An archive forum imported into a current phpBB

A long-running community archive moved onto a current phpBB, including accounts the old software had let share an identifier, and the links from the main site that pointed into individual posts.

The objective

The client runs a reference site with a dated timeline, and many of its entries link into individual posts on the forum next to it. The forum was old enough that its data couldn't be dropped into a current version unchanged.

Two things didn't come through cleanly. Three accounts in the old database shared the same identifier, which current phpBB doesn't allow, so the import would have failed on them. And the links coming in from the main site used an anchor form the new version doesn't answer, so every one of them landed on the forum index instead of the post it named.

What I did

I renamed the three conflicting accounts slightly so all of them could be imported, then showed the client where in the admin panel to reset a password for any member who noticed.

I fixed the link handling on the forum so the existing links from the timeline reach the post they point at, rather than editing hundreds of links on the other site.

I restored a directory the client thought was lost, and checked the redirect they needed was working before invoicing for it.

Separately, I moved a WordPress site with a billing system in a subfolder, plus two smaller PHP sites, from full cPanel backups onto a new VPS running a different control panel, leaving the billing system on the version it was on because the client asked for it not to be upgraded.

The result

The archive runs on a current phpBB with its accounts intact, and the links into it from the main site work again without the main site being changed.