Import question - SMF to existing Discourse forum

Support Migration

AI-generated summary

A user, Pieces, is seeking guidance on importing their legacy Simple Machines Forum (SMF) into their existing Discourse forum. The SMF database, which was last used in 2010, contains 2,000 members, 8,000 topics, and 75,000 posts. Pieces has two main concerns:

  1. Is it possible to import SMF data into an existing Discourse forum without overwriting existing data?
  2. Is it worth the hassle, or should they simply host the SMF database as an inactive archive?

Ed_S suggested checking out the Migrate an SMF2 forum to Discourse topic on meta.discourse.org for potential assistance.

1

Hello,

I searched this category but didn’t find anything relate to my migration question.

I was able to recover my legacy Simple Machines Forum with the intention to maybe make it available as archive (inactive) next to my current active Discourse forum. However, I have been reading about migrating/importing which raised a couple of questions.

  1. Is it possible to import SMF to an existing Discourse forum?

My Discourse instance is fairly new but for sure not empty. How does this work with importing and existing data (like in my instance a DB from Simple Machines Forum)? Would the process empty my current Discourse?

  1. Will it be worth the hassle or should I just go with my initial idea (install SMF with the intention to act as an archive)?

I know this is subjective, just not sure if it is worth the hassle. The SMF DB was used until 2010 and holds about 2,000 members, 8,000 topics and 75,000 posts. As the data is old I don’t expect these topics to be continued (which is why I want to provide it from an archive perspective), I would just like the data to be available.

Thanks

2

I see you didn’t get an answer yet - perhaps there is help to be found nearby at
Migrate an SMF2 forum to Discourse
or perhaps the topics linked there (below the head post)