Hello
I'm after some advice of migrating to a new server.
I'm in the process of designing a new website to replace an existing one. Same domain name, just a fresh new site and new host.
The forums are locked down to members only and on a paid subscription. I don't know how migrating to a new WordPress instance with a new host/new server will work. I've installed wpFORO on the new server and am manually setting up the same sections. I'm sure there is an easier way to do it but I have time and I'm happy to do it that way.
The current forums are not overly busy but all going well we should get very busy after the migration to a new host.
I have the luxury of being able to start over again and manually setup our current paid members for access.
I really want to cover all options and wondered if there was an easy way to migrate the users and content of the current forums to the new?
Additionally I purchased the embeds addon earlier this year but after reverting to a site backup have lost the function.
I did email support but have not received any reply. I need to reinstall the addon on the current forums and new one once we move. I no longer have the zip file that I downloaded. Â
Any advice or tips are greatly appreciated.
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Hi @wppileyrei,
The only way to migrate wpForo without any issue is migrating all wpForo database tables and your WordPress user tables. So in the target WordPress the users tables should be overwritten with old one and make sure the prefixes are the same:
User tables:
- wp_users
- wp_usermeta
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Forum Tables:
 All tables with wp_wpforo_ secondary table prefixes.
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Then you should care about the files. You should move /wp-content/uploads/wpforo/ folder to the same directory of the target WordPress.
Once all is migrated, go to Dashboard >Forums > Dashboard and click the [Delete all caches] button. Then go to Dashboard > Forums >Settings > General Tab make sure the base URL is correct and click the [Update Options] button.
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If you need an advanced service for this migration you can contact to sales[at]gvectors.com email address. They can do this for a few hundreds of dollars.
Thank you Robert for your reply.
Am in two minds to do this or just start fresh again.
@wppileyrei it's super easy to migrate, you just need to overwrite those two databases that Robert mentioned using your host's control panel or MyPHPAdmin (Also available from your host's CP), or ask them to help you migrate the forum. any decent host would help you do it, especially if your forum is small.
Thanks for your comment!
My preference is to migrate the current topics and posts over to the new site.
I don't have control panel or FTP access to my current or new host. Long story.
BUT, I will be able to get it or at least have the files in question moved for me.
I have setup the new forums in the exact same layout as the current.
Do I need to do anything else before I move the files?
The current site uses wpsimplemembership but on the new site I will be using a different plugin (Paid memberships). I'm just wondering how the content will look when copied from old to new if the original posters/members are not yet registered on the new site? Hope that makes sense.
In other words, we are abandoning the old membership database, starting a new one and manually adding back the list of current and active members. My guess is that I should first create the members accounts before migrating the forum contents?
Thank you and apologies for my newb questions.
@wppileyrei honestly the best way to do it is through a plugin if your site is not too big, it can be done very easily, but you mentioned that you are not simply cloning your site, but creating a totally different one, so that is kind of out of the question then.
1-) You will need to move all files in /wp-content/uploads/wpforo/
2-) You will need to move to the new server then import the following tables:
wp_users
wp_usermeta
wp_wpforo_accesses
wp_wpforo_activity
wp_wpforo_attachments
wp_wpforo_forums
wp_wpforo_languages
wp_wpforo_likes
wp_wpforo_phrases
wp_wpforo_pmfolders
wp_wpforo_pms
wp_wpforo_polls
wp_wpforo_posts
wp_wpforo_post_revisions
wp_wpforo_profiles
wp_wpforo_subscribes
wp_wpforo_tags
wp_wpforo_topics
wp_wpforo_usergroups
wp_wpforo_views
wp_wpforo_visits
However, I do have most of the paid add-ons so maybe you will not have some of those tables such as wp_wpforo_polls for example. Also, if you have done any CSS customization to the forum remember you will need to copy and paste those to the new forum as well.
Your host not only needs to move the files and tables over, they need to place the files ( /wp-content/uploads/wpforo/) in the exact same location on the new server and overwrite them if any there already, then they need to import the tables mentioned above into your new installation.
Hope this helps.
Thank you for you help 🙂
