Description
WordPress full-site-editing structure — patterns, templates, template parts, global styles, and navigation — lives in the database. Moving some of it from staging to production today means either a full database sync (which is destructive to production-only data like orders, users, and form entries) or tedious manual copy-paste.
SiteCargo packs exactly what you choose into a portable, reviewable bundle and applies it to another site with stable identity, ID remapping, and media handling — never touching the data you didn’t select.
It is currently a WP-CLI tool (an admin user interface is on the roadmap).
How it works
- Export the entity types you choose into a self-describing bundle (a folder containing a manifest, one JSON file per entity, and the referenced media).
- Diff a bundle against a target site to preview exactly what would be created, updated, or left unchanged — without writing anything.
- Apply the bundle to the target: standalone posts (patterns, navigation) are matched by a stable identifier so re-applying updates the same item instead of duplicating it; templates, parts, and global styles are matched by theme and slug. Numeric IDs baked into block markup (images, reusable-block and navigation references) are remapped to the target site, and referenced media is imported and de-duplicated by content hash.
Supported entity types
- Patterns (
wp_block) - Templates (
wp_template) - Template parts (
wp_template_part) - Global styles (
wp_global_styles) - Navigation menus (
wp_navigation)
Only templates/parts that have been customized in the database are exported; unedited theme-file templates already ship with the theme.
External services
This plugin does not connect to any external service, send any data off-site, or phone home. Bundles are plain files on your own server that you move between environments however you like.
Installation
- Upload the
sitecargofolder to the/wp-content/plugins/directory, or install through the Plugins screen. - Activate the plugin through the Plugins screen.
-
Use WP-CLI to run commands, for example:
wp sitecargo export –all –dir=my-bundle
wp sitecargo diff –dir=my-bundle
wp sitecargo apply –dir=my-bundle –yes
Exported bundles are always written inside wp-content/uploads/sitecargo/; --dir is the folder name, not an arbitrary filesystem path.
WP-CLI is required to use this plugin.
FAQ
-
Does this replace WP Migrate or a full database export?
-
No. SiteCargo is deliberately selective — it promotes specific structure and content and leaves everything else (orders, users, comments, options) untouched. Use a full migration tool when you genuinely want to overwrite a whole site.
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Will applying a bundle create duplicates if I run it twice?
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No. Applying is idempotent: patterns and navigation are matched by a stable identifier stored in post meta, and templates/parts/global styles are matched by theme and slug. A second apply updates the same items.
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Does it move my media?
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Yes. Referenced media is included in the bundle and imported into the target’s media library, de-duplicated by content hash, with the relevant block markup (IDs and URLs) rewritten to point at the target’s copy.
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Is it safe to run on production?
-
Always run
wp sitecargo difffirst to preview changes, and keep a backup. This is early (alpha) software.
Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
Contributors & Developers
“SiteCargo” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
Translate “SiteCargo” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
0.1.2
- Hardening: exported bundles are now always written inside
wp-content/uploads/sitecargo/.--diris treated as a folder name (path separators and..traversal are stripped) and can no longer point writes at arbitrary locations on disk or the plugin folder. diff/applyresolve a bare--dirname againstuploads/sitecargo/, while still accepting a full path to a bundle copied from another environment.- Namespaced all PHP under the unique
ItzmeKhokan\SiteCargoprefix to avoid conflicts with other plugins and themes.
0.1.1
- Renamed the plugin to SiteCargo.
- Exports now default to the uploads directory (wp-content/uploads/sitecargo/) instead of the working directory;
--dirstill overrides.
0.1.0
- Initial release.
- Export / diff / apply for patterns, templates, template parts, global styles, and navigation.
- Stable cross-environment identity, block reference remapping, and content-hash media sideloading.
diffreports create / update / unchanged per entity.