Overview

Bringing an existing forum into Jetonomy? This page covers everything that is the same across all three importers - which source to pick, how to read the import screen, and the checklist to run after any import. Then follow the guide for your specific forum software.

Jetonomy Import screen showing detected forum sources with stat previews and Import buttons

Which Importer Do I Need?

Jetonomy ships with three built-in importers. Pick the one that matches the forum plugin you are moving away from:

You are coming from Use this guide
bbPress Importing from bbPress
wpForo Importing from wpForo
Asgaros Forum Importing from Asgaros Forum

These three are the only built-in sources. Developers can add support for other forum software through the jetonomy_importers filter - see the developer reference for details.

Before Any Import: Back Up

Always take a full database backup before importing, no matter which source you use. The importers read from your old forum's tables and never modify them, but importing creates new records in Jetonomy and cannot be automatically undone. A backup is your safety net if you want to start fresh.

Keep your old forum plugin (bbPress, wpForo, or Asgaros) active during the import - each importer reads directly from that plugin's live tables. You can deactivate it once you have confirmed the import looks right.

Browser or WP-CLI?

You can run any import two ways. Use this to decide:

  • Browser (Jetonomy → Import) - the simplest option, with a live progress bar. Best for small to medium communities (under roughly 50,000 topics + replies). The risk on large databases is a browser or server timeout part-way through.

  • WP-CLI (command line) - the reliable option for large communities, because it is not subject to browser timeouts. Run it from your server's command line (SSH). The valid source values are bbpress, wpforo, and asgaros (all lowercase):

    wp jetonomy import bbpress
wp jetonomy import wpforo
wp jetonomy import asgaros

    If you run the command on a managed host where you must point at the WordPress install, add --path:

    wp --path="/path/to/wordpress" jetonomy import bbpress

    If you type a source name that does not exist, the command lists the valid ones back to you.

Reading the Import Screen

When you open Jetonomy → Import, each forum plugin that Jetonomy detects appears as its own card. Here is what every part of the card means:

  • No Forum Data Detected - if none of bbPress, wpForo, or Asgaros is installed with content, you see this empty state instead of cards. Install and add content to one of those plugins, then return.
  • Stat preview - each detected source shows a live count of what it found (for example Forums, Topics, Replies). This is read straight from your old forum so you can confirm Jetonomy sees your data before you start.
  • Status badge - one badge per card tells you the card's state:
    • Available - detected and ready to import; this is the normal first-time state.
    • Previously Imported - you have already run this import once. The card shows the date of the last import and how many records it brought over.
    • Import Interrupted - a browser import stopped before finishing. The card offers Resume Import to continue, or Start Over to begin again.
  • Re-Import warning - once a source shows Previously Imported, its button changes to Re-Import and the card warns that re-importing may create duplicate content. Clicking it asks you to confirm first. Only re-import if the previous import had a problem - running it a second time on top of a successful import will duplicate your topics and replies.
  • Progress tracker - while an import runs, a five-step tracker shows where it is: Forums → Topics → Replies → Profiles → Finalize, with a percentage progress bar underneath.

After Any Import

These steps apply to every source. The individual guides list the same checklist with source-specific notes, but the essentials are:

  • Visit your community home and confirm your spaces match your old forums.
  • Open several posts and confirm the content and replies came across intact.
  • Re-assign moderators. No importer brings over moderator assignments - set Space Moderator roles manually under Jetonomy → Spaces.
  • Flush permalinks if spaces 404. Go to Jetonomy → Settings → Permalinks and click Save. (The bbPress importer does this for you automatically; wpForo and Asgaros do not, so do it by hand if new spaces return a 404.)
  • Clean up old shortcodes. If your pages or widgets used your old forum's shortcodes, remove or replace them - they will print raw shortcode text while the old plugin is still active.
  • Once everything checks out, you can deactivate the old forum plugin.

What's Next?

Ready to import? Start with the guide for your forum software: