We just published a full-length tutorial on How to Migrate from Custom Database Design into WordPress. If you've built sites that have custom PHP and MySQL tables, this guide will teach you how to convert them into a WordPress site.
Migrating from custom database tables is a complex task. Our guide talks you through it, explains and shows how to do each step of the process.
We show how to convert a set of tables, which are connected using foreign keys, into the WordPress "custom post types" and "custom fields" schema.
What's in the guide
- Adding Custom Content Types to WordPress – using Types plugin
- Connecting Related Content – using Toolset's post relationship
- Exporting and Importing Custom Tables Into WordPress – exporting with PHPMyAdmin and importing them with WP All Import
- Designing the Front-End Display for Your Custom Content – we use Views for the front-end display
- Handling Content in Multiple Languages – of course, using WPML
Who needs this guide?
Sometimes, we think that WordPress is only good for simple sites with a few pages. When we need to build a complex site with a lot of related content, we opt for fully-custom design.
Our migration guide shows that you can build very rich sites, with the exact content relationships that you need, and the convenience of WordPress.
WordPress makes it far easier to manage content. With Toolset and WPML, it's easy to build rich multilingual sites. You'll enjoy complete freedom of what content to store and how to display it, along with a friendly editing interface.
Feedback?
Do you have questions, suggestions or tips? Leave your comments and we'll get back to you.