Cherrylift – Selective Content Sync

FAQ

Will importing overwrite my orders, users or form entries?

No. Only the items in the package are created or updated. Nothing else on the target site is changed.

What exactly ends up in a package?

The items you select, plus what they need to display correctly: parent pages, categories, tags and their parents, featured images, media used in the content, and synced patterns. The export preview lists every item before you download. Child pages are not included unless you select them.

What happens if I import the same package twice, or sync again later?

Items are updated in place. Each item carries a stable ID (stored as hidden metadata) that is used to recognize it on the target, so nothing is duplicated.

What if the target already has a page with the same slug that was created separately?

It is treated as the same page and updated, then linked for future syncs. This avoids “contact-2” duplicates on sites that were set up separately. Developers can turn this off with the cherrylift_match_existing_entity filter.

Can I keep some items on the target unchanged?

Yes. In the import preview, untick the items you don’t want to create or update.

Are custom fields supported?

Custom fields (post meta and term meta) are copied. Fields that store IDs of other content (beyond featured images) are only remapped if a developer declares them with the cherrylift_id_reference_meta_keys filter. Advanced Custom Fields relationship, post object, image and gallery fields are not remapped automatically yet.

Some media wasn’t imported. Why?

The target site only accepts file types allowed for uploads there. For example, SVG files are rejected by a default WordPress install. The import report lists anything that was skipped or failed.

Are links to other pages updated?

Links that point to the source site’s domain are rewritten to the target site’s domain. Links whose page has a different slug on the target are not adjusted.

Who can use it?

Administrators (the manage_options capability) by default. Developers can change this with the cherrylift_capability filter; WordPress’s normal per-item permissions then still apply.

Is it safe to import a package someone sent me?

Only import packages you trust: a package is content from another site. Packages are validated before anything is extracted (sizes, file list, file types, checksums), and only content types can be written, never site configuration. Users without the unfiltered_html capability get their imported content filtered as usual.

I use nginx. Anything to configure?

Uploaded packages wait in wp-content/uploads/cherrylift/ until they are imported, and WP-CLI exports are written there too. Their names are random and the folder blocks web access with an .htaccess file, which nginx ignores. Add a location ^~ /wp-content/uploads/cherrylift/ { deny all; } rule to block it there too.

Does it work on multisite?

Multisite networks haven’t been tested yet. Syncing directly between sites of the same network isn’t supported: export from one site and import on the other.