared but i have to change my db collation from utf-8 to my phpbb's charset. what mysql command i can use to change all the tables charset to something like latin1_swedish_ci? (http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/alter-database.html)

and Milado when do you think your vCharset will come out of beta mode?

[Steve Machol]

Wrong forum. To get vB support on these forums you first need to be a licensed customer and register for Priority Forum Support. To do this, please go here:

http://members.vbulletin.com/membersupport_priority.php

...and enter your email address in one of the boxes. You'll need to have your customer number and password to access the page.

Once you've done this, please post in the appropriate support forum for your version.

[Charls80]

Sorry for this,
I hadnt purchased vB when Id started this topic. But later when i kinda got my answer i went ahead and purchased the product. but since then the discussion was going on as im still trying to import my forum the right way.