Answers Import and Export Add-On for WordPress by CreativeMinds

Answers Import and Export Add-On for WordPress by CreativeMinds

Import and export support for your CM Answers plugin. Download all questions and move the content between sites.

Requires CM Answers Pro.

VIDEO DEMO
WordPress Version
5.4.0 or Higher
Tested up to
WordPress 6.5.X
LAST UPDATED
May 24, 2021
PHP
5.7 - 8.2.X
VERSION
1.2.1

Answers Import and Export AddOn Description

Use the WordPress Forum Import and Export Addon for CM Answers to backup, export and import questions and answers with all its tags, votes and categories.

The Answers Import and Export Addon supports several use cases such as moving CM Answers from one site to another, importing questions from a CSV file into CM Answers and also backing up your CM Answers data.


Expert Support and Assistance

You can purchase this AddOn together with expert support in order to help you with the migration of content between sites and from another plugin to CM Answers.

The expert support includes hands-on help to transfer the data into CM Answers.

When you are importing data from another plugin into CM Answers, please purchase 90 minutes of expert support which may also include scripting work in adjusting the imported CSV into the CM Answers CSV format.

Example of an Import Report
Example of an Import Report

Using the WordPress Forum Import Add-On

  • Safety – Sites can fail and attacks can happen. Backup your CM Answers data to ensure data integrity and never lose your users’ questions or answers
  • Migrate – Move your forum from an external plugin to CM Answers. From BBPress, BuddyPress, ForumEngine, Asgaros Forum, WP Symposium and DW Question and Answer… if they support export to CSV, you will be able to edit the file and import it to CM Answers


Answers Import and Export Prerequisite Plugin

The CM Answers pro plugin is required to use this add-on.

Features

Please check the user guide to learn more about this plugin.

Export – Export your CM Answers data, including tags, categories, and files
Move – Move questions and answers created with CM Answers to any other installation of the plugin
Migrate – Migrate the data from other plugins to CM Answers
CSV Support – The add-on reads and writes CSV files, which can be edited by Excel, Google Spreadsheet and most similar software

Answers Import and Export Image Gallery

WordPress Forum Import and Export Dashboard

CM Answers Import and Export Dashboard

Answers Import and Export CSV format

The following object types (Questions, Answers) and their respective fields will be imported from your CSV file in the following order.

You can combine multiple object types in a single CSV file, but you have to keep this order.

Categories

  • Type – always cma_category
  • Name
  • Description
  • Slug
  • Term id – source term ID
  • Parent – source parent’s term ID

Questions

  • Type – always cma_thread
  • ID – source post ID
  • Post title
  • Post content
  • Post author – source user’s ID
  • Post date
  • Post modified
  • Post status
  • Post name
  • Display name – source user’s display name
  • User email
  • User login
  • Categories – JSON array with list of categories’ names
  • Tags – JSON array with list of tags’ names

Answers

  • Type – always cma_answer
  • Comment ID
  • Comment post ID – source post’s ID
  • Comment author
  • Comment author email
  • Comment author IP
  • Comment date
  • Comment content
  • Comment approved
  • Comment agent
  • Comment parent – source parent’s comment ID
  • User id – source user’s ID
  • Display name – source user’s display name
  • User email
  • User login

Comments

  • Type – always cma_comment
  • Comment ID
  • Comment post ID – source post’s ID
  • Comment author
  • Comment author email
  • Comment author IP
  • Comment date
  • Comment content
  • Comment approved
  • Comment agent
  • Comment parent – source parent’s comment ID
  • User id – source user’s ID
  • Display name – source user’s display name
  • User email
  • User login

Question Meta

  • Type – always cma_thread_meta
  • Meta id – source record ID
  • Post id – source post’s ID
  • Meta key
  • Meta value

Answer Meta

  • Type – always cma_answer_meta
  • Meta id – source record ID
  • Meta key
  • Meta value
  • Comment id – source comment’s ID

Comment Meta

  • Type – always cma_comment_meta
  • Meta id – source record ID
  • Meta key
  • Meta value
  • Comment id – source comment’s ID

CM Answers Export & Import Add-on Frequently Asked Questions

Can I manipulate the exported CSV file directly or can I only change Questions / Answers through the Plugin?

You can edit the Exported CSV file or even create a CSV file for import completely from scratch.

There are instructions within the Plugin Settings describing column headings, how to write the information and in what order it needs to go for the Import side to be able to make sense of it.

To learn more about this feature see this Help article.

Click here to learn more

You have to options in this case. When there are no matching users found during import you can either skip these users or you can assign to a chosen user on the inbound site based on either the user ID or their login name.

To learn more about this feature see this Help article.

Can meta information for the Exported Questions and Answers CSV be modified?

Yes. You can modify Meta information for Questions, Answers and for Comments in the CSV using a Spreadsheet editor.

To learn more about modifying meta see this Help article.

Can I use this Plugin to regularly update questions that have been added on one site but not another?

No. Our CM Answers Export & Import add-on will create duplicate questions and answers if you try to use it this way.

It’s great for creating backup restoration points or for doing an initial migration of your Questions and Answers from one site to another. But it’s not designed for keeping two websites synchronized in terms of their questions.

I have a lot of Questions and Answers collected from a survey in a Spreadsheet that I want to add. Can I just save this as a CSV and import using the Plugin?

No. The CSV needs to be in a specific format, with certain column headers and in a certain order. You could modify the questions and answers into the right format.

Next you’d want to download the CSV example file and finally you would need to paste your Questions and Answers into the modified example file. Then upload this.

If you’re a wizz with Excel formulas this would be a much faster approach than copy pasting them manually.

To learn more about importing questions and answers via CSV see this Help article.

What information regarding Questions or Answers is Exported into the CSV file? Is it just the Question and the Answer and comments?

There is a lot of information included for each question. Among other things some of the most key information exported is:

  • The Question
  • Answers for the Question
  • The site ID of the Author
  • The date it was Posted
  • The date it was last Modified
  • The current status of the Question (published, unpublished)
  • The post name or anchor tag
  • The Display name for the poster
  • The email address of the original poster
  • The login name of the user
  • Categories that the question has been assigned to
  • Tags that have been associated with the Question

Answers Import and Export Related Add Ons

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