Will it work for 5yo visualcomposer site I want to change to elementor?

Hi @tekgirlymama

I’ve created this plugin, especially for this kind of situation.

I suggest making a full backup and then trying.

Install the plugin on the old website. Then go to Tools => Export.
Be sure the checkbox “Convert shortcodes to HTML” is checked. If you want to add a list of shortcodes you want to keep, add them in the textarea below that checkbox.
Be sure VisualComposer is active during the exporting process. Then export the pages.

On the new website, you will need to import the file that you exported before, in Tools => Import.

I hope it helps.

Best regards

Jose

Thank you for speedy reply and for this plugin.
Sounds awesome!

So basically, it should generate the contents as though no builder shortcodes exited and yet have all images as styled via builder elements/shortcodes?
Or just plain text and raw image display in posts after conversion?

How would it play when site has a new builder? CSS added per page onto pages and they are still normal WP posts/pages or turned into HTML files?

thanks again

HI @tekgirlymama

a little late.

The plugin converts the content to pure HTML the output of the shortcodes, but you can edit it with the new builder. It’s not saved to files, but to the database.

Imagine you have a page with this content:

Hello! This is some content.
[sample_shortcode]Hello! Blabla[/sample_shortcode]
Blablabla

If the shortcode sample_shortcode output was for example this:

<div class="sample-class">Hello! Blabla</div>

Then you will have:

Hello! This is some content.
<div class="sample-class">Hello! Blabla</div>
Blablabla

The plugin doesn’t care about the CSS. The style will be inherited by the new builder or theme. It just “freezes” the output of the shortcoes.

I hope it helps.

Have a great day

Jose

Better late than never ??
thanks so much for your time and the plugin, Jose!

Hi Jose,

I’m trying to do this. I exported from the old site.
Can I add it to the new site when the domain is identical, just on another IP/server?

I find it rather challenging, as be it on the old server with the old builder from 7 years ago sitebuild or on a new server with updated theme & plugin [but with shortcodes all over the place] – site dies when i import it. Or when I try to map [on old server i could at least get that far]. On new server it’s a white screen of death. and much trouble trying to fix it every time.

Also, unclear to me how to proceed with import… My site has all attachments after all, and i just need cleaned contents without the shortcodes but with the contents shortcodes render….so do I need to re-import images and pdf files?!
This makes up [unzipped] ~2GB…
and again to optimize all images..?

thanks

I tested importing again on my new build and managed to get this time to the mapping authors and selected to download&upload attachments.

Finally, after a while, results came in: long list saying media already exists and posts already exist.

So nothing was overwritten at all and still after 2.5 long days of struggle i’m left with same issue of the shortcodes all over the place ??

part 3:
Especially a problem when on the new site I no longer use WP Bakery and Templatera plugins – bakery builder would kill site if existed on new server. 7y old and can’t tolerate WP current version, php8 etc. I had to clean up site.
So I see in import notices:

Failed to import “Book Review Post”: Invalid post type templatera
Failed to import “Author Interview Post”: Invalid post type templatera
Failed to import “”: Invalid post type vc_grid_item
Post “”Drowning” – A Dark Poem by Theresa Ryder” already exists.
Media “Wolf Painting” already exists.
etc

Any suggestions? I can’t delete content / empty DB tables as then no content.

I looked at the old site’s export file [following you instructions above] and it has not much aside from authors, tags, categories.

So I am confused and exhausted of ideas what to do.

—-
“The plugin doesn’t care about the CSS. ”
Well, would be nice if it picked up the rendered content from the shortcodes and if an image is in a grid will it then just dump it unformatted and without the shortcode’s CSS into the post?

Hi @tekgirlymama as said this plugin only converts shortcodes to pure HTML, nothing else. You can’t ask for more than that from this plugin.

If on the destination site for example you haven’t the plugin that registers the post type “Book Review Post”, of course, you can’t import the “Book Review Post” post type.

And be sure that before exporting the plugins that add the shortcodes are active, in another case the shortcodes can’t be converted to HTML.

Probably, you expect something from this plugin that it can’t do.

Best regards

Jose