Pier Site Export and Import

Over the past years several people have asked for a simple solution to export and import a Pier site into a different image. Finally this is possible. The following screen-cast demonstrates the basic steps how I export my complete website and import it into a fresh Pier image.

Export the Site

1. Upgrade to the bleeding edge versions of Magritte and Pier. Also ensure that the package Pier-Squeak-Persistency is loaded and up-to-date
2. Add the Import/Export component to one of your admin pages
3. Read the instructions and click on Export to generate and download a complete snapshot of your site

Import the Site

1. Go to a different Pier image
2. Again, make sure to have the latest code loaded. Also verify that the same plugins are available, otherwise you might run into error messages
3. Again add the Import/Export component to the site and select the file to import
4. In the screen-cast I chose to replace the complete kernel with the import. In other situations it might be better to just add the pages to the existing kernel
5. Depending on your setup you might need to copy external files and/or update the Seaside configuration options