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Ever wanted to port your WP-Forum database to SimplePress? Well life just got a lot easier for you. The instructions I’m going to be giving you will teach you how to convert your current WP-Forum database to work with SimplePress forums with no data loss. This tutorial will work with WP-Forum versions 2.2 and 2.3. Lets get started!

First things first, you will need to grab yourself a copy of wpforum-to-sf-converter, SPF v3.0 and SPF v4.04. Please click on the the appropriate link below to grab the files that are required to port your WP-Forum database to SimplePress Forums.

1. wpforum-to-sf-converter rar-archive or zip-archive.

2. SPF Version 3.0 and SPF Version 4.04

Note: You will not need the 4.04 patch files because you are going to be upgrading to version 4.04 from version 3.0

Note: For those that just want to convert their forum over but do not want to read the DYI version here are the updated files. After you download them please read the instructions contained in the read-me file. Wp-forum-conversion-files zip-archive and rar-archive. Have fun!

You will not need an extensive knowledge of PHP or MySQL databases to perform the tasks outlined in this tutorial
If you haven’t done so already, please unpack the SPF Version 3.0 archive to your desktop. Once you do so you will see a folder called Simple_Forum. we will be editing two files from this archive. The first one is called “SF-Control.php” which is located in the simple_forum root directory and the other one is called sf_admintoolbox.php. This file is located in the Admin subdirectory.
Before editing any files ensure that you have created backups and have stored them in a separate location so you do not accidentally overwrite them. If something should go wrong you will be glad that you created these back up files.

Step 1: Editing sf-control.php (located in the root simple_forum directory)

Open the file called sf-control.php in your favorite text editor (ie… NotePad, WordPad, txtPro). If you are using a text editor that does not number lines you will have to perform a search for the following lines so you can edit them.

Search: $checkfile or if you have numbered lines please go to line: 467. We are now going to change the URL to match the current location of this file. So where you see:

”$checkfile = “http://www.stuff.yellowswordfish.com/downloads/forum/version.chk”;” replace the URL link with ”http://simplepressforum.com//downloads/ForumVersion.chk” after you do this save the file. Depending on the text editor you are using you will need to just hit save and not save as.

Make sure that you have a backup copy of the original file and that it is stored in a separate location than the file you you just edited

Step 2: Editing sf-admintoolbox.php (located in the “Admin” sub directory of your simple_forum directory)

Open the file called sf-admintoolbox.php in your text editor. Remember that if you do not have a text editor capable of showing line numbers you will need to perform a search for the code that needs to be changed.

Search: $checkfile or if you have numbered lines please go to line: 089. We are now going to change the URL to match the current location of this file. So where you see:

”$checkfile = “http://www.stuff.yellowswordfish.com/downloads/forum/version.chk”;” replace the URL link with ”http://simplepressforum.com//downloads/ForumVersion.chk” after you do this save the file. Depending on the text editor you are using you will need to just hit save and not save as.

Make sure that you have a backup copy of the original file and that it is stored in a separate location than the file you you just edited

step 3: Upload SPF Version 3.0 to your web server via your favorite FTP software.

Simply upload the “simple_forum” folder to the WP-content/plugins directory.

Do not activate this plugin just yet. There are still a few more things that you need to do prior to activating this plugin.

Step 4: Editing wpforum-to-sf-converter.php

Open the file called wpforum-to-sf-converter.php in your text editor. Remember that if you do not have a text editor capable of showing line numbers you will need to perform a search for the code that needs to be changed.

Search: $fid[$topic->thread_id] or if you have numbered lines please go to line: 104. We are going to change thread_id to parent_id.

Next

Search: $tid[$post->thread_id]. or if you have numbered lines please go to lines: 122 and 123. We are going to change thread_id to parent_id on lines 122 and 123.

Make sure that you have a backup copy of the original file and that it is stored in a separate location than the file you you just edited

Step 5: Upload wpforum-to-sf-converter.php to your web server via your favorite FTP software.

Simply upload the “wpforum-to-sf-converter.php” to the WP-content/plugins directory.

We are about to activate both plugins. Make sure that you have properly stored all of your back files and that you have edited the above mentioned files correctly.
At no time during this conversion process will your WP-Forum Database be harmed in anyway. All this is doing is copying the database and converting it to match the database requirements used by SimplePress.

Step 6: Activating the required plugins, installing SimpleForum and converting WP-Forum

Go to your WordPress control center, click on plugins and then activate the SimplePress plug in and then click on Install. After SimplePress has finished its install process please activate the wpforum-to-sf-converter plugin. Next click on Convert.

Your forum will be created but there may be a few errors such as not having the right permissions to access the admin stuff. This is not a big deal as you are going to de-activate the SimplePress plugin in a few seconds anyway. I would not even bother looking at the new SimplePress forum that was created because you will no doubt see that a few items don’t look like they have been written to the new database. Don’t freak. It all works out in the end!

Step 7: Upgrading SimplePress

>Deactivate your current simple-press plugin.
Delete the simple-forum folder that is currently on your desktop, providing that you have backed up the files that you altered to a separate location. If you have not created back-ups of the following files do so now (wpforum-to-sf-converter, sf-control.php, sf-admintoolbox.php and SPF Version 3.0 parent folder) remember to store these in a separate location (It’s best to create a new folder and title it something like: “spf_v3.0_backups”) or you can just rename the simple-forum folder to simple-forum-v3, it’s your choice. Once this is accomplished extract the SPF-V404-MINIMAL archive to your desktop.

Step 8: Overwriting SPF-V3.0 root folder with SPF-V4.04 folder

Upload the new SPF-V4.04 folder to your wp-content/plugins directory. You will be asked if you want to overwrite the current simple-forum folder. Click YES to all. Once this process is completed you need to go to your WP-Admin control panel.

Step 9: Upgrading from Version 3.0 to Version 4.04

Click on your plugin menu, find the simple press plug in and activate it. You should be prompted to upgrade to v4.04. Click on upgrade and let the plugin work its magic. When all is said and done may visit your forum and verify that everything was transferred over to your new SimplePress powered forum.

If you are experiencing any problems converting your wp-forum to SPF please contact David Polensky by sending a PM from the SimplePress support forum

Article written by steve on January 23, 2010 and last modified by Kai on October 18, 2011