Help guide

Import your WordPress blog

Moving from WordPress? Download one export file and choose it in WorkspaceCMS. Every published post arrives as a draft, with its images copied over, so nothing goes live until you have checked it.

  • Every plan
  • Owners and editors
  • About 5 minutes plus import time

Before you start

You will need

  • An administrator login for your WordPress site.
  • To be an owner or editor on your WorkspaceCMS site.
  • A computer with a web browser. Keep the window open while the import runs; a large blog can take a few minutes because every image is copied.

Switching with our team?

When we build your new site, your blog posts come with you as part of the switch, so you can skip this. This guide is for bringing posts across yourself.

Download your export file from WordPress

  1. Sign in to your WordPress dashboard.
  2. In the left menu, open Tools, then Export.
  3. Choose All content, or just Posts.
  4. Click Download Export File. WordPress saves an .xml file to your computer.

If the file is larger than 150 MB, export only Posts instead of All content.

Import the posts into WorkspaceCMS

  1. Sign in to WorkspaceCMS. Open Blog, then Blog Posts.
  2. Click Import from WordPress at the top of the page.
  3. Click Choose the export file and pick the .xml file you downloaded. The importer reads it and tells you how many published posts it found. Nothing is saved yet.
  4. Click the Import button. A progress bar shows each post as it arrives. Keep the window open until it finishes.

Review and publish

  1. Click Review my drafts. Your imported posts are waiting there.
  2. Open each post and check the text, images, categories and SEO title.
  3. Publish it. Each post keeps its original publish date, so your blog stays in the same order.

What comes across

Comes across

  • Published and scheduled blog posts
  • Post text and formatting
  • Images in the post, copied to your site
  • The featured image
  • Categories and tags
  • The excerpt
  • The original publish date
  • Yoast or Rank Math SEO titles and descriptions, when they are plain text
  • A redirect from each old address that changed

Does not come across

  • WordPress pages
  • Unpublished drafts
  • Comments
  • Plugin features such as contact forms, galleries or shops

Before you cancel your WordPress hosting

  1. Check the importer’s report for images it could not copy. Those images still load from your old site, so replace them in the post editor first.
  2. Point your domain to your WorkspaceCMS site. Redirects from old post addresses start working once the domain points here and each post is published.
  3. Publish the posts you want to keep live.

Troubleshooting

“That file is larger than 150 MB.”

In WordPress, export only Posts instead of All content, then choose the new file.

“That file could not be read. Is it the export file from WordPress?”

Choose the .xml file from WordPress Tools, then Export. Other files, such as a database backup or a plugin export, are refused.

It found fewer posts than I expected

Only published and scheduled posts are imported. Drafts, private posts and pages are left out. Check you chose All content or Posts when you exported.

The connection dropped, or I closed the window

Import the same file again. Posts that already arrived are skipped, so it picks up where it stopped.

I do not see the Import from WordPress button

Only owners and editors see it. Ask your account owner to change your role, or ask them to run the import.

FAQ

Questions,
answered.

Comparing platforms first? See WorkspaceCMS vs WordPress.

Which plans can import from WordPress?

Every plan. Account owners and editors see the Import from WordPress button.

Does it import my WordPress pages?

No, only blog posts. Your WorkspaceCMS pages are built from your site design, so add them from Pages or ask our team to build them.

Will my posts go live straight away?

No. Every imported post arrives as a draft, so nothing changes on your site until you check a post and publish it.

What happens to my old post addresses?

When a post had a different address on WordPress, a redirect from the old address to the new one is added. Links and search rankings follow it once your domain points to your WorkspaceCMS site and the post is published.

Can I import the same file twice?

Yes. Posts already on your blog with the same address are skipped, so a second run only adds what is missing. This is also how to finish an import that was interrupted.

Some images could not be copied. What now?

The importer tells you how many. Those images still load from your old site, so replace them in the post editor before you cancel your old hosting.