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Quick way to transfer minor SiteOrigin changes between test and live websites

I currently run two identical websites (very simple with just 6 pages) on two different domains, one for testing changes and another which is the live site. Both domains are currently hosted by www.1and1.co.uk, although I also use WampServer for testing.

Currently transferring from the test site domain to the live site domain is laborious and takes a couple of hours (Filezilla to transfer all WP files, export the SQL database, change config files, links etc. etc.). But usually I just make some minor changes to the existing SiteOrigin widgets, or add some new SiteOrigin widgets. Is there an easy way to copy these changes over? There must be just a handful of files that will do the job?

TBH I am a bit of noob, and I don’t even quite understand the different roles of the WP files vs the SQL database!

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  1. 4 years, 10 months ago Andrew Misplon
    Hi, I Work Here

    Hi, thanks for reaching out.

    Within Page Builder go to LayoutsImport/ExportDownload Layout. That’ll download a JSON file to your desktop, you can then follow that same process to import a layout. You can choose to append above or below or replace the page when importing.

    For smaller groups of widgets, you might consider adding widgets via a Layout Builder widget, that’ll let you repeat this process for a smaller grouping.

    Hope that helps.

  2. 4 years, 10 months ago Obelix27

    Thanks, and that certainly helps. A couple of problems

    – when I press Insert and select “Replace Current” it pauses for a couple of seconds and then stays on the Page Builder Layouts page. Nothing is actually changed. So I have to manually delete every row and then select Insert Before.

    – the links in my page (perhaps not surprisingly) don’t get updated.

    – but the bigger problem is that new media (pictures etc.) are not copied across.

    So it seems a lot of manual work is still required, with the corresponding room for bugs!

    This must be a common problem as I can’t imagine people work on live sites. Is there a better way to do this?

  3. 4 years, 10 months ago Andrew Misplon
    Hi, I Work Here

    Hi :)

    When I press Insert and select “Replace Current” it pauses for a couple of seconds and then stays on the Page Builder Layouts page. Nothing is actually changed. So I have to manually delete every row and then select Insert Before.

    Please, try troubleshooting this issue. Start by temporarily deactivating all non-SiteOrigin plugins. Does the issue persist with all non-SiteOrigin plugins deactivated? That’ll let you know if a plugin conflict might be the cause.

    The links in my page (perhaps not surprisingly) don’t get updated.

    We’re exporting static content so this is expected.

    But the bigger problem is that new media (pictures etc.) are not copied across.

    I don’t believe there is a solution for this. Some widgets offer an External URL field for images. That’ll copy across but then you’ll be loading images from your test site.

    I’ll confirm and come back to you on what other ideas we might have to assist here.

    If you’re moving an entire site then you could use https://wordpress.org/plugins/all-in-one-wp-migration/ which handles Page Builder data well.

  4. 4 years, 10 months ago Andrew Misplon
    Hi, I Work Here

    Hi, again, a quick update, I chatted with the team. For moving small sections of content, using the External URL field for images is the only method we can think of at the moment to have images work in your new layout.

  5. 4 years, 10 months ago Obelix27

    All-in-one WP Migration works amazingly well. Thank you very much, very helpful!

  6. 4 years, 10 months ago Andrew Misplon
    Hi, I Work Here

    Awesome, glad to hear that helped and you’re making progress :)

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