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Before importing

Treat an import as a content migration, not as a file upload. Source systems differ in how they represent dates, drafts, page hierarchy, images, links, summaries, and slugs.

Before the preview

  1. Create and verify a current backup.
  2. Decide whether the content belongs in the root site or an author space.
  3. Create the target account before importing into an author space.
  4. Keep the account's sign-in disabled if the author space is intended as a locked section rather than a login account.
  5. Check the PHP upload and memory limits when using the browser.
  6. Use the CLI for large source files or long-running imports.

An inactive account remains a valid import target. Authors can import only into their own space; a superadmin can choose another permitted target.

Read the preview

Check at least:

  • post and page counts
  • published and unpublished counts
  • target scope and author
  • duplicate or adjusted slugs
  • page parents and ordering
  • source dates
  • missing or unresolved media
  • any option that deletes existing target content

A preview does not reserve the target permanently. Content changed after preview can still cause a conflict when the import runs.

Replace options

Replace options are destructive. They delete all existing entries of the selected type in the target scope before the first import batch. They do not limit deletion to matching slugs.

Leave replace options off when adding content to an existing site. With replacement off, existing entries are not overwritten; duplicate slug and type conflicts are skipped and reported.

Interrupted browser imports

Browser imports run in batches. If the session expires or a request is interrupted, sign in again, reopen the same preview, and choose Resume import.

Only one import can hold a target lock at a time. Open the earlier import when it is still valid. Release its lock only when that import has stopped. Override a stale lock from the preview or with --force-lock in the CLI.

Temporary import workspaces normally expire after seven days of inactivity. --keep-preview retains a CLI preview until it is removed manually.