How to Import and Export Navigation Menus in WordPress

Ansal Brain
4 min readMay 25, 2020

Are you trying to import or export a navigation menu from one WordPress site to another one? Well, you would be happy to know that WordPress has a dedicated feature for the same, and it allows the users to transfer the navigation menus as a part of full website transfer. In the following article, we will explain the navigation menu import/export feature, which is frequently used in WordPress theme customization in straightforward steps.

How does WordPress’s Import/Export feature work?

Website Owners often hire WordPress developers to do the import/export task because they don’t realize that it can be done very easily. On each WordPress site, you have autonomous import and export options. You can locate these under Tools » Import and Tools » Export on the WordPress dashboard menu.

Once you go to the Export page, you’ll see the WordPress default alternatives. These let you pick between exporting the entire content, or trade your posts, pages, or media.

By WordPress content, we refer to your navigation menus along with posts, pages, remarks, custom fields, terms, and custom post types. In general cases, website owners prefer not to import everything. For example, you may very well need to reproduce your navigation menu and the pages remembered for it, however not your posts or some other pages. Fortunately, there’s a simple module that expands this usefulness, so you can just import and export navigation menus in WordPress.

Import and Export Navigation Menus in WordPress

Before going further, make sure you’re with the menu you’ll be exporting. You can discover your site’s menu under Appearance » Menus.

● If you feel that you need assistance to make or change your menu, you can always refer to various tutorials about WordPress which are available on the web.

● Next, you have to introduce and initiate the WPS Menu Exporter module. For additional subtleties, see our bit by bit direct on the best way to introduce a WordPress module.

● Upon enactment, you have to visit the Tools » Export page in your WordPress administrator dashboard.

● You should now observe an extra alternative to trade route menu things. This will incorporate your menu itself, in addition to all the pages that are connected from your card.

● If you have any posts on your menu, those will be incorporated as well, alongside any remarks on them.

● Just select the Navigation Menu Items radio catch and afterward click the ‘Download Export File’ button.

This lets you download your navigation menu and its related pages to your PC. These are put away in a .xml record with the name site.wordpress.yyyy-mm-dd, where “webpage” is the name of your site and “yyyy-mm-dd” is the date.

How to import your WordPress menu to your new site

You can import the .xml file you just downloaded by utilizing WordPress’ standard Import feature. It’s a straightforward procedure. You need to transfer your navigation menu record to your new site.

Follow these steps:

● Initially, sign in to your WordPress dashboard on the new site where you need to import your menu.

● Next, go to Tools » Import. You’ll have to introduce the WordPress importer. Click the ‘Install Now’ interface underneath ‘WordPress’ at the base of the rundown.

● When you’ve installed the WordPress navigator, you should see a ‘Run Importer’ connect instead of the ‘Install Now’ interface.

● After you click on this option, you’ll see the Import WordPress screen. Here, you’ll have to tap the ‘Choose File’ button so you can choose the .xml document you downloaded before.

● When you’ve chosen your document, feel free to tap the ‘upload file and import’ button.

● On the next screen, you’ll be approached to ‘Assign Authors’. The default alternative is to import the first creator of the menu content.

● Much of the time, it’ll bode well to set a current client as the creator of the imported content. You can do that by choosing the client’s name from the dropdown menu.

● When you’re sure about all your settings, click the ‘Submit’ button at the base of the page.

We hope that now you will be able to do the navigation menu import/export process without opting to hire WordPress developers.

How do your imported pages look?

The navigation will place your menu, and the related pages set up. To investigate the imported menu, go to Appearance » Menus. Here, you can ensure that it’s been shipped effectively. You can likewise tap on the Pages tab in your WordPress dashboard to look at the new pages that have been imported alongside the menu and see if your WordPress theme customization has worked. That is it; you’ve effectively imported your route menu and the related pages. You can alter the card and the pages any way you like.

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Ansal Brain

Ansal Brain is a blogger who loves to share everything about web development and Digital Marketing technologies initiatives.