Once you have exported the content, you will have a *.cbox file. To import the file, in the admin, click on Tools > Import.
To import your cbox file, select Import ContentBox Package and then select the file by browsing your computer, and click Start Import.
Word of Warning - Whenever you are migrating data, you should always create a full database back up just in case. We have designed the import and export to be as effective as possible, but it always pays to be safe, when working with data.
To get to the Import Tools, in the admin, click on Tools > Import.
The Import Tools page displays 2 main options, ContentBox Package ( .cbox ) or Database Import. In Tip 10, we talked about importing from a ContentBox package, but in this tip, we are going to click Import from Database and then enter your database connection criteria to complete the import.
This server must have a defined datasource to the source blog database in order to import it. Please make sure this datasource exists in the ColdFusion administrator. If you have not done this yet, please login into your ColdFusion Administrator ( or Lucee admin ) and setup the datasource for the database you wish to import.
Enter the Datasource name that you created, and Username/ Password if required.
Next we have to choose the type of data you are importing, and any special setup you might have used. Select the Importer Source - Mango, WordPress, BlogCFC or MachBlog ( please let us know if your CMS is not on this list and would like us to enter it )
Table Prefix - when installing the blog, some blog software allow you to select a table prefix. To import your data correctly, we need to know what Prefix the database is using.
Default Author Password - Since systems encrypt passwords, we cannot simple copy them over, we need to create new ones. Please enter a default author password to set this as the default, and then you can modify them once they are imported into ContentBox.
Since Roles are not the same between blogs, please select the default Author Role you wish to use for Authors imported through this process. You can manually change them after the import.
When you are all set, click Start Import, and be patient. This process might take some time.
Note: We have worked hard to make sure this process is as smooth as possible. There may be some data that does not transfer over automatically, but this should give you a great starting point, if converting from another blog.
Remember, always back up your data and files before doing imports like this, to be sure… and never do this in production.
Whether you have a website with a lot of traffic, or not, it pays to have a test / staging site setup to test out changes to your website. One of the biggest problems with having a staging and production website, is moving data from one environment into another. This need inspired the Content Import and Export features in ContentBox.
The Import and Export tools are located in the Admin menu under Tools.
From this panel you can choose to export your entire site or parts of it as a *.box archive package.
You have 2 options, Export everything, and Mr Picky, where you can pick and choose.
As you can see in the pick and choose, there are lots of options. Pages, Entries, Categories, ContentStore, Authors, Roles, Permissions, Security Rules, Settings and much more. This makes it easy to pick and choose the content you need to move.
When you are ready, you can click Export Preview to see exactly what will be exported ( see below ).
Once you are happy with your selection, click Start Export
Once complete, you will be prompted to save your cbox file.
Once you have exported your content into a cbox file, you can import it to the installation of your choice, through Tools > Import
ContentBox 3.1 now supports the generation of static sites from your content and even your blog. This is a great addition to ContentBox as now you can produce static versions and workflows, deploy to CDN networks, secure your content and much more. Once you click on the Start Generation button, ContentBox will go over your entire site and produce a static archive for you in the associated theme. It will also announce two interception points for you during the process:
cbadmin_preStaticSiteExport : Receives all the export options in the intercept data so you can alter the export behavior.
cbadmin_postStaticSiteExport : Receives all the export options and also a results structure with the following keys: exportLog:builder, exportDirectory, exportArchive. This is a great way to listen for the export and send to S3 for archiving, etc.
Warning Dynamic elements like commenting, searching, etc must require a JavaScript implementation. So make sure you have a static export strategy in place.
