Export Copy WordPress Pages Between Sites to HTML

WordPress has a built-in way to copy content between sites. It's not perfect, but it works for basic transfers.

The process: on your source site, go to Tools > Export. Select what you want, all content, just posts, just pages, or specific categories. Click Download Export File. You get an XML file with your content.

On the destination site, go to Tools > Import. Click WordPress, install the importer if prompted, upload your XML file. WordPress creates the posts and pages, downloads images, sets up authors.

What transfers: post and page content, featured images, categories and tags, author information. What doesn't: theme styling, widget settings, plugin configurations, custom fields (sometimes).

This works fine for basic content. Standard paragraphs, headings, lists, images. The Gutenberg block editor makes this more reliable, blocks usually survive the journy.

Page builders complicate things.

Elementor, Divi, Beaver Builder, they store design data in custom formats. WordPress's export might grab the content but lose all the layout information. You end up with a mess of raw text and shortcodes.

Use the page builder's own export instead. Elementor has template export/import in the template library. Divi has its layout system. These preserve the actual design.

Plugin options if you do this often:

WP All Export / WP All Import is the power tool. Export anything, import anywhere, map fields between sites. It's paid ($99+) but handles complex transfers well.

Jetrails Starter Sites lets you save page templates and reuse them. Good for agencies building similar sites repeatedly.

For just a few pages, copy-paste might be fastest. Copy the content in the block editor, paste into the new site. Images won't come over, you'll need to re-upload those. But the text and layout blocks transfer.

Here's a scenario that's often overlooked: you don't need both sites to be WordPress.

If you're archiving pages, or copying to a site you rarely update, consider exporting to static HTML instead. Our tool renders WordPress pages and saves them as files. No import needed on the other end, just upload HTML.

This works especially well when the destination isn't WordPress at all. Copying from WordPress to a static site, or just keeping local backups. The HTML files are universal.

Whatever method you choose, check the results. Links might break if URL structures differ. Shortcodes won't work if the plugins aren't installed. Images sometimes need manual attention. Quick review saves debuging later.