The FG Joomla plugin is a tool for WordPress that migrates sections, categories, posts, images, medias and tags from Joomla to WordPress.
The plugin has been tested with Joomla versions 1.5 through 4.0 and WordPress 6.1 on huge databases and is compatible with multisite installations, support multiple languages, and is regularly maintained.
Developed by Frédéric Gilles, this plugin has over 10,000 installations in May of 2023.
- Migrate Joomla sections as WP categories
- Migrate categories as WP child-categories
- Migrate Joomla posts (published, unpublished and archived)
- Export all the posts media for importing into the WP media library
- Resize images according to the sizes defined in WP
- Define the featured image to be the first post image
- Maintain ALT image attributes and photo captions
- Modify internal links, meta keywords into tags, page breaks from content.
- Import Joomla articles as either posts or pages
The plugin also allows for running automatic imports from the cron job scheduler in order to save time when importing large databases into WordPress.
Why would an organization want to make this switch? Well, there are several reasons – one of the most common being that WordPress is generally considered more user-friendly and easier to manage than Joomla. It also has a larger community of users who contribute plugins and themes that add additional functionality and customization options.
If you pay for the premium version of the plugin, then it could also migrate authors as users (with their passwords) among other things.
“…an extraordinary product. The plugin did exactly what it was supposed to do, moving all of my content successfully from Joomla to Wordpress. This is a task which would have taken me weeks to achieve were it not for this excellent plugin.”
–seanpbrady65, January 13, 2023
How to Install FG Joomla to WordPress
Time needed: 1 hour
Getting started with the FG Joomla plugin is easy.
- Install the plugin inside your new WordPress
Install the plugin in the new WordPress website Admin panel (/wp-admin/) by going to: Plugins menu –> Add New –> Upload –> Select the zip file –> Install Now
- Activate the FG plugin
Activate the plugin in the WordPress Admin –> Plugins page
- Initiate the import process
Run the importer in WordPress Admin menu: Tools –> Import –> Joomla (FG)
- Configure your database connection to old Joomla site
Configure the plugin settings to connect with your old site. You can find the Joomla database parameters in the Joomla file configuration.php
Hostname = $host
Port = 3306 (standard MySQL port)
Database = $db
Username = $user
Password = $password
Joomla Table Prefix = $dbprefix
Many teams report getting great value from the FG plugin, so if you’re working on a migration out of Joomla, this tool could be good for you. No matter which Joomla alternative you’re considering, FG may have a tool for your platform.
When trying it, understand that not all teams are reporting complete success, and most migration engineers consider it just one possible tool in their migration toolbox. This is just one of many methods for exporting content from Joomla, and doesn’t cover managing the migration or export of Joomla contributors for use as Users in the new WordPress website.
For some types of websites (editorial, news, etc.) it may be easier to address the articles directly and export all articles from Joomla as a single dataset in CSV or json for easier management. This is primarily in cases where the article dataset is larger than 1,000 posts/articles and when the article content is significant.
A great tool to consider when migrating from Joomla over to WordPress
If your organization is migrating from Joomla to WordPress, our engineers are available to assist you with the entire process. We wish it were simple enough that anyone could tackle, but with the differences from one Joomla site to another, depending on the original version of Joomla and the particular development methods… no two Joomla websites are ever the same.
Tools like this are awesome in supporting teams completing a migration, but doesn’t work for every website, and it doesn’t account for designs, themes, or anything about presentation. This tool only migrates the data from Joomla to WordPress, and it isn’t 100% successful.
Our team can assist you in migrating your website from Joomla to WordPress, help guide you through adoption of the new platform, and support your team with your new WordPress website moving forward.
Learn more about migrating from Joomla to WordPress and what’s involved with making the switch.
The FG Joomla to WordPress plugin is an incredibly useful tool for organizations that are planning to migrate a website. The plugin makes the process of transferring content, images, and other data from Joomla to our favorite platform much more manageable.
