How to move a forum when host refuses database?

carsten88888 · Post by **carsten88888** » Tue Dec 30, 2014 7:57 am

We've had a lovely hobby forum for years, but now we are ready to move our free-hosted forum to our own website. But the host of the free forum does not want to give us, or sell us, the database. We are willing to pay for our own content, but as we can not buy it, we feel like our content is taken hostage.

We managed to download the forum as html pages. So far I have not found a script that can import from html, so I'm stuck there.

Are there other options to import-export when the host is unwilling to cooparate?

Oyabun1 · Post by **Oyabun1** » Tue Dec 30, 2014 8:49 am

Since the database contains the data which is the forums. topics, posts, users, permissions and other settings without it you don't have much. There is a [CONVERT] Crawler Converters (Forumer, ZetaBoards, etc.), but it requires an old version of Python and hasn't been updated for some years.

carsten88888 · Post by **carsten88888** » Thu Jan 01, 2015 10:40 am

Thank you for the reply. Unfortunately I have no idea where to start with that python thing.

In the admin of the forum I can make a widget. Can I paste a code to make a backup?

RMcGirr83 · Post by **RMcGirr83** » Thu Jan 01, 2015 12:26 pm

Do you know the database credentials or have access to the config.php file of the forum?

carsten88888 · Post by **carsten88888** » Thu Jan 01, 2015 1:11 pm

RMcGirr83 wrote:Do you know the database credentials or have access to the config.php file of the forum?

no I'm just administrator on a forum hosted with software from forumotion.com. So I can't upload any phpbb extensions or see db stuff.

RMcGirr83 · Post by **RMcGirr83** » Thu Jan 01, 2015 2:25 pm

Then you are, pardon, screwed.

mrgtb · Post by **mrgtb** » Thu Jan 01, 2015 2:35 pm

RMcGirr83 wrote:Then you are, pardon, screwed.

With free forums like ProBoards and the one he mentioned. You are pretty much stuffed, that is how they operate letting you run a free forum but with no way of getting the database later from them if you want to go host your own site for it

david63 · Post by **david63** » Thu Jan 01, 2015 2:41 pm

Does the free host in question have paid for service? If they do then that might be route to pursue - pay for hosting, get the database and then move somewhere else.

carsten88888 · Post by **carsten88888** » Thu Jan 01, 2015 2:53 pm

Yes, I think we are.

We've downloaded the whole forum as html pages, so I hope I can find a script to transfer that into a database.

Our forum is hosted at actieforum.com (dutch language sorry). As far as I can see there is no way to upgrade. Someone also emailed about buying the database, but they would not sell us the content. The backend help links to forumotion.com, so I assume its their software version op phpbb.

mrgtb · Post by **mrgtb** » Thu Jan 01, 2015 2:59 pm

carsten88888 wrote:Yes, I think we are.

We've downloaded the whole forum as html pages, so I hope I can find a script to transfer that into a database.

Our forum is hosted at actieforum.com (dutch language sorry). As far as I can see there is no way to upgrade. Someone also emailed about buying the database, but they would not sell us the content. The backend help links to forumotion.com, so I assume its their software version op phpbb.

They make money from ads displayed in your content and why they won't sell you the database most likely.

There have been some scripts knocking around in past that could scape your content but they don't allow that and those type of scripts are usually old and don't work anymore. There used to be one for doing it with ProBoards sites, or so I read another person say.

Only thing to do is copy and paste all content adding member accounts you create (same names) on new forum and then invite all members later from the free forum to go join new one and reset their password given having same content copied to them from free forum

david63 · Post by **david63** » Thu Jan 01, 2015 3:17 pm

Having just been reading their site two things attracted my attention.

The first is that according to their terms of service they do have some paid for services (although I could not see any mention of what they were.

The second is that they offer an import service for existing boards. This is not something that I have any experience with so I really cannot say how it works. But if they off such a service then it is possible that others do as well, so if you could find a suitable host that would import your forum from then they might be more amenable to letting you have the db.

mrgtb · Post by **mrgtb** » Thu Jan 01, 2015 3:37 pm

david63 wrote:The second is that they offer an import service for existing boards.

Read that also but there is no mention of being able to export your database. They also fail to mention in TOC anything about them not offering the database export option.

Lumpy Burgertushie · Post by **Lumpy Burgertushie** » Thu Jan 01, 2015 4:44 pm

If you do not know how to use the convertor, see if you can get someone to do the convertor for you.

robert

mrgtb · Post by **mrgtb** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 1:39 pm

I found this here, it's very old topic but has a download attached to it for forummotion.

viewtopic.php?f=65&t=861505

carsten88888 · Post by **carsten88888** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 1:54 pm

yeah. I'm on the case.

viewtopic.php?f=65&t=861505&p=13874301#p13874301