Transition from Forum to Community?

I have a descent forum-based community right now, that's running on Simple Machines Forum software.  I'd like to convert it to a full-blown social networking site, using Dolphin.  I have no idea where to begin.

What's most important to me is keeping my existing forum history.  At least user accounts and messages.  If I can get more, great, but those are the basics.

I also understand that Dolphin integrates with vBulletin and phpBB... My initial thought is to convert my SMF forums to vBulletin forums, then add Dolphin on top of that.  What are the pros and cons of using one of these, rather than the built-in forums?  How smooth do you think this process would be?

One of the transition hiccups I worry about is all the fields that are required upon registration with Dolphin.  Simply put, those fields don't exist (and certainly aren't mandatory) on my SMF forums.  Will this missing data cause problems?

I also notice that Dolphin usernames are more restrictive than my SMF usernames are.  Dolphin, for example, doesn't seem to allow spaces.  A lot of my members have spaces in their names.  Problem?

Any other thoughts or advise?

Thanks.

Drooling Dog - sorry to say this, but you have a ton of work cut out for you.  I don't think there are any well supported mods for either phpbb3 or vbulletin- so you would have to cross that bridge first.  There is a mod to allow spaces in usernames, but the person who developed it has left this forum and I'm not sure I would trust it anyway- I think there could be some downsides in other areas.  I'd start by replicating the profile fields from your existing forum, then deciding how to handle the informaton you don't have - then import that data into the profiles table.  Then if you decide to use Orca you will have to match and import your forum post data there - ugh - painful just to write about all this work.  Good luck.

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Rob

Wouldn't trust?  Will you stop mentioning me at all.  What is your deal man, you are a novice, with no idea how to do anything, why do you keep giving advice?

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First, search this forum for my posts, I have already handled your space problem in a post, that has been working great on many sites.  I need to know your level of expertise, as a simple php mysql injector could make the profile transition quickly.  I would then suggest this - if there is a required field in dolphin, say - real name, and your smf forum doesn't have it - set this row to 'not_set' - then check for it on log in.  Redirect to profile edit if not set.  I did a complete switch over for phpbb3 about two weeks ago.  The profile pics, etc - they too can be added with a few tweaks to your injector.  The 'media' table is easy to understand, and each member gets their own directory - so....

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I could do it in five-six hours, if you understand what I am saying, you can to.

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Also, with a few lines in join.php and a few in members.php you can keep smf.  You just need to add new members when joining into your smf user table, and add the cookie for the smf forum upon log in.  I would also suggest in admin.inc.php where the delete_profile function is, you also remove the user from the smf tables.  This is how I integrated phpbb3 for a client.

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It is a little bit of work, more time aligning the tables in the php injector, but, after that - should only take seconds :)

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Enjoy,

Topher

Dear Unity members, Topher and CALTRADE!

Please, kindly stop this... let's communicate in a good manner as members of a friendly community!

Thanks!

I came across this gem b4, ive not used it but hope it helps http://ryneyday.blogspot.com/

oh and this might help http://www.phpbb.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=589439

its a smf to phpbb3 convertor

That Ryney guy was an idiot and a liar, he put out that "free" mod that didn't work then he tried to charge me $100 to fix my site?! Now he is no where to be found. Once he figured out he didn't know what the heck he was doing he disappeared.

I wasn't attacking anyone it this thread - I mentioned that mod because it was the only one I knew that did this and it was not supported on this forum - and my concerns about it couldn't be expressed without causing someone to freak out.    It is quite possible my concerns about that mod are completely wrong - but when I mentioned it the first time I was publicly attacked and took the disagreement to private message - where the exchange was even more ridiculous.  I think anyone who does such a major mod is wrong to react with such hostility to a mild critique - the person who installs it may have the exact same issues- that is what these forums are for.  In any event I am delighted to see LyubovL here representing Boonex - by all means weigh in more often.

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Kosmic - you called the mod that Ryne did "a gem".  Did you actually use it?   I have never been able to get a copy as the link published in that blog is broken, and Ryne has not returned any of my messages asking about it.  I am not attacking Ryne!  I think it is great that he did this free mod - I just don't know where he is or how to get ahold of it.

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Rob

She called it a "gem" because that is what that idiot called it on his blog. I can PROMISE you it was NOT a gem, the mod messes up several things on your site then "Ryne" tells you he can fix them but he HAS to charge $100 an hour because he is in some sort of organization that requires he do that???

I am amazed at how even when several people point out that someone is ripping people off there are still lots of people here who line up to pay them money or pat them on the back?? Rob did you miss Sammies post that says he was commiting credit card fraud on her server? Or did you see it and you want his "gem" anyway??

buckmcgoo:

That story reminds me of the other guy I had a bad confrontation with - I don't want to name him, but his handle that described himself as an "eretheral being" was somehow appropriate.  He saw my post with questions about a conversion and offered to help for free- and I said great.  Later, he came up with an approach but said he would now require a small fee- his approach seemed more convoluted then necessary but I agreed to pay him.  After a delay of about a week, he wrote me again to tell me that on review he would have to charge me ten times more then his second quote, and I should be prepared for even more expenses.  I killed it then, and I am convinced if I had let him proceed he would have trashed my data and probably my site.   I stayed away from him on the forums after that- but I understand that others here got burned.

buckmcgoo wrote:

"Rob did you miss Sammies post that says he was commiting credit card fraud on her server? Or did you see it and you want his "gem" anyway??"

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Buckmcgoo - it was well before that.  Naturally if I saw a respected member raise such concerns here I would have taken it under consideration.

Oh dear...im rapidly learning theres a few sharks around our beloved dolphin, nice to see a protective community too.

Peace

Kosmic