TLO Migration to XenForo

Dr. Bantham

Dr. Bantham

Town Manager
Staff member
After struggling to stabilize TLO with outdated forum software and unsuccessfully upgrade it to a newer version of vBulletin, the agonizing decision to migrate to XenForo was made. Benefits should include stability, speed, improved mobile device access, and ensure future data integrity. The concessions list is daunting, but here are a few points to address out of the gate:
  1. I have imported all data, which includes all core data including members, threads, posts, etc.
  2. You may have to clear your browser cache for everything to work properly, as the site structure and files are entirely new.
  3. If you have forgotten your password, you will likely have to choose the "forgot password" option and create a new one.
  4. Some users had multiple accounts assigned to the same email, with only one account allowed to retain that email. All accounts were maintained in the migration, but those with multiple accounts will have to be addressed individually. This will likely make it impossible to reset your password for your preferred account, but I will address each account in time.
  5. Customized features and related data of the vBulletin site have not been imported.
  6. Though this path has been chosen as a permanent solution, if there are problems with the migration that need to be addressed, the site board will be taken offline to reimport. This would result in an import that would not include data added since the migration, so be warned that if you post new content it has the chance of being lost if we have to resort to reimporting the old site again.
  7. Everything will look different and some things will look wrong (round avatars), but some things can be fixed/improved over time. I am new to XenForo myself, so patience and understanding is appreciated.
  8. Do not hesitate to log in, browse around, and post new data. Please note my warning, however, that if I have to restart the import for any reason that new data will be lost.
I greatly appreciate everyone's patience with this matter. I put off migrating to a new platform given the huge investment of time put into the previous site with custom modifications, but stability and data integrity should prevail. If for some reason the site goes down without a board notice that the forums are offline, we might have another problem to address relative to security. The site was previously being shut down by the HSP for high resource demands, which I suspect was due to outdated software and over zealous web crawlers, but if it happens again there will be additional measures to be implemented.

Please report problems encountered within this thread
 
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Not a complaint, but double checking. I suspect it was inevitable that the links to every past TLO post that we have given out in articles, blogs etc. are now wrong?
 
Nemonymous said:
Not a complaint, but double checking. I suspect it was inevitable that the links to every past TLO post that we have given out in articles, blogs etc. are now wrong?
Click to expand...
This was surprising to me, honestly, and I will be looking into options to convert the links. I encourage everyone to point out things amiss. Some can be fixed, some will be unfortunate compromises. I likely start another thread for this purpose, but feel free to add them onto this thread until then.
 
Nemonymous said:
Not a complaint, but double checking. I suspect it was inevitable that the links to every past TLO post that we have given out in articles, blogs etc. are now wrong?
Click to expand...
I believe Des is correct. Outside URLs are fine, but the internal ones are now different.
The old URL now renders a 404.
Example:
OLD
NEW
https://www.ligotti.net/index.php?threads/ (SPACE) a-few-reviews.11912/post-137984

This ought to be in a "Bug Report" thread.
 
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Zaharoff said:
Outside URL mean to external websites.
Inside URLs have changed.
OLD
NEW

"Index" has replaced "showpost"
Just one of those things, I fear.
Click to expand...
I incorporated a mod for redirects but it does not appear to be working yet. Hopefully there is a path. I have also noticed that LIKES have not been retained. I think this is because likes were an add on for vBulletin 3 and thus not a standard vBulletin import.
 
Hello, Everyone. It's nice to be back. I was sure it was my fault, of course! I was on the verge of starting a new thread at the time, but will save it for a few weeks to see if all is stable. And thanks to Dr. Bantham. This news makes my day...
 
Is there a "sandbox" or testing section?
I have been tinkering with HTML, but don't want to go crazy.

Never mind. Sent myself a couple PMs and created a template for later.
Waiting to see how your mod for redirects works.
 
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I am sincerely regretting the investment of purchasing XenForo. While I believe it seemed necessary to bring the site back to life, the concessions are overwhelming. I am heartbroken with the loss of features, functionality, and appearance.
 
I guess a photocopy of the text of a book is better than no book at all.

You will do what you can to make this the place you want it to be, I'm sure. If you can make the place look less, umm, "corporate" and more homely (in a decaying sense), that's all that most of us would dare to ask.

Souphead.
 
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