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  3. Is it possible (or difficult) to migrate an entire forum from vanilla to a lemmy instance?

Is it possible (or difficult) to migrate an entire forum from vanilla to a lemmy instance?

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  • B [email protected]

    As per the title.

    If I was running a Vanilla forum and wanted to migrate over to a new lemmy instance, e.g.
    forum.com to lemmy.forum.com
    Could I migrate the entire forum over while keeping the same categories/sub categories as communities I guess, and bringing all of the old threads with them?
    If it is possible, would it be difficult?

    A This user is from outside of this forum
    A This user is from outside of this forum
    [email protected]
    wrote last edited by
    #2

    Not that I know of. Thats the case most times a community has to move, you more or less start from scratch.

    You can set up a bot to periodically post links to old threads, articles, etc but that's about it afaik

    N 1 Reply Last reply
    6
    • B [email protected]

      As per the title.

      If I was running a Vanilla forum and wanted to migrate over to a new lemmy instance, e.g.
      forum.com to lemmy.forum.com
      Could I migrate the entire forum over while keeping the same categories/sub categories as communities I guess, and bringing all of the old threads with them?
      If it is possible, would it be difficult?

      turkalino@lemmy.yachtsT This user is from outside of this forum
      turkalino@lemmy.yachtsT This user is from outside of this forum
      [email protected]
      wrote last edited by
      #3

      If you don’t care about the migrated content being federated, then you could write a script which copies everything into the database of your Lemmy instance

      If you do care, then you would have to go with the other person’s suggestion of having a bot post the migrated content periodically

      1 Reply Last reply
      2
      • B [email protected]

        As per the title.

        If I was running a Vanilla forum and wanted to migrate over to a new lemmy instance, e.g.
        forum.com to lemmy.forum.com
        Could I migrate the entire forum over while keeping the same categories/sub categories as communities I guess, and bringing all of the old threads with them?
        If it is possible, would it be difficult?

        bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.deB This user is from outside of this forum
        bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.deB This user is from outside of this forum
        [email protected]
        wrote last edited by
        #4

        Depending on the software used NodeBB might be easier to migrate to than Lemmy. As far as I know it also has ActivityPub support.

        Also, Lemmy does not have subcategories. Every community is on the same hierarchy.

        You might also want to look at PieFed. It's a bit lighter than Lemmy.

        B 1 Reply Last reply
        7
        • A [email protected]

          Not that I know of. Thats the case most times a community has to move, you more or less start from scratch.

          You can set up a bot to periodically post links to old threads, articles, etc but that's about it afaik

          N This user is from outside of this forum
          N This user is from outside of this forum
          [email protected]
          wrote last edited by
          #5

          Seconding the suggestion to start fresh. Make the old forum an archive, still readable but impossible to add or edit. If necessary, migrate it to a more lightweight system, perhaps one designed specifically for preserving old forum content (I don't know if there is one, just spitballing here).

          You really should give some thought to whether Lemmy is a good format for your community. Forums are very different from Lemmy.

          1 Reply Last reply
          3
          • B [email protected]

            As per the title.

            If I was running a Vanilla forum and wanted to migrate over to a new lemmy instance, e.g.
            forum.com to lemmy.forum.com
            Could I migrate the entire forum over while keeping the same categories/sub categories as communities I guess, and bringing all of the old threads with them?
            If it is possible, would it be difficult?

            prodigalfrog@slrpnk.netP This user is from outside of this forum
            prodigalfrog@slrpnk.netP This user is from outside of this forum
            [email protected]
            wrote last edited by [email protected]
            #6

            Seconding the piefed recommendation. It's much lighter to host than Lemmy, and has some nice user facing features that Lemmy lacks, which you can read more about here (scroll down to comments):

            https://slrpnk.net/post/24141955/16757434

            1 Reply Last reply
            2
            • bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.deB [email protected]

              Depending on the software used NodeBB might be easier to migrate to than Lemmy. As far as I know it also has ActivityPub support.

              Also, Lemmy does not have subcategories. Every community is on the same hierarchy.

              You might also want to look at PieFed. It's a bit lighter than Lemmy.

              B This user is from outside of this forum
              B This user is from outside of this forum
              [email protected]
              wrote last edited by
              #7

              Thanks. Does PieFed have subcategories?

              bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.deB 1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • B [email protected]

                Thanks. Does PieFed have subcategories?

                bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.deB This user is from outside of this forum
                bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.deB This user is from outside of this forum
                [email protected]
                wrote last edited by
                #8

                Don't know. Probably not. It works more or less the same as Lemmy.

                B 1 Reply Last reply
                1
                • bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.deB [email protected]

                  Don't know. Probably not. It works more or less the same as Lemmy.

                  B This user is from outside of this forum
                  B This user is from outside of this forum
                  [email protected]
                  wrote last edited by
                  #9

                  Ah ok. Thanks.

                  squeakyspider@lemmy.dbzer0.comS 1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • B [email protected]

                    Ah ok. Thanks.

                    squeakyspider@lemmy.dbzer0.comS This user is from outside of this forum
                    squeakyspider@lemmy.dbzer0.comS This user is from outside of this forum
                    [email protected]
                    wrote last edited by
                    #10

                    I'm sorry cause I don't have a source, but by another Lemmy comment anecdote I remember reading PieFed does have subcategories. I.e. /art/paintings . Worth checking in to!

                    B 2 Replies Last reply
                    1
                    • squeakyspider@lemmy.dbzer0.comS [email protected]

                      I'm sorry cause I don't have a source, but by another Lemmy comment anecdote I remember reading PieFed does have subcategories. I.e. /art/paintings . Worth checking in to!

                      B This user is from outside of this forum
                      B This user is from outside of this forum
                      [email protected]
                      wrote last edited by
                      #11

                      Thanks, will look for it.
                      Hopefully can find some info. 🤞

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • squeakyspider@lemmy.dbzer0.comS [email protected]

                        I'm sorry cause I don't have a source, but by another Lemmy comment anecdote I remember reading PieFed does have subcategories. I.e. /art/paintings . Worth checking in to!

                        B This user is from outside of this forum
                        B This user is from outside of this forum
                        [email protected]
                        wrote last edited by
                        #12

                        Yes, it seems it does.. and they look good. 🙂

                        Example here - https://piefed.social/topics

                        I got it from here -
                        Scroll down to differences between Lemmy and PieFed.

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