Content Migration
Audience: Primary Web Coordinators, Web Developers, System Administrator
Pre-requisites: Advanced knowledge of file structure, HTML, CSS and Web Design.
View the demo on V8 Auto-Migration Features (Links to an external site.) (00:21:42)
Start with a Strategy
For details on migrating content visit T4 Extranet Community (Links to an external site.) (access by logging into T4). Hint: In search box in the upper right corner type: "content migration".
The HTML Import can be used to convert html pages into an xml bundle which can be imported into TERMINALFOUR Site Manager by using the Import Tool. You may need to modify your HTML and insert comment markers for the Import Tool to identify and parse into xml.
To use the HTML Importer you need to have access to:
- Local Storage on the server hosting TERMINALFOUR Site Manager.
- Properties configuration file (this file needs to be created for each import).
- TERMINALFOUR Site Manager 7.0 Revision 0009 or higher.
Source a copy of your Website
You need to source a copy of your site: all files including images and documents. This could be as simple as going to your web server and copying the site. If your site is dynamic, you need to capture the output from the internet and store it as html using an html capture tool. Download any linked files associated with the html pages.
Create the Properties File
This is the most complicated part of the process. You have to identify Content Types (Links to an external site.) and their elements within the entire structure of your site. They need to be uniquely identifiable within the page as to capture the correct area, and within this area the elements must be uniquely identifiable as well.
Step 1: Define the General Migration Properties
The properties file must end in the extension .xml
Step 2: Start and end of a Content Type - Template Tag
Each properties file can define multiple Content Types which will be used as destinations for migrated content. You need to define the rule which will determine where a Content Type starts and ends. This is done within the template tag (template refers to a content type).
Step 3: Define each Element in each Content Type – Element Tag
This is used to define a Content Type element and its properties. This must be within a template tag.
Step 4: Content to be Migrated into each Element in a Content Type – Content Tag
This has a multitude of configuration options. You can capture a DOM node, the text within the DOM node, the html within the DOM node, an attribute within the DOM node, text matching in the text area
Tips
If the site you are trying to import is overly complex, try creating small individual property files for each Content Type and run the migration multiple times.
- Ensure you check the max upload setting and the maximum size for media in TERMINALFOUR Site Manager before you run the import - files which exceed the maximum size setting will cause an error and be skipped during the import. Make sure the max file size is large enough to exceed any media which is going to be imported.
- For large sites with many Content Types, try creating a smaller subset of the site which contains files with all the individual Content Types plus any related section links and media.
- One of the biggest problems will be determining the maximum size for elements. Be generous in your assignment.
- Although the name element is required, it is not necessary to populate it as it is usually only a place-holder within TERMINALFOUR Site Manager. Only populate it if you know you will not exceed its maximum size.
- For each "run" of migration, a properties file is required. It may be useful to use an example which has been used before as the basis for each migration.
- To determine what needs to go in to the properties file, the content should be examined to see what Content Types the content should be migrated to.
- This application creates new Content Types. After migration it may be possible to move content from one Content Type to another.