How to backup all my posts from an internet forum?

[john5000]

I want to backup all of my posts from an internet forum

I don't run or own the forum, I just post on it

I have thousands of posts on the forum, and I want to save them in case the site ever shuts down

I think the forum is using "Phorum" software

Is there a simple way I can backup all of the posts made under my username on that forum? How do I do this?

[phranque]

without access to the database?
you could follow the "Show all posts" link on your profile and scrape those pages...

[Status_203]

If its in the UK then a subject access request [ico.gov.uk] under the Data Protection Act might do the trick.

It's a bit OTT and likely to offend though, my first thought would be to just ask the admin(s) if they can help. Are there any reasons why this wouldn't be appropriate in this case?

[john5000]

you could follow the "Show all posts" link on your profile and scrape those pages...

That's what I was thinking, but how is the scraping done? I've never scraped anything before and I'm not really a programmer. Is there a free and simple software program I can use to do this?

I don't have access to the database

my first thought would be to just ask the admin(s) if they can help. Are there any reasons why this wouldn't be appropriate in this case?

No reason, other than I'd rather just do it myself if possible, and my sense is any admins of the site are either unskilled or not easily reached

[lucy24]

you could follow the "Show all posts" link on your profile and scrape those pages...

Does Phorum show the complete text of each post? If not, it would take days to pick up each individual one. In php/bb you can set how much to display, and if your posts are short you might really get the whole thing to appear in the Show All page. That's in Search (using yourself as author), not in the Profile.

:: detour to investigate ::

WooHoo, there's even an "all available" in both 2 and 3. I've never used it, but good to know. If Phorum has the same option, you're all set.

And, uhm, I really don't think anyone here is going to tell you how to scrape the pages. But that's OK, because two minutes after posting the "but how?" query you had a "D'oh!" moment as you realized how easy it is.