Description
Export 2 Multisite exports your standalone database SQL for import into a WP multisite installation. It handles duplicate users (based on email) and will copy over all site settings including Widgets and Menus. You still need to copy the files for your themes, plugins and uploads.
- This plugin has been minimally tested, but has been used to successfully migrate a handful of standalone sites to a multisite installation.
- There is a good possibility it won’t work for sites that make use of a multitude of plugins – especially plugins that have their own database tables.
Installation
- Create a new site on the Multisite.
- Copy the plugins and themes from this standalone site to the Multisite.
- Copy the files from wp-content/uploads/ on this site to wp-content/uploads/sites// on the multisite.
- Backup the database on the Multisite.
- Provide the Site ID of the Multisite. This can be found by hovering the mouse over the new site on Network Admin->Sites.
- Provide the New URL. Example: //mysite.my-wp-multisite.com
- Provide the New file path (The file path of the Multisite installation).
- Export the database dump.
- Import the SQL into your Multisite installation.
- Important: The exported SQL will DROP the tables that were created for the Site ID you provided. So only perform this migration on new empty Sites.
- Note that the you may need to review the exported SQL to ensure that plugin database tables have been exported correctly.
- The site admin (username and password) is the user you created while creating the new Site, NOT the site admin of this standalone site.
- The guts of this export plugin were inspired by this blog post
- The code for this plugin has been modified from the WP Migrate DB plugin, but should not conflict with it in any way.
Installation
- Use WordPress’ built-in installer
- Access the “Export 2 Multisite” menu option under the Tools menu
FAQ
- I’m not a developer, can I use this plugin?
-
Probably not. You’re going to need some technical experience to migrate your site properly.
- How do I import the file I downloaded into my WP Multisite?
-
You will need access to a database client that can perform writes to your WP database. You can use PHPMyAdmin, or run the raw SQL on the commandline using the mysql client and running the source command.
- How do I download the images and files in my media library so I can upload them to my multisite?
-
You’ll need access to your server to get these files easily. Use FTP or SSH into your server to zip wp-content/uploads so you can download to your Multisite server. You could also make use of the All-in-One WP Migration plugin to export just the files.
- How do I make sure the correct themes and plugins are setup on my multisite?
-
It’s likely easiest to just freshly install the themes and plugins on your Multisite. If you have a custom theme or plugin on your standalone site, you will need to copy it over the same way you copied your media files.
- Will a future version of this plugin make it easier for me to export my media files, themes and plugins?
-
Maybe. This plugin was created in haste to tackle a problem that wasn’t already solved by some other plugin like the WP Migrate DB plugin or the All-in-One WP Migration plugin plugin. These plugins both suggest they have a PRO version coming that offers multisite migration. This plugin will always remain Free however.
Contributors & Developers
“Export 2 Multisite” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
Translate “Export 2 Multisite” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
0.2
- In Advanced Options there is now a way to supply the database prefix of the target multisite (in case it’s not wp_).
0.1
- The first release of this plugin.