Migrate custom permalinks as slugs, or vice versa [WordPress]

2022-12-26

If you are using "Custom Permalinks" to freely set URLs in WordPress

You would enter it in an input field like this, right?

Custom Permalinks

However, I believe that using slugs for URLs is the correct way to begin with.

If you're using Custom Permalinks, aren't you neglecting the slug values?

Slug

When migrating such an environment to a new one,
you might have set permalinks using "Custom Permalinks" in the old environment,
but want to set permalinks using "slugs" in the new environment.
I will explain how to do this (or the other way around).

Check the export file
Batch Replace
Import

Check the export file

Select the content from "Tools" > "Export" and "Download Export File".

Export

Then an xml file will be downloaded.

If you open it with an editor and check the contents, you'll see many <item>~</item> tags, each representing an article.

<item>
	<title><![CDATA[Hello world!]]></title>
	<link>http://test.localhost/news_hello_world</link>
	<pubDate>Wed, 21 Dec 2022 07:53:36 +0000</pubDate>
	(略)
</item>
<item>
	<title><![CDATA[Hello japan!]]></title>
	<link>http://test.localhost/news_hello_japan</link>
	<pubDate>Wed, 22 Dec 2022 07:53:36 +0000</pubDate>
	(略)
</item>
<item>
	<title><![CDATA[Hello tokyo!]]></title>
	<link>http://test.localhost/news_hello_tokyo</link>
	<pubDate>Wed, 23 Dec 2022 07:53:36 +0000</pubDate>
	(略)
</item>

If you look closely at one <item>

<item>
	<title><![CDATA[Hello world!]]></title>
	<link>http://test.localhost/news_hello_world</link>
	<pubDate>Wed, 21 Dec 2022 07:53:36 +0000</pubDate>
	(略)
	<wp:post_name><![CDATA[hello-world]]></wp:post_name>
	(略)
	<wp:postmeta>
		<wp:meta_key><![CDATA[custom_permalink]]></wp:meta_key>
		<wp:meta_value><![CDATA[news_hello_world]]></wp:meta_value>
	</wp:postmeta>
	(略)
</item>

Inside it, this is the "slug"

<wp:post_name><![CDATA[hello-world]]></wp:post_name>

This is set to Custom Permalinks.

<wp:postmeta>
	<wp:meta_key><![CDATA[custom_permalink]]></wp:meta_key>
	<wp:meta_value><![CDATA[news_hello_world]]></wp:meta_value>
</wp:postmeta>

So, you just need to fix this part for all articles and import them again.

In the opposite case

If you were setting permalinks using "slugs" in the old environment,
but want to set permalinks using "Custom Permalinks" in the new environment,
the Custom Permalinks section will likely be missing from the export data.

You just need to add it inside <item>

<item>
	(略)
	<wp:postmeta>
		<wp:meta_key><![CDATA[custom_permalink]]></wp:meta_key>
		<wp:meta_value><![CDATA[Custom Permalinksに入れたい値]]></wp:meta_value>
	</wp:postmeta>
</item>

Batch Replace

Here's a simple batch replacement tool I made for myself.

It runs client-side. No information is acquired.
The results are not absolute. Please use it after taking a backup.
Please use difff.jp or similar tools to confirm that only the intended parts have been replaced.