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SMF to WP Forum (buddypress/bbpress) WordPress

Configuration:
▪ WP 3.0
▪ BuddyPress 1.2.4
▪ SMF Buddypress 0.9.7
▪ MAMP Pro 1.9.x

Steps Taken:
1. Installed WP on local machine using Theme BuddyPress Default 1.2.4

2. Installed & activated BuddyPress 1.2.4

3. Exported SMF data tables from SMF 1.1.x setup

4. Created new database smf

5. Imported tables from SMF into local database

6. Gave user with access to WP database full control of SMF database

7. Installed & activated buddypress-smf-import 0.9.7

8. From BuddyPress tab on left rail of admin section, SMF Import now shows up

9. Go to SMF Import tab

10. Supply plugin with credentials to SMF database

11. Import script begins to run. Problems occurs at step 12 in the import
<blockquote>
Importing tags...
Unable to retrieve tag data from database, skipping tags!
SELECT ID_TAG, tag, approved FROM smf_tags
Table 'smf.smf_tags' doesn't exist Done importing!
Skipped 445 topics and 2236 posts due to missing users, boards or topics. Now go here and upgrade the database!
</blockquote>

12. Question 1 - is it an issue that .smf_tags table doesn't show up? I do not have this table within my SMF install and assume it is an add on module that we never included

13. Question 2 - Skipping 445 topics and 2236 posts, is it safe to assume that this is because users who were deleted or deactivated still have their activity within the forum maintained but during the import these are ignored? Thus I am fine with not importing 445 topics and 2236 posts if these are spam users or users that for one reason or another were kicked off the forum. So how do I know find this out? Query database for posts with no name and then review the contents to verify it is junk?

14. With the two above questions unanswered I click on here to begin the next step.

15. Taken to the URL http://localhost/wp-content/plugins/buddypress-smf-import/bbpress/bb-admin/install.php

16. Click on button labeled Go to Step 1

17. Step 1 - Database Configuration

18. Yellow box with the following message appears:
<blockquote>
A valid configuration file was found at bb-config.php
You may continue to the next step.
</blockquote>

19. Click on button labeled Go to Step 2

20. Message box indicates
<blockquote>
bbPress can integrate login and user data seamlessly with WordPress. You can safely skip this step if you do not wish to integrate with an existing WordPress install.
</blockquote>

21. Question 3 - Being that I do not want users to login to different sections of the site and more importantly I want to merge the existing users from SMF into WordPress I proceed with WordPress and BBpress integration options. Is that correct?

22. Check Box - Add integration settings

23. Check Box - Add cookie integration setting
▪ WordPress address (URL): http://localhost
▪ Blog address (URL): http://localhost
▪ All of the remaining items come from the wp-config.php file.

24. Under the section Show Advanced Database Settings - I set this up to point to the WP database and NOT the SMF. Question 4 - My assumption is that I don't have to use the SMF database any longer even though for some reason I don't see any of the users from SMF in wp_users. Needless to say this is a point of concern.

25. I leave the options in Custom user tables empty as the installation is what I believe to be vanilla

26. I click button labeled Save WordPress Integration Settings

27. Yellow text box comes up with the following message
<blockquote>
Your WordPress integration cookie and database settings have been successfully validated. They will be saved after the next step.
Once you have finished installing, you should visit the WordPress integration section of the bbPress admin area for further options and integration instructions, including user mapping and the correct cookie settings to add to your WordPress configuration file.
</blockquote>

28. Click button labeled Go to Step 3

29. I am now on the section labeled Site Settings

30. Prompted with a textbox labeled Site Name. Question 5 - I do not want to create a different site. My assumption is that I can call this whatever. For these purposes I enter TEST SMF

31. Prompted with a textbox labeled Site Address URL and it is pre-filled out withhttp://localhost/wp-content/plugins/buddypress-smf-import/bbpress/ - clearly this is not correct, or at least correct being where I want users to visit. Question 6 - Do I change this? For these purposes I changed the URL to http://localhost

32. KeyMaster drop down I selected Admin

33. Click on button entitled Save Site Settings

34. Prompted with yellow text box with the text:
<blockquote>
Your site settings have been saved and we are now ready to complete the installation. So what are you waiting for?
</blockquote>

35. Click button labeled Complete the Installation

36. Red text box with the following text returns
<blockquote>
Your installation completed with some minor errors. See the error log below for more specific information.
</blockquote>

37. Click on checkbox labeled Show installation messages

Question 6 - Where do I manually define these elements? Is this causing an issue?
38. Under section labeled Installation Errors the following text is in red:
<blockquote>
>>> WordPress "auth" cookie salt not set.
>>>>>> Could not fetch "auth" cookie salt from the WordPress options table.
>>>>>> You will need to manually define the "auth" cookie salt in your database.
>>> WordPress "logged in" cookie salt not set.
>>>>>> Could not fetch "logged in" cookie salt from the WordPress options table.
>>>>>> You will need to manually define the "logged in" cookie salt in your database.
Forum could not be created!
</blockquote>

39. Under the section labeled Installation Log I get the following error message:
<blockquote>
Referrer is OK, beginning installation… >>> Setting up custom user table constants

Step 1 - Creating database tables >>> Database is already installed!!!

Step 2 - WordPress integration (optional) >>>
WordPress address (URL): http://localhost/ >>>
Blog address (URL): http://localhost/ >>>
WordPress cookie keys set. >>>
WordPress "auth" cookie salt set from input. >>>
WordPress "secure auth" cookie salt set from input. >>>
WordPress "logged in" cookie salt set from input. >>>
Fetching missing WordPress cookie salts. >>>>>>
WordPress "auth" cookie salt not set. >>>>>>
WordPress "secure auth" cookie salt not set. >>>>>>
WordPress "logged in" cookie salt not set. >>>
User database table prefix: wp_ >>>
User database name: wp >>>
User database user: root >>>
User database password: root >>>
User database host: localhost >>>
User database character set: utf8 >>>
User database collation: general_ci

Step 3 - Site settings >>>
Site name: Test SMF >>>
Site address (URL): http://localhost/ >>>
From email address: [email protected] >>>
Key master role assigned to existing user >>>>>>
Username: admin >>>>>>
Email address: [email protected] >>>>>>
Password: Your existing password >>>
Description: Just another bbPress community >>>
Forum could not be created! >>>
Key master email sent

There were some errors encountered during installation!
</blockquote>

40. Question 7 - Everything looks OK to me but the message Forum could not be created. What else is in this text box is of concern?

41. Lastly, I do indeed to get an email with the following content
<blockquote>
Your new bbPress site has been successfully set up at:
You can log in to the key master account with the following information:
Username: admin Password: Your existing password
We hope you enjoy your new forums. Thanks!
--The bbPress Team
</blockquote>

42. Question 8 - Is it odd that there is no URL listed under successfully set up at?

Net results:
▪ I can install & activate plugins with no problem
▪ Connect to SMF database to migrate over contents, some posts and topics fail to come over but I do not know if this is working as it should
▪ I believe I am getting through the bbpress setup correctly but at the end I prompted with the message that the forum failed to be created
▪ Looking in the database I don't see that any of the posts, forum content, users, etc from SMF were migrated over
▪ Looking at the frontend I don't see any of the content populating the site

2011-11-17 by pkennard

Answers (1)

2011-11-18

Francisco Javier Carazo Gil answers:

Hi Pkennard,

Well, my question is, why have you import SMF into BuddyPress? Some days ago, bbPress become a WordPress plugin.

I recommend you to:
1. Install WP
2. Install bbPress as a plugin (bbPress 2.x is a plugin)
3. Migrate SMF to bbPress (both are forums)
4. Make social with BuddyPress

The users are the same, in wp_users, and there are more documentation about importing SMF into bbPress.

I will study more about it and I will tell you.

Francisco Javier Carazo Gil comments:

Hi Pkennard,

It seems that it is necessary passign through phpBB format to achieve a succesful migration.

1. Install bbPress into WordPress 2.7.1
2. Install the latest phpBB with the necessary converter to move my existing members and posts to bbPress.
3. Install Jaim’s phpBB to bbPress converter. Yoy may had to change bb_users to wp_users, and delete the first user and forum from the SQL because there are already a first user and forum in bbPress.
4. Remove the topic_resolved key option.
5. Copy and paste from bbPress into this tool to generate topic and username slugs.
6. Finally, import the SQL into your database.

Consider that bbPress 2.0 is a plugin and forums are inserted into wp_posts as a differents post type.

Nowadays, it is easier to all this with bbPress 1.1 (the latest stand-alone version).