As usual, on the weekend I always write about something basic about WordPress. And today it’s time to talk about how to import and export content. So, without further ado, here we go:
1. Export WordPress content
Exporting WordPress content is easy and simple. We just have to go to the Tools menu, and there we will see the “Export” option. We select it and we will see a page with the following options:
The first option allows us to export ALL the content. That includes posts and pages, but also comments, custom fields, menus, and even custom posts, that is, Custom Post Types such as WooCommerce products.
This option is the most recommended, since the other two (posts and pages) They give problems, since sometimes they do not export the attached and featured images well. So, it’s always better to export EVERYTHING and then delete what you don’t want, as this will save you trouble.
If you still want to export only entries, we have the following options:
As we can see, we can choose by categories, authors, date range and even status (published, scheduled, pending, etc.). This filter allows us to export only what interests us.
And we have the same with the options to export pages:
It is the same, but obviously, we cannot choose the categories, since the pages do not have. The rest of the filters are maintained.
Once we have indicated what to export (once again, I recommend that it be everything)we simply click the “Download the export file” button and WordPress will automatically generate an XML file that will contain all our data.
So, exporting WordPress content is easy and simple. Now we are going to see how we import that content into another website made in WordPress.
2. Import WordPress content
If, on the contrary, what we want to do is import content, we will see that the options screen is much more complex, since we find the following:
As you can see, it gives us 8 options, neither more nor less. Today we will focus on importing content from another WordPress. If you want to know more about the rest of the methods, you can see them in the .
So, if we select the WordPress option, we will see that asks us to install a necessary plugin. In other words, it does not have this functionality by default, but we have to install a plugin for this purpose:
So, we click on the “Install now” button so that it installs itself, and then on the “Activate and start the import” link:
The next thing we have to do is select the XML file that someone previously (or ourselves) We have created from another WordPress and uploaded it. Once we have done it, a simple click on “Upload the file and import” will process all the data:
And finally the last step, in which we must decide what to do with the authors and attachments of the content that we are importing:
The first thing we have to decide is what to do with the authors. We have several options. The first is to import them, so the importer will create an author with the same name. Another option is to tell it to create an author, but with another name that you can indicate in the corresponding box. Finally, a third option is to not import the author, and simply assign all the content to another existing user.
Second, we have to decide what to do with the images. If we do NOT select the option, we will simply be importing the content and the URLs of the images. So if the URL of an image is http://miwebvieja.com/imagen.jpg, and we import, that will stay the same. On the other hand, if we select that option, WordPress will download that image from there, and upload it to the new website, so that the URL will become http://miwebnueva.com/imagen.jpg.
This point is very important and crucial, because if we do not select it, the image will actually continue to be on the old website, not on the new one. And if we close that, all the images will stop being seen on the new website. On the other hand, if we select the option to download and import all the attached files, we will no longer depend on the other website.
Once we have selected the options that interest us the most, we click on “Start Import”, and wait for the process to finish. We will see how hundreds of lines go by on the screen, indicating post by post the import process, as well as possible errors. When it’s done, it lets you know with a “Have Fun!” and done. All your content has been migrated.
conclusions
As well as the export process is easy and simple, and it will rarely give us errors, the same does not happen with importing. We have to keep in mind that it can be a slow and long process. (especially if we also migrate the attachments)and it may be that on some occasion, if we exceed the maximum execution time of our hosting, it remains halfway.
So it is very important to make sure that our hosting offers a high maximum execution time. If this is not the case, we will have to ask our hosting company to upload it to us, even temporarily, while we carry out this migration.
Anyway, this is all for today. If you have any other doubts or questions, you know where to find me. And if you want to know more, and see all this in guided video tutorials, here you have my 🙂
Have a very good Sunday!
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