Migrate myBB to phpBB: All the Whys and Hows [+Tutorial]

myBB and phpBB are considered to be the longtimers of the forum platforms. Being on the waterhead of the first bulletin boards, both of them have been developed at the beginning of 2000 and now are widely used as the reliable basis for forum creation and management. If you are in the middle of the road between these two pieces of software – you’ve landed right post.

myBB

Launched as an amateur discussion board, myBB has evolved into a user-friendly forum platform that includes multiple features for smooth and straightforward forum management.

phpBB

phpBB, contrastingly, is a bit more complicated forum option. Though the installation is a breeze, the board still requires some level of computer literacy to take full advantage of it. Taking more time to get used to its modifying and customizing characteristics, phpBB, however, offers more advanced and powerful functionality and provides its users with the ability to create their own MODs (additional modifications for more robust forum performance).

Features	myBB	phpBB
Language Support	20	43
Installation	Simple, but takes some time	Simple and fast
Operating System	GNU/Linux BSD Unix Microsoft Windows Apple Mac OS	GNU/Linux BSD Unix Microsoft Windows Apple Mac OS
Databases (programs that store your forum data)	MySQL Postgresql SQLite	MySQL Postgresql SQLite Microsoft SQL Server Oracle
Topic Tags	Plugin Installation Required	Plugin Installation Required
Duplicated Threads Detection	No	Plugin Installation Available
Message Posting Format	WYSIWYG editor (visual)	Rich Text Editor
CMS Integration Possibility	No	Drupal Joomla
New Users Limitation	Plugin Installation Required	Yes

What this all boils down to is that the choice between these two forum boards mostly depends on the coding skills and user experience.

If you are currently running your website using myBB forum platform, but want to give a try to phpBB, there’s an automated solution – CMS2CMS forum migration service. In order to migrate all your myBB forum content to phpBB quickly and accurately, all you need to do is to follow the instructions provided in the video below.

Video Tutorial

To get started with myBB to phpBB migration, make sure to prepare for the conversion by proceeding with the following steps:

1. Create new phpBB forum.

2. Backup your current forum data.

3. Find out your FTP access details to your myBB and phpBB forums.

Now, it’s time to start your automated forum migration with CMS2CMS.

How to migrate myBB to phpBB: 5 steps

• Register an account

Go to the official CMS2CMS website and register your account or log in via Google or Facebook account.

• Specify the URL of Your Existing Forum

Please establish the connection to your Existing MyBB forum. Read this in-depth tutorial or watch the video beforehand on how to use Connection Bridge. To install it please follow these steps:

• • Download the bridge file to your local computer. It will be saved as ‘cms2cms’ zip.
  • Extract the zip file to the folder on your computer and remember the location.
  • Connect to your FTP client software (you have to provide your hostname, username, and password).
  • Copy the‘ cms2cms’ folder you’ve extracted from the zip and paste it to the root directories of your MyBB and phpBB separately.

When you’ve done with the installation, press the ‘Verify connection’ button.

• Indicate the Details of Your New Forum

The next step is to provide the details of your New forum Platform, phpBB. Type its URL address and set up the connection between your two platforms. To do this install the connection bridge on your computer like it was described at the previous step and connect to your New website.

As soon as you’ve finished, it means your sites are connected.