leejosepho you were def right about the database issue! pagely had a separate “backup” function that automatically generates and lets you download the SQl database file needed to import locally. It turns out the WP DB Pro plugin I used didn’t give me an up to date version of the database, although it was awfully close. So after importing the SQL backup from Pagely, all my contents were up to date with the live site! Thank you for pointing me in the right direction.
Ya that’s a good thought… I’ll keep digging and see how I can export it with a diff method. (keeping in mind Pagely doesn’t suppot cPanel). Thank you for the hint, I’ll post any updates on my progress!