Goal: to move content from the old website to the new. An archive of past shows will relocate to a WordPress site. The same format as occured on the old website is being implemented, with a priority to complete the task with minimal steps. Once the reproduction is completed, and accepted by the community generally, the options for redesign open up.
Requirements: internet access, any computer, author access log in to wordpress. Basic computer skills, include using keyboard shortcuts for copy, paste, and simple word processing changes. Preferred setup of browser windows, depicting workflow;
- old site
- wordpress ( log in. Click “My Site” in top bar, Click Xchanges Gallery and Studio…. In left panel, click Site, click menu open indicator (chevron or arrow), click pages. In pages area, click “Historical Archive of Gallery Shows” . Now this second browser window (or tab if you prefer) shows an editable view of the page we will be growing.
- The third window or tab will represent new pages that you will be making, after creating a link to them in the second tab. I will now refer to these windows just at 1, 2, and 3 for simplicity.
Make your own file to record your start time, and list each gallery show page you are able to transfer. As a fun example of the speed effects of learning, I invite you to record the time for each new page you transfer. Also use this record to note problems you encounter, or problems that will require later work.
Overall steps: Create a line for a new show, make a new show page, copy text content from old page, Update picture link, update link to show.
Start a timer here if you want to measure your speed and demonstrate improvement over time.
Create a line for a new show,
Locate the last entry on window 2, find the same entry on 1. In 1, select the next show (the line after the corresponding last entry), copy. In 2, click the end of the list, type the return key (for new line) and paste. If successful, click update to save. Select the name of the show including the quotation marks and copy.
If you are starting a new year, make a year (h2) and a bullet list box for your new line. When you paste the new show in window 2, note if you create 2 bullet points, as this indicates a hard return (unwanted in modern interfaces). In this case, click just before the second list line, hit delete and then space. Now the line should be on one list line and will break as needed. Later we will replace the link.
make a new show page,
Click the WordPress logo (upper left window 2). (update if needed before leaving). In the left panel, click Pages (under Site). Click “Add new page”. Expect a brief pause while the page is created, click “Use Blank layout”. Click where it says Add title and paste. Edit the title by removing the date and artist, leaving only the show name. Click “Save Draft” and it should change to Saved.
copy text content from old page
Click window 1, within the line you previously copied (the new show), click the link to the show. Your browser should show the new show contents. You are going to copy only the material related to the show. Click the beginning of the line immediately following the title, scroll to the end of the content, hold the shift key down, and click the end of the content. Now the content should be highlighted (ensure you haven’t selected the Next show details), click copy. Use your browser control to click back, so you see the full list again.
Now click window 2, you should see your new page with the title only. Click where it says “Start writing…”. Paste. The show content should fill in.
Now we must update the image links. For each image in the page: click the image. Click Replace. At the bottom of the pop up menu, click edit. Select the name of the file (not the path before the name, and not the .jpg extension). Copy this name. In the pop up menu, click media file, in the search function (magnifying glass) field, paste. A single file should be listed as found. Click this file, click insert. The correct file is now linked, but if you wish to confirm this you can click the image, click Replace, and view that the current media URL is using a path with “xchangesgalleries.wpcomstaging.com/…” If there are other images on the page, repeat the process for each image so that the links all use images stored on this wordpress site, rather than the old site.
Once all images have had their links updated, click Publish. Fill the SEO details: copy Artist name, paste in SEO box, copy the show name, paste in SEO box. Doing it in this order ensures you have the show name in your clipboard for a future operation. Click Publish.
In the publishing options area, click on view page. The page should load normally. Locate any links used by the artist, click these and if it loads then use the browser back button to return to the show page. Test all external links. If a link is not connecting properly, make a note that includes a link to the show page and identifying the bad external link. We will follow up later to learn if the link can be updated. When the page links are tested, close any external link windows, returning to the show page (window 2). Click the wordpress icon, to go home, then the site pages menu item in the left panel.
Click window 2, the “Historical Archive of Gallery Shows” page. On the last line, locate the link to the show page we’ve been editing, click it, then click the unlink icon in the popup menu. (If, before we had replaced a hard return with a space, then you will need to remove a second link: click the second link, then the unlink icon). Now the show name should not show as a link.
In some cases the previous author used an inconsistent pattern. We can standardize on Date, Artist, Show. Edit the order of the line if necessary to match this pattern. Remove the quotation marks around the show name (if any).
update link to show
In window 2, at the last line, select the full show name, then on the pop up that appears, click link. Click the link field, begin typing the show name. It should auto suggest the file we created. Click the corresponding show file (which will use quotation marks). Click update.
Test function note any issues, and repeat.
Click preview, the page opens in window 2. Click the link to the new show page. A new window opens, and the page should appear as expected. If there are problems you notice, please make a note for later review.
Stop timer, or estimate the time you took to do one page. Repeat and see what you can do automatically and correctly!
If you notice areas in these instructions that aren’t clear, please make a note, and let me know. Or, since we are a small group, edit this page with your discoveries. Or explore using the comment feature below…