Note:
Installing ImpEx in vBulletin requires the impex/ directory to be installed in the same directory as the admincp (i.e., your main forum directory) and the file cpnav_impex.xml (which can be found in upload/includes/xml) to be placed in the includes/xml directory. This because the admincp is generated from XML and needs the ImpEx XML to display the import option.
Although there are several methods available to transfer the ImpEx files from your computer to your web server, by far the most common method in use is transfer via FTP. Most operating systems have built-in tools for opening FTP connections although they are often limited in their usefulness and many people opt to use a third party FTP client application.
The easiest way to transfer the files is to upload the entire upload/ folder to the server. Using an FTP client we do this by selecting or dragging the upload folder from its location on your computer's hard disk to the web publishing folder on the server. If the transfer doesn't automaticly start, click on the button.
Note:
Only upload the folders in the impex/systems folder that you need, i.e. the system you are importing from. If you upload all of them, delete the ones you are not going to use/
- All text files to be transferred in ASCII mode
All files containing plain text from the vBulletin package should be transferred in ASCII mode.
Text file types you will find in vBulletin/ImpEx are: .html, .php, .js, .xml, .css. - All non-text files to be transferred in Binary mode
The remaining files, which are mostly images, should be transferred to your web server in Binary mode.
Binary file types used in vBulletin/ImpEx include: .gif, .png, .jpg, .ico.
Note:
The web publishing folder is usually called public_html, www or htdocs and is located within your home directory. If you are unsure of where to find your own web publishing folder, your host will be able to help you. Upload the ImpEx folder inside the installed vBulletin version 3 folder. Like public_html/forum/impex/
Once you have uploaded the whole impex/ directory, copy the cpnav_impex.xml file found in upload/impex/ to the includes/xml directory on your server.
If all has gone well, you are now ready to run the impex import script to prepare your third party forum software database import to vBulletin version 3.5.
Warning:
Before you do anything! Always make a 100% backup of your web files and database(s) to ensure you can revert to previous working version.