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ernestdefoe/importer
====================

Importer / converter for Flarum 2 — migrate a forum into Flarum from phpBB, vBulletin (3/4/5), XenForo, MyBB, SMF, Vanilla, NodeBB, Invision, Discourse or Convoro. Web-based in the admin, runs in the background in batches with a live progress bar.

v0.1.0(3d ago)11MITPHP ^8.3

Since Jul 7Compare

[ Source](https://github.com/ernestdefoe/importer)[ Packagist](https://packagist.org/packages/ernestdefoe/importer)[ Docs](https://github.com/ernestdefoe/importer)[ RSS](/packages/ernestdefoe-importer/feed)WikiDiscussions Synced today

READMEChangelog (1)Dependencies (3)Versions (2)Used By (0)

Importer / Converter for Flarum 2
=================================

[](#importer--converter-for-flarum-2)

Migrate an existing forum into **Flarum 2** — from **phpBB, vBulletin (3/4/5), XenForo, MyBB, SMF, Vanilla, NodeBB, Invision, Discourse**, or **Convoro**. Everything is driven from the **admin panel**: pick a platform, connect to its database (or upload a dump), test it, then run the import in **small batches with a live progress bar** — so even a large forum won't time out.

> Ported from the Convoro importer suite. Members keep their passwords where possible (bcrypt hashes are copied straight across; other formats are randomised so the member simply resets on first login). Post bodies are converted to Flarum's native rich-text format, so BBCode / HTML / Markdown comes across as real formatting — bold, italics, links, quotes, lists and code.

Runs on shared hosting
----------------------

[](#runs-on-shared-hosting)

No queue worker and no SSH required. The import runs as a loop of **small "step" requests straight from your browser**, each processing one bounded batch and returning — so it can never hit a web timeout. Progress and the source→Flarum id-maps are persisted in the database, so if the tab is closed or the connection drops, reopen the page and it **resumes exactly where it left off**. If you *do* have a queue worker (e.g. `fof/redis`), the import is handed to it and runs fully in the background instead — either way it's safe.

The admin area
--------------

[](#the-admin-area)

The whole tool lives on the extension's settings page.

### 1. The wizard

[](#1-the-wizard)

Pick a **source platform**, then either **connect to a database** (host, port, database name, username, password, and table prefix) or **upload a database file** (a `mysqldump` `.sql`/`.sql.gz`, or a SQLite file) for hosts that only hand you a dump. Nothing is written until you start.

[![Importer admin — connection wizard](screenshots/admin-1-initial.png)](screenshots/admin-1-initial.png)

### 2. Test the connection

[](#2-test-the-connection)

**Test connection** validates the credentials, confirms it really is the platform you picked, then reports exactly what it found — here **21 Users, 4 Categories, 30 Topics, 371 Posts** — so you know it will pull the right data before committing. **Start import** only lights up once the test passes.

[![Importer admin — successful connection test with row counts](screenshots/admin-2-tested.png)](screenshots/admin-2-tested.png)

### 3. Watch it run

[](#3-watch-it-run)

**Start import** kicks off the batched run and shows a **live progress bar** with the current phase and running totals — categories, members, topics and posts — updating as it goes.

[![Importer admin — live progress bar with running totals](screenshots/admin-3-progress.png)](screenshots/admin-3-progress.png)

When it finishes you get a summary of everything imported, and can start another.

[![Importer admin — completed import summary](screenshots/admin-3-complete.png)](screenshots/admin-3-complete.png)

Supported sources
-----------------

[](#supported-sources)

PlatformNotesphpBB 3.xBBCode posts; bcrypt passwords copied acrossvBulletin 3 / 4 · vBulletin 5 / 6one option covers both — vB5's node schema is auto-detectedXenForo 1.x / 2.xBBCode posts; XF2 bcrypt passwords copiedMyBB 1.8 · SMF 2.0 / 2.1BBCode postsVanilla · NodeBBMarkdown / mixed formats; NodeBB reads its Redis store (needs the `redis` PHP extension)Invision Community (IP.Board)HTML posts, quotes &amp; mentions cleaned upDiscoursePostgreSQL source (needs `pdo_pgsql`)ConvoroConvoro → Flarum; bcrypt passwords copied, so members keep their loginsCategories are imported as **tags** (requires `flarum/tags`); if tags aren't installed, discussions and posts still import, just untagged.

How it works
------------

[](#how-it-works)

- **Timeout-proof** — the run is a resumable state machine; each request processes one small batch and returns, so memory stays flat and nothing runs long enough to time out. Works with or without a queue worker.
- **Resumable** — progress, cursors and the source→Flarum id-maps live in the database, so a run survives a closed tab, a reload, or a dropped connection.
- **Faithful content** — post bodies go source → HTML/Markdown → Flarum's formatter, landing in Flarum's native stored format so they render as proper rich text.
- **Relations preserved** — members, tags, discussions, first/last-post pointers, comment counts and participant counts are all rebuilt.

Requirements &amp; tips
-----------------------

[](#requirements--tips)

- Import into a **fresh Flarum** for the cleanest result.
- A queue worker is **optional** — the import runs from the browser without one. If you have `fof/redis` + a worker, it runs in the background instead.
- There's also a CLI for very large migrations or scripting:

```
php flarum importer:run --source=phpbb \
  --host=127.0.0.1 --database=my_old_forum --username=root --password=secret --prefix=phpbb_
# add --test to only check the connection and show counts
```

License
-------

[](#license)

MIT © ernestdefoe

###  Health Score

38

—

LowBetter than 83% of packages

Maintenance99

Actively maintained with recent releases

Popularity4

Limited adoption so far

Community2

Small or concentrated contributor base

Maturity38

Early-stage or recently created project

How is this calculated?**Maintenance (25%)** — Last commit recency, latest release date, and issue-to-star ratio. Uses a 2-year decay window.

**Popularity (30%)** — Total and monthly downloads, GitHub stars, and forks. Logarithmic scaling prevents top-heavy scores.

**Community (15%)** — Contributors, dependents, forks, watchers, and maintainers. Measures real ecosystem engagement.

**Maturity (30%)** — Project age, version count, PHP version support, and release stability.

###  Release Activity

Cadence

Unknown

Total

1

Last Release

3d ago

### Community

Maintainers

![](https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/c9978664264055711c21fbcf73c937f758df771d9cb40f6a25370b10123e7abc?d=identicon)[ernestdefoe](/maintainers/ernestdefoe)

---

Tags

migrationphpbbconverterimportimporterdiscourseflarumflarum-extensionxenforovbulletin

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