Move your phpBB forum to Forumera
Send us your phpBB database and we move your boards, topics and posts. Your old links keep working, and there is no server to run afterward.
How it works
The import is not a self-serve upload yet. You send us your database, and we do the rest.
Create your free forum
Set up your new Forumera forum in a couple of minutes. It stays empty until your content arrives.
Send us your phpBB database
Export your phpBB database as a MySQL dump with mysqldump or phpMyAdmin. Email it to us from the contact page, or send a download link.
We run the import
We import your boards, topics, posts and members. It is free, and it usually takes a few working days.
Redirect your old address
Add one redirect rule on your old host that sends every request to your new forum address. Old thread and board links land on the right page.
What comes with you
- Categories and forums, as categories and boards. Nested subforums flatten into boards under their top-level category.
- Topics, with their title, pinned and locked status, and original dates.
- Posts, in order, with their original author and original dates.
- Members who posted at least once, with username, email and join date. Zero-post spam accounts stay behind.
- Bold, italic, links, images, and quotes with the original author, converted to the same formatting on Forumera.
- Spoilers, code blocks and lists. Spoilers convert directly. Code blocks and lists come over as plain text, the content is kept, the formatting is simplified.
What stays behind
- Private messages.
- Attachments stored on your old server. Images hosted elsewhere and linked inline keep working.
- Avatars.
- Polls.
- Custom mods, extensions and themes.
- Permission masks. Boards come in public, so set up private boards and moderators again after the move.
Underline, colours, font sizes and custom BBCode tags we do not recognise are dropped. The text itself is kept.
Your old links keep working
Search rankings and bookmarks do not have to start over. Your new forum address understands the old phpBB URL patterns.
Add one redirect rule on your old host that forwards every request, path and query included, to yourname.forumera.com. Forumera answers each of these old URLs with a permanent redirect to the matching thread, post or board. On Pro you can also point your own domain at the forum.
Members keep their accounts
Every member who posted arrives with their username, email and join date, but not their password. Passwords are never imported. Each member claims their account with "Forgot password" using the same email they used on your old forum. Until they claim it, their posts show under their username as usual. We send imported members no email until they sign in and opt in.
Coming from another platform?
We do not have an importer yet for vBulletin, XenForo, SMF, MyBB, ProBoards or Discourse. Email us from the contact page and we will tell you honestly what is realistic for your forum.
See how Forumera comparesFrequently asked
Bring your forum home
Create your free Forumera forum, then send us your phpBB database. We handle the rest.
Create your forum