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📦 Export and Import

Export downloads your stories as text files, and import brings stories in from an export, checking everything before it changes the site. This page will guide you through downloading a copy, uploading files, reading the import plan and applying it. These screens are for owners.

Exporting​

Open "Export / Import" and find the "Export" section. Press "Download export" and the Studio prepares a zip file. It holds:

  • One folder per topic and one text file per story, covering published stories, drafts and planned stories.
  • Your writers and tags.
  • Where each story sits and where its links lead.

Images are referenced by address and are not included. After an export the page shows the date and the counts of stories, topics, links, writers and tags. This ensures you always have an offline copy of the writing.

Importing​

The "Import" section accepts an export zip, or individual .mdx story files together with authors.json and tags.json. Files can be .zip, .mdx or .json, up to 50 MB in total.

  • Drop files onto the area reading "Drag an export zip or .mdx files here", or press "Choose files".
  • Wait for the check. The page says "Checking the upload… nothing is changed yet."
  • Read the plan. It is headed "Import plan (nothing has been changed yet)".
  • Press "Apply import" when you are happy.

Stories are matched by their id, then by topic and web address. Anything not in the upload is left alone.

Reading the plan​

The plan counts what will be created ("new"), updated ("to update") and left alone ("unchanged"), plus warnings and errors. A table lists each story, writer and tag with its topic, the action, which fields change and any messages. The buttons "All", "Changes" and "Errors & warnings" filter the table.

  • Errors stop the import. Fix the files and upload them again.
  • Warnings are notes. Read them before you apply.
  • "Apply import" is disabled when there are errors, or when everything already matches the site.

"Start over" clears the upload. After applying, the page says "Import applied" and the site updates with the changes. "Import more" lets you upload again.

warning

An import that publishes, unpublishes or schedules a story changes what readers see. Check the "Changes" view carefully before applying.

Best Practices​

  • Export before a big import: keep a copy to fall back on.
  • Import a few files first to learn how the plan reads.