If you already run another events plugin, HappenBoard can copy your events across without touching the original data. This guide covers where the tool is, what each supported plugin brings over, and how to try a run before committing to it.
Where to find it
Open HappenBoard → Settings → Migration. The same screen appears as the last step of the setup wizard, so you may have already met it on a fresh install. Only administrators can reach it.
The first screen is a chooser headed Import your events. It lists one row per source found on this site, each showing how many events are waiting, plus an Import from a file row that is always offered.
Supported plugins
- The Events Calendar: events, venues, organizers, categories and RSVPs.
- Events Manager: events, locations (which become venues), categories and bookings.
- Sugar Calendar: events and categories. Attendees belong to Sugar Calendar Pro and are not brought over.
- EventKoi: events, calendars (which become categories), locations and RSVPs.
- Amelia, events only and not appointments: locations, tags (which become categories) and bookings. An Amelia event with several periods becomes one HappenBoard event per period, so attendee counts stay attached to the right date.
Repeating events from The Events Calendar, Events Manager and Sugar Calendar are converted into HappenBoard repeat rules. EventKoi series come across as a single event, so rebuild those by hand afterwards.
Detection does not need the old plugin running
HappenBoard looks for the source data in the database rather than asking WordPress which plugins are active. A migration therefore still works when the other plugin has been deactivated, or removed while its data was kept. That is deliberate: you can switch the old plugin off first, check your site, then migrate at your leisure.
If nothing is detected, the screen says so and points you at the file import instead.
Preview before you commit
Pick a source and you land on its card. It opens with an Available in the source table counting events, venues, organizers, categories and attendees, and two buttons.
- Click Preview (dry run). HappenBoard walks the whole source and reports what it would do, writing nothing at all.
- Read the result table: one row per resource, with a Would create, Skipped and Failed column. If anything failed, expand the error list underneath to see which record and why.
- Happy with it? Click Migrate for real.
How a run behaves
Migrations run in batches of 50 events, one request after another, with a progress bar counting through them. Batching is what keeps a large calendar from hitting your server’s script time limit. Leave the tab open until it finishes.
Venues, organizers and categories are handled first so that events can link to them as they are created.
Re-running is safe. Every imported item is stamped with where it came from, so a second pass skips it rather than duplicating it, and the button changes to Run again. That means you can migrate, add a few more events in the old plugin, and migrate again.
After the migration
Nothing is deleted from the source plugin, and nothing is deactivated for you. Check your new events on the Events screen, then deactivate the old plugin when you are satisfied.
Extra data the old plugin stored in its own fields does not come across automatically. HappenBoard Pro’s custom fields are the place to recreate anything you still need.
If your plugin is not on the list
Export a calendar file from it and use .ics import, or rebuild a spreadsheet and use the CSV importer. Both are on the same Settings screen.
What’s next
- Import an .ics file when your source is a calendar rather than a plugin.
- Import events from a CSV.
- Run the same migrations from the command line.
- Review what landed on the Events screen.