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phpBB3 Import

This script can be used to import the contents of a tab-delimited file into a phpBB3 database. It was originally written specifically to process the MSN Groups export files however, it can process any file abiding the following requirements:

  1. File must be named MSN-phpBB-import.tsv (case-sensitive).
  2. Must use tab character as field separator.
  3. Must NOT use a text delimiter (typically double quote).
  4. Must contain the following columns (case-sensitive): topic, post, sender, sent, and text.

To run it, perform the following steps:

  1. Obtain the required tab-delimited file. Request an export of your MSN Group if you've not done so already.
  2. Download the script and save it to your PC.
  3. Upload the script and file to the document root of your phpBB3 installation. This is the same folder containing files posting.php, viewfiles.php, and viewtopic.php. Do not modify the name of either file.
  4. In a new browser tab or window, append to your phpBB3 URL the following: /CSVImport.php.
  5. Select the forum that you wish to import into.
  6. Enter a string of 3-5 alphanumeric characters in field Password Prefix. The value of this field will be prepended to the user name as their initial password (i.e. user = bob, password = 1234bob).
  7. Click the Submit button. At this point, if all went well, you'll be presented with a blank screen while the script runs. When finished, it will display a message indicating the number of records processed.

Following is a screen shot of the import in action:

Download a sample file containing a real topic that was migrated from MSN Groups to phpBB

Click here to see it on MSN Groups and here to see it in its new phpBB forum.