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Drupal is an open source platform that is used for development of wide array of websites ranging from e-commerce and social media to personal websites and business portals. It facilitates the creation of highly secure interfaces but even then a lot of owners want to use services like Drupal to WordPress migration in order to benefit from the advantageous features of the other free CMS. One of the major reasons that prompt users to make the switch is that it takes a lot of time and effort apart from possession of a technical background for understanding Drupal. While the process of converting a website from Drupal to WordPress can be done manually, in this blog we are presenting an easier method to do the same job, with the help of a plugin.

Before moving ahead and listing the easy steps in which a person can complete the whole procedure without needing to engage a Drupal to WordPress service, it will be wise to keep in mind a couple of points. The first is to install the setup of WordPress on your system and the second is to hire a suitable web hosting and domain name service. Most users would be already registered with such a service but switching to a facility that caters specifically to WordPress websites will be a better option. Registering with an operator which provides specialized services will be helpful in getting access to efficient support apart from ensuring high performance of the interface with reduced latency. Most services also offer automatic backup and staging site facilities, necessary for testing the new modifications before making them go live. Downloading the setup of the CMS from any such service is also going to be a simple and easy process.

3 Easy Steps For Migrating Website From Drupal To WordPress Using Plugin

The manual way of doing the conversion requires the person doing it to have sufficient knowledge of coding and SQL queries. This method is ideal for users who do not possess the requisite technical expertise to conduct the process manually. A plugin called FG Drupal to WordPress is being used for changing the platforms of a virtual interface originally fashioned with the help of Drupal. The plugin is available in free as well as a paid premium version and depending upon the requirements, either of them can be selected for the purpose.

Step 1

The first step is to log on to the Admin dashboard of the WordPress installation and find the “Plugins” section in the menu :

Use the above image as reference and click on the “Add New” tab (highlighted in the box in the left hand side) which will take you to the page shown in the image. In the search field (highlighted in the box in the upper right hand corner ), type the name of the plugin i.e FG Drupal to WordPress which will throw up only one search result. Click on the “Install Now” tab and wait till the button changes to “Activate”. This signifies that the plugin has been installed and once you click the “Activate” tab, the process of activation will be completed.

Step 2

The user must be aware about some key parameters of the Drupal installation such as Drupal username, password, hostname, database name and prefix. This information if not already in possession can be obtained by accessing the files of the said installation using an FTP client. Once the files are accessed, locate the site/ default directory and then find a file named “settings.php”. The file can be opened with a text editor and the user will find all the necessary information in it. Save all this data in a secure and easily accessible location as it will be needed in the following step. An image is being presented here to use as reference for locating the “settings.php” file.

Step 3

In the final and concluding step of Drupal to WordPress migration procedure, the convenient and easy to use nature of WordPress will be fully evident to a user. In the dashboard of the CMS, find the “Tools” option and click on it, which will show the tab for “Import”. When this button is clicked, the option for Drupal will be visible in this “Import” menu as shown in the image below.

The “Run Importer” option when selected will take you to a new page with a number of fields which need to be configured and this is where the information found in the preceding step by accessing the “settings.php” file, will be used. Enter all the data and to ensure that no error occurs, simply cut and paste the information from the location where it was saved by you in step 2.

Now the settings for the migration of the post summaries and the media files need to be configured and for that selecting the “to the content” option in the “Import Summary” field will import them using Read more link. Take a close look at the “Medias” section and you will find that there is an option to skip the process if the user does not desire to transfer the media files. There is also another useful option which will help in importing only the “featured images” that appeared with a post or on a page. Another beneficial feature present here is the “timeout for each media” setting in which a specified time limit can be set in which the media will be imported.

Once all necessary items have been configured, select the “Start/Resume the import ” option and the whole process of migration to WordPress will be concluded in due time. Wait for the success message to appear and then move to the bottom of the settings page to the “Modify internal links” tab which will update any internal link present according to the new website structure.

The process of switching the platform of your interface is now complete.

Conclusion

After the successful completion of the procedure of  Drupal to WordPress migration, the owner can take advantage of all the useful features like themes and plugins and add more functionalities to the interface in addition to making it more attractive in appearance, so that increased returns on investment can be generated. Anyone desiring to hire professional services for the purpose can call +1.415.548.6170 and request a quote.