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Upgrading at this stage may be more difficult then it's worth, especcialy now that I know you that you also have forum posts that you would like to keep.
The forum module has changed so much over the past that it runs, functions and feels completely different.
However, all is not lost if you will follow this suggestion as apposed to another I made in another one of your posts.
Depending on the path you may take to uprading your site andother alternative is to upload a new version of XOOPS to a test area on your site with a new databse. Install, run and add modules as needed. Transfer your users and the user group permissions (and what ever I might be missing, someone here will fill the gap for me) from the current live site to your new test site. Ask a couple members of your site to help test a few things by getting them to log into the test site. This will confirm a proper user migration to the new system.
Get your test area running properly as you would to have, with a new theme, module, configuartions, etc. Of course, you will want a forum module, which is the topic of this post. I'm getting to a solution very soon.
Once you have your forum up and running with all the topics, user permissions for moderator if any, etc, it will be time to re-open your site to the new version.
Heres where it gets a little tricky, but it's very manageable. While your users are still using the old site, it's time to copy that version over to a new folder. It might be wise to inform them that your site will be undergoing an oerhaul. Don't worry about the database, this information will not change since you created a new one for your fresh installation. I would move it into a new folder call archives, or something suitable for reasons that will become clear in a moment.
Close your live site for new user registrations so that you do not have to migrate possible new members over to your database for a second time. Your site won't be closed for long, just long enough to move the files around.
Now that you have closed your site, it's time to copy the files of your live site over to the archive folder, or what ever name you chose. Now you MUST edit your mainfile.php so that the site will work in the new location.
Once this is done, you will need to change the look and feel of the archive site to your own tasts, but I would keep it very minimal. No blocks, no extra modules, closed all forums, and only keep modules that contain information that users need on a regular basis. Essentially what you want to achieve here is a place for all your users to go when they may be looking up information they need to refer to on the (now) old site.
Now, create an index.html for the root of your site. A simple graphic and text message telling users you are doing a system upgrade will do fine. Delete the root structue of your old xoops, you won't need this anymore since you have a cloned copy in your now named archive folder.
Now transfer your fresh installation over to your root directory and edit the mainfile.php to reflect the new location. Delete the index.html file you created in your root folder and users will now be presented with your new site.
Before opening up the site, you may want to add a news snippet, or sticky forum post telling your users of where to find the archived posts. They will like the look a fresh feel of the site and will appreciate your efforts of keeping vital information. You also get an added bonuse of retaining your user post counts because of the user/group migration we did in step one of this small tutorial.
Granted, this is merely only a suggestion, but it will provid much fewer headaches, because many of the module you use now will not be able to work and are simply un-upgradeable due to their declining age. You will have lost all of your information in the upgrade. Why loose that information, when you can point your users to whats relevent in the archive area of your site.
You too will also have given yourself a second lease on life because now you hae a new fresh website with great and exciting mosules to play with. You will be able to offer your users many new features at a fraction of the pain it would have taken to upgrade, test and trouble shoot a myriad of potential problems from a difficult upgrade.
Ok, this post turned more into a general how to upgrade XOOPS article, but it was fun to write!
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