Procedure to Load a WP Backup

The process is described in the Nikola handbook at Importing Wordpress. This page builds on that description but generally follows the procedure as described.

Download Most Recent Backup from Google Drive

The db.gz file contains the SQL DB and is the primary file for getting the information needed to convert the WP photo ID's to the pathnames needed in Nikola. The 'other' files contain all pictures and other files of possible interest.

Because of a bug in the database backup/restore, the backup file will not successfully import into a MySQL DB without a minor fixup. The photo tables are defined to have a default date (eg., required), the backup has a default date of '0000-00-00' which is invalid. To successfully import the db file, you need to modify all occurrences of the date string. I generally set it to '2000-01-01' though anything will do. Because of the large size of the file, most editors have trouble loading/modifying it.

There is a plugin (wp_db_fix) which reads the database file and makes the needed corrections. To use, move the input file into the support directory using the name db.sql (or modify the code with a different name). From a terminal, cd back to the normal site (this is to get access to plugins). Run nikola wp_db_fix which will take several seconds and should report several changes. You can cd back to new_site. It will create a file db2.sql also in the support directory containing the modified file. You may remove them from the support directory when done.

Use Datagrip to Import the WP DB File

This creates the pics.csv file used by convert_shortcodes to map WP picture ID's to Nikola pathnames. 1. Open DataGrip and create a new schema ('s3' in this example). 2. In a console run the statement: use s3; 3. Right click on the schema in the database tree on the left and select Run SQL Script 4. Navigate to your database file created above and select it. It should read the database, and you can follow progress in the terminal. 5. Create and run the query: select t1.pid, t1.filename, t1.alttext, t1.imagedate, t1.description, t2.path from wp_ngg_pictures as t1 join wp_ngg_gallery as t2 on t1.galleryid = t2.gid order by t1.pid; in the console and run it (ctrl-enter). 6. Right-click on the console (with the result of the previous query) and select Export Data. 7. Navigate to the files directory of the new_site and select. Select CSV (default) and no headers (default). Set the filename to pics.csv. 8. Create and run the query select post_name, post_title from wp_posts where post_status="publish" and post_type='page';
9. Right-click on the console (with the result of the previous query) and select Export Data. 10. Navigate to the files directory of the new_site and select. Select CSV (default) and no headers (default). Set the filename to posts.csv.

Import Images

This will copy the image files from the backup to the images folder. 1. Extract the files in the backup labeled 'others'. Navigate to the gallery folder and copy the contents to the image folder (will take a while) 2. Open folder 'others2'. Again, copy contents. Duplicate folders will merge content. 3. Repeat 'others3' 4. Repeat 'others4' 5. Copy del_thumbnails.py from existing site into new_site. Edit file and modify pathname (new_site) if needed. 6. In a terminal: python3 del_thumbnails.py (no '-m' argument). It should delete a few hundred directories and probably 0 files.

Save Zip Copies

In order to avoid rerunning import, etc., it is a good idea to grab a zip of the pages and images folders. This will allow you to replace the active copies if they have been modified (e.g., shortcodes fixed, ...) and the process goes awry somehow. Can delete this step when/if importing becomes stable.

Other Imports

Uploads and downloads from WP exist in some of the 'other' folders. Find and copy relevant content to corresponding folders (look at existing site for guidance). Alternatively, copy the content from the existing site to the new site and check if there is anything possibly missed and find a copy (probably on live site) and bring it over.

Check for proper pdf downloading. Probably check after site is generating correctly, but the issue seems to be a failure to capture all the pdfs (some are individual files in downloads folder - not directories) and possible naming inconsistencies (e.g, Best_Books... vs BestBooks... ). Look in Libraries, Birthdays, veterans...

Copy Plugins, Themes, Support, SC_Templates, Conf.py

1. Copy plugins, themes, sc_templates, support folders from the existing site to the new site.
2. Copy Conf.py and replace copy in existing site. Scan conf.py for instances of existing site and replace with new_site (should be three that are paths - ignore them, site name). Alternatively, rename existing site to xxxOLD and rename new site to match old site.

Run Fixes

If there are any fixes in fixes.txt, run nikola wp_fixups_from_issues.

Convert Shortcodes and Build

Run nikola convert_shortcodes.

If all goes well, run nikola build.

Run nikola serve and use browser to see if site has imported properly.

Uploading to PythonAnywhere

The easiest way to update PA is to zip the pages, images, and gallery directories and copy them using PyCharm remote host browsing (just drag and drop). It will take a while (several minutes). Delete the existing directories and then from a bash console in PA, unzip the files. Run nikola build.