You might be thinking to migrate your Joomla website to WordPress. Well, it might prove to be a great decision after all as WordPress has a larger user base and a vast variety of plugins.
So if you are sure about your decision then go through the following steps to transfer your website from Joomla to WordPress.
Prerequisites
To get started you would require:
- Hosting
- A Domain Name
- Your WordPress installation completely set up.
Feel free to choose a domain of your choice and then look for a good host. Once you have done it, install WordPress.
Step 1: Installing Joomla Plugin
Navigate to the ‘Plugins’ tab in your WordPress dashboard. Look for the ‘Add New’ button at the button. Click on it.
In the search bar, type ‘FG Joomla to WordPress’.
Doing this will present you to a list of many plugins claiming to give you the best performance.
But you have got to stick to the plugin that matches exactly to your search keywords; at least for the sake of this tutorial.
The plugin that you are looking for would be the first in the list. Once you have found it, click on the ‘Install Now’ button next to its name.
You will be taken to the next page saying ‘Installing Plugin: FG Joomla to WordPress’. Click on the ‘Activate Plugin’ button at the bottom.
Step 2: Getting Familiar With Your Database Settings
Now you have got to log in to your Joomla control panel. Click on the first option in the top menu, i.e., ‘System’.
A drop-down menu will appear, click on the option that says ‘Global Configuration’.
This would take you to the ‘Global Configuration’ panel. Then you need to get to the ‘Database Settings’ under the ‘Server’ tab.
Don’t close this tab. As the information on the screen will be used further.
Step 3: Importing to WordPress From Joomla
Go to your WordPress dashboard. Click on the ‘Tools’ tab and select the ‘Import’ option from the list.
This will present you with a list of many options to choose from. Look for ‘Joomla (FG)’
Now you will have to make some choices and fill some fields.
In the first option, you need to click on ‘Empty WordPress Content’ button. This is necessary for the process to be done properly.
Under the ‘Joomla web site parameters’ you will required to provide your Joomla web site’s URL.
Then under the ‘Joomla database parameters’ you will have to type in the details form the tab that I asked you to keep open.
In case you are not sure if the details that you have entered are correct or not you can click on the ‘Test the database connection’ at the bottom.
The content that gets imported on the top of your main Joomla pages and posts will be eternised by the options that are left.
To be on the safer side you can skip the media import. This will save a lot of your time and probability to run into errors. However, you will have to upload your media files manually later on.
But in case you want the process to be fast and the media to imported automatically you can check the box next to the option ‘Force media import. Keep unchecked expect if you had previously some media download issues.’
Under the Media options, you will see an option that will import your Joomla meta keywords as tags.
Click on the ‘Save settings’ button and then click on the ‘Start/Resume the Import’ button at the bottom.
You will be presented with a success message as the import process completes.
Step 4: Modifying The Internal Links
If you got that success message, it means that you have successfully moved everything from your Joomla website to WordPress; except for the internal links.
Well, this process is extremely simple.
Just go to your WordPress dashboard. Click on the ‘Tools’ and click on ‘Import’. At the bottom, under ‘After the migration’ you will find an option to ‘Modify internal links’. Click on it.
Well, that’s it. I told you that it would be easy.