XF to VB5 Connect

[ibaker]

Can anyone say for absolute surety that there will be an importer of XF to vb5 Connect as I need to make some important decisions like invest money in getting some XF mods done or wait for vb5 with the view of migrating across...thanks

[beishe8]

Can anyone say for absolute surety that there will be an importer of XF to vb5 Connect

I would not put a bet on it.

[George L]

Unfortunately, there's is no public info available regarding what forum software importers are supported for initial release of vB5 Connect.

[ibaker]

Thanks...unfortunately it looks like I may have to either stay and invest in XF or go to IPB (I have given up trying to get Impex XF converter over at .org to work)

[Fready]

Well they should put this on the top of the list for vb5, if they want to sell more and do more damage to xenforo this would be the trick to do it.

[Alfa1]

As IB's efforts have successfully paralyzed XenForo it would be an incredibly stupid business decision not to offer an importer from XenForo to vb connect. I have read that impex is being rewritten for vb connect. If staff does not say anything about a XenForo importer, then I would open a support ticket to ask. Unless developers say so, I would certainly not draw the conclusion that such importer will not be released.

[Hartmut]

Can anyone say for absolute surety that there will be an importer of XF to vb5 Connect as I need to make some important decisions like invest money in getting some XF mods done or wait for vb5 with the view of migrating across...thanks

Even if there will not be a script for importing at the beginning I'm pretty sure that there will be some script to be found on vbulletin.org soon after vB5 has been released. But that's just my personal opinion as there are no official news concerning this topic.

[Fready]

Well IB is missing a huge opportunity, xenforo is sinking fast, their members and customers will be jumping ship soon, IB should have this importer ready when vb5 comes out, I think this should be passed on to the top dogs of IB as they don't seem to be getting it at all.

[Mark.B]

Well IB is missing a huge opportunity, xenforo is sinking fast, their members and customers will be jumping ship soon, IB should have this importer ready when vb5 comes out, I think this should be passed on to the top dogs of IB as they don't seem to be getting it at all.

It's all going to depend on demand. Will there *really* be huge volumes of XenForo customers rushing back to vBulletin? Given the almost religious nature of the feelings of many people, I suspect a large number of them would go somewhere else rather than back to vB.

[Hartmut]

Besides that fact, that there already is a XF -> vB4 import script and a XF -> vB5 might follow, this it all about speculation and time will tell.

[Alfa1]

In that case you can simply convert from XF to vb4 and then upgrade to vb5.

[ibaker]

I can say after several days of attempting to convert my 7,000+ member, 30,000 threads, 200,000 posts, 15,000 attachments XF site over to vb4 using the converter on vb.org and like others failing with errors every time, there currently isn't a XF to vb converter.

I have offered (by way of PM) to pay to get it working properly, passwords are not converted along with other XF components like in-line videos etc but no responses. One method, which has been done before, is to convert to IPB first, which maintains passwords etc and then to VB but to go that route, and in buying an IPB license to do it, one would most likely just stop at IPB and use that with all its advantages which is a very strong answer for me now.

XF is/was a great product if you want a forum only, think and talk like a developer and can handle total silence from management except for the odd airy fairy statement once in a blue moon ensuring that you have no idea if there is anything to look forward to, look forward to at all. But having said that, VB have hurt a lot of people, me and my site users included with vb4 and that is very hard to forget and no doubt will be remembered by so many for so long requiring vb to make amends with its customer base by going out of their way to rebuild brand loyalty but to push them away, even if it is a small number, again raises the question if a leopard can change its spots?

We all know that 1 happy customer can get you 10 more customers and 1 unhappy customer can stop you getting 10, 10 that you don't know that you have lost unlike the 10 new ones that you know you get. The more users out there that go to a vb site instead of say an XF or IPB one, generates new vb customers when one of those users creates their own site and chooses the software that they are familiar with.

I have some time ago supported a request in Jira (http://tracker.vbulletin.com/browse/IMPX-396) for an XF converter but nothing has come of it

[AlexanderT]

Offering an official XF->vB5 importer would seem like a very wise move, given the history of all of this etc. Kinda like reversing the bad old times.

[Ramsesx]

What did we learn from it? Don't change your forum software like your pants.

[Mark.B]

What did we learn from it? Don't change your forum software like your pants.

Spot on. A lesson many could learn.

I've changed software once, in 2003. XMB to vBulletin 2.
I'll never forget the moment, we felt like a PROPER forum at last.

But I'll never forget XMB either. I learned very basic PHP skills on there. (Some would say I haven't advanced those skills since then, LOL).

Shame XMB has been abandoned. It could still have been ok if it had received active development over the years. It hasn't really moved on much since I used it (although they do have a Quick Reply box nowadays).