Migrate Wordpress to Static HTML

Convert WordPress Site to Static HTML.

01

Export Content

Static site generators such as Jekyll include tools to export from WordPress however this simply converts the HTML to markdown. As a WordPress user why not stick with HTML and export the content from MySQL.

02

Themes

Themes have been feature of WordPress since version 1. If you are migrating your site why not use your existing WordPress theme with YouDoCMS and avoid unnecessary complication.

03

Navigation

Avoid breaking the navigation of your website at all costs. Google never forgets a URL and you will squander your crawl budget while Googlebot looks for old URL's.

Export WordPress to static HTML?

Export your data directly from MySQL.

Fortunately there is a solution. YouDoCMS includes a MySQL connector to export your existing site and convert WordPress to static html.

YouDoCMS supports direct conversion of a WordPress 5 site into the static equivalent. Export all existing content as html plus the relationships between pages, posts, categories, tags, menus and widgets all match the original structure. All URL'S are updated with the static file paths using WordPress permalinks and base category settings.

Yoast SEO Compatible

YouDoCMS is compatible with the Yoast and SEO data is exported from MySQL. SEO functionality for example the Flesch reading score, key phrase analysis and JSON-LD schema is included at no extra cost.

Pages and Posts

Export your pages and posts from the WordPress MySQL database into YouDoCMS. On export all URL'S embedded within the HTML and referencing the local file system, are rewritten from the PHP original to the static equivalent URL.

Exported pages and posts are also related to the same categories as WordPress. Pages and Posts can be moved between categories published and unpublished and related to menus in exactly the same way as WordPress.

Page and Post parameters also exported along with the published status and date ensuring you do not lose any data.

  • Export permalinks and existing URL'S.
  • Publish Status and Date.
  • Image URL'S.
  • Page and Post Tags.
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Categories

Categories are exported including any subcategories. All images category parameters, publish status and options are also exported.

Any URLs within the category description are rewritten from the PHP original to the static URL. 

  • Nested categories.
  • Category description.
  • Export slug.
  • Supports Tags.
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Multiple Menus 

Export the menus from your site with the existing locations. Multiple menus are supported. The menu system works exactly the same as your existing WordPress CMS and includes additional functionality not available on WordPress.

  • Create menu aliases.
  • Multiple menu types for pages, posts, categories and tags.
  • 301 re-directs if you rename or delete a menu.
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Media Library.

Download all of your existing images via FTP from your WordPress site. The folder structure is recreated so all of the image URLs within your pages and posts remain valid.

  • Export to a local folder via FTP.
  • Preview images on your local machine.
  • Batch resize images to create responsive formats.
  • Local image paths are available to the TinyMCE editor.

Tags

Tags are exported with expanded functionality and two types of tag widget.

Category Lists 

Our category widget incorporates lists of subcategories and lists of pages or posts.

Any Location

Incorporate a widget in any location and include on any page. You are no longer restricted to the sidebar.

Page List

Our page list widget can display pages by category or subcategory. You are no longer restricted to show all pages in the page list.

Wordpress widgets?

Import your default site widgets.

If you have default widgets already defined for your site these are exported and available to include in your new template. Unlike WordPress you can incorporate any widget in any location on any page. If you incorporate the same widget on two separate pages a single URL is created to default location to avoid duplicate content.

Why Convert WordPress to Static HTML?

Understand the pro's and cons of conversion and how you benefit.

Static websites have many advantages primarily faster page loading speed and better security. On the other hand dynamic pages generated by content management systems such as WordPress provide great flexibility. According to W3Techs, 68.9% of websites have a CMS. WordPress market share has been steady at 64% whereas static sites have been growing as developers switch to the Jamstack. Furthermore a survey by Web Almanac 2021 shows Jamstack  adoption growing rapidly. As of 2021, 1.1% of desktop web pages are powered by Jamstack and for mobile 0.93%

WordPress Migration Options

Outlined below are the key features and benefits which need to be considered when migrating from WordPress to the JAMstack. The three use cases are a manual approach with a static site generator such as Hugo or Jekyll. Remaining with WordPress or using WordPress as a headless CMS. Lastly adopting the YouDoCMS serverless content management system.

Manual/Static
WordPress
YouDoCMS
Free Plan
Free Hosting
Content Editor
Categories
Tags
Site Search
SEO JSON-LD
301 Redirects
Cloud Integration
Pretty Urls
Export MySQL
Backup
Clone Site
Responsive Images
Security
Scalability
Server Log Analytics

KEY FEATURES EXPLAINED

Speed Matters?

Faster speed is known metric for Google particularly for content-focused websites. WordPress and CMS in general score badly on the Lighthouse performance metric with a score of 26% compared to this page on GTMetrix which is 100%.

Save money go serverless?

Static sites do not require an Apache Web Server or PHP. Resources are much lower which is why a static site loads faster. For small to medium traffic static sites the major cloud providers offer hosting for free whereas WordPress.com is a minimum of 50-100 USD per year.

Secure by design?

WordPress is the most popular content management system and is a target for hackers. Version 5 of WordPress has been updated 80+ times since the original release of version 5.0 the majority of the updates are security releases prevent hackers gaining access to a site. Static websites generated off-line are secure by default and cannot be hacked.

How to convert WordPress to static HTML?

There are WordPress plug-ins to create a static site from a WordPress instance. However these require a working WordPress server which is used to generate the static pages. So this is not a true serverless solution.

YouDoCMS supports migration directly from WordPress MySQL database. Jekyll also supports WordPress conversion to markdown. However this does not include categories. Hugo also has a Java tool for exporting WordPress to markdown. However unlike the Jekyll plug-in you do not use WordPress as a headless CMS.

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How to import WordPress into a headless CMS?

YouDoCMS supports direct conversion of WordPress into a static equivalent. On export all existing content is imported as html and the relationships between pages, posts, categories, tags and menus match the originals. A google for  "headless CMS migrate WordPress" does not find any headless CMS supporting direct migration from WordPress.

Updating Content

Traditional static site generators such as Hugo and Jekyll require the user to learn the markdown language and edit using a text editor. For many years WordPress used the familiar TinyMCE HTML editor and this is still one of the most popular plug-ins.  YouDoCMS incorporates the same WordPress classic editor with very similar features.

Cloud Deployment

WordPress users are familiar with updating content which then becomes instantly available on the internet. Switching to the JAMstack with a static site generator will involve manually uploading files to the cloud hosting provider using the command line. YouDoCMS GUI is integrated with the five leading cloud API's for a single click deployment to your host.

SEO and Redirects

By default WordPress does not include automatic 301 redirects when the slug to a page or post is updated. To achieve this WordPress users install a redirection plug-in. Similarly for search engine optimisation the most popular WordPress plug-in is Yoast (£99 per year) which provides a search and redirect functionality to improve Google search results. YouDoCMS includes the same functionality (reading score and keyphrase analysis) as Yoast and also imports the Yoast data.

Site Backup

There are a variety of WordPress plug-ins available to backup your WordPress site. Most of these have both free and paid versions. Basic site backup is a feature of all of the plug-ins but generally for a single domain. If you want to manage multiple domains and or clone sites for example UpdraftPlus premium is $84 per year. YouDoCMS incorporates cloning and single click site backup and including images into a single file which can be stored anywhere on the network or a USB drive.

Site Analytics

YouDoCMS includes server log analytics which is linked to your content to provide common metrics such as entry and exit pages, bounce rate, visitor geolocation and search engine crawl monitoring. AWS CloudFront and Azure both offer analysis via the server logs which means you do not need JavaScript tracking. Firebase is reliant upon Google analytics which can be blocked by browser extensions. However if you are an existing Google analytics user then Firebase is the best option. Cloudflare also provides JavaScript analytics (paid). See site analytics.

App Features

YouDoCMS is the only app you need to create fast responsive serverless websites.

Cloud Integration

Deploy your static site to all of the major cloud providers including automatic cache validation to update the site on the CDN.

Static Site Builder

Static sites are faster and more secure. Build local and deploy to cloud without paying for builds.

Local Site Previews

YouDoCMS includes a zero-configuration Web server allowing instant previews of a page or site.

Responsive Images

Optimise your site with responsive images. Automatically create up to 4 thumbnail images using preset dimensions.

Theme Library

YouDoCMS Includes a free open source template library on GitHub.

Yoast SEO Compatible

YouDoCMS is compatible with the Yoast. Calculate the readability score and manage meta information to improve your search results.