If you are using phpBB quite for some time already, and you want to change it to bbPress, this article is just the right to land on. Keep reading and get to know why bbPress is a better option, and check out the detailed guide on how to perform phpBB to bbPress migration at ease, and move all your forum content in a few mouse clicks.

Nowadays, there are many ways of expressing yourself. Creating a forum where your like-minded fellows can share ideas with each other is one of them. In case your current discussion board can’t be home-away-from-home for your users anymore, it’s better to revise it and switch to a new platform as soon as possible!

Why Leave phpBB

phpBB is a neat forum board with many virtues. It’s a long-time runner among forums as it was one of the first such projects ever appeared. phpBB is a free, open-source project with the opportunity to create multilingual forums. There are almost 50 language packs available. You can also implement a strong anti-spam system so that no one can endanger all your data safety.

Why leave then? Though phpBB can satisfy your forum needs, after some time, you may think of something more powerful and curious to develop. For instance, with this bulletin board, you may only create a forum, and it’s super hard, if not impossible, to integrate it with your website. bbPress, on the other hand, gives you an opportunity to run a forum and a site, since it’s a WordPress kid.

Why Opt For bbPress

As it was mentioned above, bbPress simply provides you with more options to try yourself in. Plus, it is compatible with so many cool WordPress plugins! With the help of them, you are to improve the forum performance even more. Also, bbPress is more user-friendly than phpBB. It takes almost no effort to “climb” its learning curve, and it has a WYSIWYG editor, which is super convenient to use. With bbPress, you are able to create both flat and threaded types of discussion, and updating process is easier than you can imagine!

How phpBB to bbPress Migration works

If you understand that moving your current phpBB forum board over to bbPress is what you were looking for – an automated forum migration is supposed to save lots of efforts and time. Here’s how the process goes.

1. Register CMS2CMS account.

The first thing you have to do is to sign up with CMS2CMS to set up phpBB to bbPress migration process. Provide your name, email address and telephone number. You can also sign in with your account on Facebook or Google. Select the best choice for this.

sign up with CMS2CMS

2. Provide current phpBB board details.

Now, you have to state your phpBB forum information. Choose your current type of platform, phpBB, in this case. In the corresponding sector – provide its URL.

phpBB forum details

3. Connect to phpBB website.

You can now set up a connection to your phpBB forum. For that, you have to download and install the Connection Bridge. Here is the video tutorial, where specifics about the installation process are shown. Click the “Verify Connection” button when you’re done with that.

connect to phpBB forum

4. Enter New bbPress forum details.

The next step in phpBB to bbPress migration will be to determine your new type of forum, choosing bbPress in this case. Here, depending on the availability of your new bbPress forum board, you can choose one of two options. Perform the migration to bbPress test site, created by CMS2CMS (note that it will be live for seven days), or move phpBB content right to your own bbPress website.

bbPress forum details

5. Establish the connection to bbPress.

If you have already created a new bbPress forum board, enter its URL address and connect to it by the automated installation of Plugin Connector, i.e., provide admin login and password to your WordPress site. Here’s a detailed video tutorial on how to do it right. Verify the connection.

connect to bbPress forum

6. Run Free Demo phpBB to bbPress migration.

CMS2CMS service allows you to preview your forum’s future look and run Free Demo Migration. Map the content, choose the entities and additional options to be moved from phpBB to bbPress. If you want to migrate all your data without a Demo, this stage can be skipped.

Free phpBB to bbPress demo migration

7. Check the results and finish the transfer.

When the Demo transfer is done, check the results before beginning a full migration to bbPress. On this step, you may complete the migration if you are happy about the outcome. It’s that! Now, with all your phpBB content on it, you are a happy owner of a bbPress forum.

results of phpBB to bbPress free demo

From phpBB to bbPress in a 3-min video

Prefer video content to reading? Here’s a video tutorial on a fully automated phpBB to bbPress forum migration. 

Make a Change

Can’t wait to move your forum from phpBB to bbPress? Wait no more! Use CMS2CMS, an automated website and forum migration service. Before transferring all of your content, run a free Demo to check the preview of your project on a new platform.