upgrade path?

[dougdirac]

I'm running vB 4.2.1 and have had VW Lite for a while. I'd like to install the full version but have a few questions first.

1. Which version to I install now?
   VW3 or 4? Will they keep the articles that were made with VW Lite?
2. If I install 3, how easy will it be to upgrade to 4?
   Will it be painless, so I can just go ahead with VW3 or should I wait for VW4? Will I have to pay again for VW4 if I buy VW3?
3. What happens if/when I leave vB?
   vB5 has turned out to be a total crap show. What happens to the wiki if I change to different forum software?
4. How is the data stored in VW3 and VW4?
   One thing I like about VW Lite is that the wikis are essentially stored as threads (as far as I can tell). I can move them from the wiki forum into a normal forum, and the data appears intact. Also, if there's an existing thread I would like to convert to a wiki, I can just move it to the wiki forum. Can I still do that with VW3 or 4?

Thanks in advance for your prompt reply.

P.S. I am getting a ton of errors at the top of the page while trying to create this post:

Strict Standards: Only variables should be passed by reference in /home/vw/public_html/newthread.php on line 209

Strict Standards: Declaration of vB_DataManager_ThreadPost::verify_pagetext() should be compatible with vB_DataManager::verify_pagetext(&$pagetext, $noshouting = true) in /home/vw/public_html/includes/class_dm_threadpost.php on line 28

Strict Standards: Declaration of vB_DataManager_Thread::do_set() should be compatible with vB_DataManager::do_set($fieldname, &$value, $table = NULL) in /home/vw/public_html/includes/class_dm_threadpost.php on line 1031

Strict Standards: Declaration of vB_DataManager_Thread_FirstPost::save() should be compatible with vB_DataManager::save($doquery = true, $delayed = false, $affected_rows = false, $replace = false, $ignore = false) in /home/vw/public_html/includes/class_dm_threadpost.php on line 1573

Strict Standards: Declaration of vB_DataManager_Post_Multiple::fetch_query() should be compatible with vB_DataManager_Multiple::fetch_query($condition = '', $limit = 0, $offset = 0) in /home/vw/public_html/includes/class_dm_threadpost.php on line 1996

Strict Standards: Declaration of vB_DataManager_Thread_Multiple::fetch_query() should be compatible with vB_DataManager_Multiple::fetch_query($condition = '', $limit = 0, $offset = 0) in /home/vw/public_html/includes/class_dm_threadpost.php on line 2050

Strict Standards: Declaration of vB_BbCodeParser_Wysiwyg::parsePreviewBreakTag() should be compatible with vB_BbCodeParser::parsePreviewBreakTag() in /home/vw/public_html/includes/class_bbcode_alt.php on line 29

Strict Standards: Declaration of vB_BbCodeParser_Wysiwyg::handle_bbcode_img() should be compatible with vB_BbCodeParser::handle_bbcode_img($bbcode, $do_imgcode, $has_img_code = false, $fulltext = '') in /home/vw/public_html/includes/class_bbcode_alt.php on line 29

Strict Standards: Declaration of vB_BbCodeParser_ImgCheck::handle_bbcode_img() should be compatible with vB_BbCodeParser::handle_bbcode_img($bbcode, $do_imgcode, $has_img_code = false, $fulltext = '') in /home/vw/public_html/includes/class_bbcode_alt.php on line 689

Strict Standards: Declaration of vB_BbCodeParser_PlainText::handle_bbcode_url() should be compatible with vB_BbCodeParser::handle_bbcode_url($text, $link, $image = false) in /home/vw/public_html/includes/class_bbcode_alt.php on line 889

Strict Standards: Declaration of vB_BbCodeParser_PlainText::handle_bbcode_img() should be compatible with vB_BbCodeParser::handle_bbcode_img($bbcode, $do_imgcode, $has_img_code = false, $fulltext = '') in /home/vw/public_html/includes/class_bbcode_alt.php on line 889

Strict Standards: Declaration of vB_BbCodeParser_PlainText::handle_bbcode_img_match() should be compatible with vB_BbCodeParser::handle_bbcode_img_match($link, $fullsize = false) in /home/vw/public_html/includes/class_bbcode_alt.php on line 889

Strict Standards: Declaration of vB_BbCodeParser_Video_PreParse::parse() should be compatible with vB_BbCodeParser::parse($text, $forumid = 0, $allowsmilie = true, $isimgcheck = false, $parsedtext = '', $parsedhasimages = 3, $cachable = false, $htmlstate = NULL) in /home/vw/public_html/includes/class_bbcode_alt.php on line 1614

Strict Standards: Declaration of vB_BbCodeParser_Video_PreParse::do_parse() should be compatible with vB_BbCodeParser::do_parse($text, $do_html = false, $do_smilies = true, $do_bbcode = true, $do_imgcode = true, $do_nl2br = true, $cachable = false, $htmlstate = NULL, $minimal = false, $do_videocode = true) in /home/vw/public_html/includes/class_bbcode_alt.php on line 1614

Strict Standards: Declaration of vB_BbCodeParser_Video_PreParse::handle_bbcode_img() should be compatible with vB_BbCodeParser::handle_bbcode_img($bbcode, $do_imgcode, $has_img_code = false, $fulltext = '') in /home/vw/public_html/includes/class_bbcode_alt.php on line 1614

[pegasus]

Which version to I install now?
VW3 or 4? Will they keep the articles that were made with VW Lite?

If you are using VW lite currently and don't want to start over, I would advise upgrading to VW3 first. Then after you've confirmed your data is intact, do some test upgrades to VW4.

If I install 3, how easy will it be to upgrade to 4?
Will it be painless, so I can just go ahead with VW3 or should I wait for VW4? Will I have to pay again for VW4 if I buy VW3?

VW4 is a completely different code-base than VW3, so there are special instructions for that upgrade process: https://www.vaultwiki.org/blogs/55/ If you try to upgrade without following these instructions, your site might become unusable. Users who have a VW license for vBulletin currently have access to both VW3 and VW4 without any additional fees.

What happens if/when I leave vB?
vB5 has turned out to be a total crap show. What happens to the wiki if I change to different forum software?

Because the code of different forum softwares is different, if you change to a different forum software, you need "VaultWiki for THAT FORUM SOFTWARE" that is compatible with the new software. You would need to purchase a new VaultWiki license in order to get the right code.

Currently VW3 is only compatible with vB3.6 - 4.2. VW4 is compatible with vB4.1 - 4.2, and there is a beta available for XenForo 1.1. We are working on supporting other softwares in the very near future.

How is the data stored in VW3 and VW4?
One thing I like about VW Lite is that the wikis are essentially stored as threads (as far as I can tell). I can move them from the wiki forum into a normal forum, and the data appears intact. Also, if there's an existing thread I would like to convert to a wiki, I can just move it to the wiki forum. Can I still do that with VW3 or 4?

You can still do this in VW3. In VW4, wiki data is not stored as threads anymore. This allows us a number of performance benefits and better feature design. We do plan to have a way to move threads into the wiki again, but currently that feature is not available.

[dougdirac]

I think most any forum software will have an importer for vB4 (as vB5 also has to use). So being able to move the wiki threads back to normal threads gives me a sense of security that the data created by members at least can survive an upgrade even if not as a wiki.

It sounds like I should start with VW3. How long till VW4 is stable enough to be used on a live site? Any time frame on the feature to be able to move threads to and from the wiki?

Now that VW4 is out in some form, is VW3 near end of life? Are there no more feature adds or bug fixes in the works for VW3?

It seems this site has moved to VW4 and is a little shaky. Is there somewhere I can demo VW3? Do you know how many forums have installed VW?

Thanks!

[pegasus]

VW3 is near end of life. We will continue to support it and make compatibility updates as needed until VaultWiki 4 is a stable release. VaultWiki 4 is and has exclusively been the target of new features for some time now. After that point, according to our end of life policy, VW3 would only continue to receive security patches for 1 additional year.

[dougdirac]

So what's the projected time frame for stable VW4 release? Where can I demo VW3?

[pegasus]

It is unlikely that VaultWiki 4 will go gold before the end of August. We will not label it stable until all major platforms are supported. Once that happens, it will be judged based on the frequency and severity of bug reports.

We do not have a separate demo site of VaultWiki 3. That would require an extra vBulletin license, just for a few months time. As far as I know, not even vBulletin demos old versions of its software. You might be able to find some users who still run VaultWiki 3 if you look in the Share thread: https://www.vaultwiki.org/threads/4262/

[Alfa1]

Here is vaultwiki 3:
http://www.runicgamesfansite.com/showwiki.php
http://aeroquad.com/showwiki.php
http://www.cegamer.com/showwiki.php
http://ps3trophies.com/forums/showwiki.php

[dougdirac]

Well after a couple years, I'm finally wanting to move forward with this. I'm still on VW3 Lite on vBulletin 4. I want to be on VW4 on XenForo. Is there an importer for the VW data from vB to XF?

You can still do this in VW3. In VW4, wiki data is not stored as threads anymore. This allows us a number of performance benefits and better feature design. We do plan to have a way to move threads into the wiki again, but currently that feature is not available.

Did this feature ever materialize? I would like to be able to convert existing threads to wikis and vice versa.

Cheers!

[pegasus]

This feature is not available yet in VaultWiki 4.

[quynhphan]

I don't understand. Please explain more. Thank you!

[pegasus]

Since the previous posts,

- The importer now supports importing VaultWiki 3.x Lite data into VaultWiki 4.x not-lite.
- The importer supports importing VaultWiki 4.x on vBulletin into VaultWiki 4.x on XenForo.
- There is a moderator function to move threads into the wiki. However, there is still not currently a way to move wiki content back to threads.