At some point in your blogging journey, you may need to transfer posts you’ve written on one website to another one. Maybe you’ve created a new site with similar content, have posts in categories you want to niche down to on a different site, or other reasons. You could copy and paste the posts over one by one but who has time for that? A much easier way to get your posts onto the new site is to use WordPress’ Export/Import function found under the Tools tab of your dashboard. In this post, you’ll learn how to import and export WordPress posts with ease.
Here’s how to get it done.
First, it’s a good idea to backup your site just in case there are issues or you change your mind. My post on backing up your site for free will guide you through the process using the UpdraftPlus plugin.
Exporting Your Files
- Log in, as the administrator, into the WordPress dashboard where the posts are housed
- Scroll down to the Tools tab on the left
- Select Export from the Tools menu
Choose What to Export
- Select Posts from the menu, then choose the category of the posts you want to export if needed
- Select the Author and Date Span if this applies.
- Download the Export file (.xml format – see screenshot)
You’ll have to do the same thing for your media files as you’ll have to export those separately
- Repeat the previous steps for the media (image) files – Download those as well
Now that you have your Post and Media files downloaded, it’s time to Import them to the new site!
Import Your Post and Media Files
- Open a new browser and log in to the new site as the Administrator
- Go to Tools
- Select Import
- Scroll down to the WordPress Importer (see below)
- Click Install Now
- Drag your export files (.xml) from the bottom left of your screen into the Choose file section on your screen
- Then select Upload File and Import – Your posts will be uploaded to the new site
- View your site to make sure the posts are all there
Repeat the process for the media files you downloaded as well
- Drag and drop the media files into the Choose File section and Upload File and Import
Again, view your site once the media files upload.
If you’re missing any media files from your posts page, you may have to manually add them using the “Add Media” button.
Note: This process can be used to export all the content on your site over as well.
That’s it! If you have any issues, send me an email and I’ll get back to you with some help!
