How to merge two forums?

I run a vb forum and plan to buy another forum and then merge both of them.

I need to know how can i merge the database/forum and make it run.

Is there any mod or script that can do this?

Also can i merge a forum other than vb like smf or phpbb with vbulletin forum?

 

What you need to do is get impex for vbulletin and convert the non vb database to a vb database, then you can import them together with the impex.

 

What if both the databases are of vbulletin can i still use impex to merge it?

 

yes you can. I have done it before. keep a back up though just in case.

 

if you merge 2 databases, and have similar users? What would happen?

 

The thing is, it will try and change the values for each member and post id. It should begin where the last DB left off.

 

Check out the vbulletin.com forum, do some searching, and post questions there. I merged two forums using Impex. Usernames that are the same will combine unless you change them beforehand. There may be a way to avoid overwriting without changing all same ID's. I'd ask there. Good luck.

 

Actually, unless you specfically choose to merge similar users, it will not do so, it will add "imported_" in front of their name.

So if both boards have a "Bob", then "Bob" from the source board will be named "Imported_Bob". After the merge is complete, you can manually merge users, which is best and advised.

SticKer, if you need some assistance, pm me, I've done this numerous times.

 

i have used impex for converting other boards to vb but haven't tried merging two boards yet. So i'll try playing with this on my demo board and see how it goes.

 

Its as simple as importing the other forum software into your first vBulletin L