Free PHP Shortcode Stripper for WP Export and Import

Last year I migrated a mass amount of news content dating back to 2013 from a client site in WordPress. The theme it was on was very outdated and no longer getting updates, and it was using several page builders at once. I was using WP All Export and WP All Import, and I was expecting the usual broken sliders, embedded video missing, a few strings of symbols and then something new always happens, too.

What I wasn’t expecting is not finding a free PHP shortcode stripper I could just use to make it a little easier, at least not at the time I was working. There is a PHP field to use for code to do this, I just couldn’t find anything pre-written that worked for what I was doing. There are plugins that clean builder shortcodes from the database after import, but it’s already in the database at that point, and I thought it would be easier to work with the data when I exported it from the original website and still had it as a reference.

This became one of my first experiments using AI to code. (Later experiment here, and now I do this all the time.) I built a PHP snippet that runs inside WP All Export and WP All Import’s built-in PHP field — originally written with ChatGPT in August of 2025 (with a lot of frustration and yelling because it didn’t work at all like I wanted it to the first billion times; it was a different time for AI coding than it is now in 2026), then cleaned it up and code-checked it in Claude recently. I also rewrote it to look at the general problem and be theme and builder agnostic as much as possible rather than the specific to the client site I was working on then. I’ve done WordPress theme migrations sooooo many times and always run into the same issues.

I’m posting both files here as a free tool. If nothing else, you can use them as a starting point on your own or with your own AI code assistant to adapt to your own needs.

What the PHP tool does

The cleaner strips page builder shortcodes from Avada/Fusion, WPBakery/Visual Composer, Divi, Swift Builder, Beaver Builder, SiteOrigin, Themify, Cornerstone, MK/Jupiter, Enfold, Salient, and X Theme. It also strips Elementor HTML — Elementor doesn’t use shortcodes, it embeds rendered HTML with data-* attributes directly in post_content.

Beyond stripping, it converts sliders to stacked HTML so content isn’t silently deleted and just missing, only to get a request about it months later when the original site is gone. (Hello Wayback Machine for that!) It recovers video embed URLs from builder shortcodes and outputs them as plain URLs, which WordPress auto-embeds natively. Anywhere it can’t recover content in some readable way, it drops a searchable HTML comment instead of just skipping it. Native WordPress shortcodes are left alone as they will still work in the new WordPress site.

Two PHP files, one for WP Import and WP Export

bcc-export.php runs on your old site. While your old database is still intact, WordPress can resolve attachment IDs to real image URLs using wp_get_attachment_url(). Swift Builder and WPBakery both store slider and gallery images as integer IDs — image=”423″, for example. Once you’ve left that database, those IDs are meaningless. The export version converts every one of them to a real URL before the file leaves the old site.

bcc-import.php runs on the new site. WP All Import has a Preview feature that shows exactly what the cleaner will produce before anything touches your database — which is the main reason the import version exists. Use it. It also works as a standalone cleaner if you don’t have access to the old site anymore. It just can’t resolve attachment IDs and will leave a BCC-SKIP comment wherever it hits one.

Run both when you can: export version on the old site first, then import the cleaned file with the import version on the new site. The preview is your final check before anything commits.

The attachment ID issue

When you upload an image in WordPress, it gets stored in the database as a post with an auto-incremented ID. Page builders like Swift Builder and WPBakery reference that image in their shortcodes as an integer: image=”423″ or images=”12,34,56″.

When you export posts and import them into a new WordPress install, that ID has no meaning. The new database has its own IDs. ID 423 might be a completely different image — or might not exist at all.

The export version solves this by calling wp_get_attachment_url(423) while the old database is still live, converting the ID to a full URL like https://yoursite.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/hero-image.jpg. That URL comes over in the migration.

Setup

Export side: In WP All Export, create a new export for your post type. For the post_content field in your field mapping, click the PHP icon and enter:

return bcc_clean( $post_content );

Then paste the full bcc-export.php contents into the Export PHP Functions editor. Alternatively, save the file to wp-content/uploads/wpallexport/functions.php — functions there only run during export processing and won’t affect your live site.

Import side: In WP All Import, create a new import with your export file. Same one-liner in the post_content PHP field:

return bcc_clean( $post_content );

Paste the full bcc-import.php contents into the Import PHP Functions editor, then use the Preview button before running the full import. Both files define the same function names — never load both at the same time.

Finding what needs manual work

Anywhere the cleaner can’t recover content, it leaves an HTML comment in place of the missing content. The comment starts with BCC-SKIP, followed by the shortcode that triggered it and a brief note explaining why it couldn’t be resolved — usually because it hit an attachment ID that only the old database can access. After your import, search all post content for BCC-SKIP to find every post that needs a manual look. The free Search Regex plugin can do this across all posts at once from the WordPress admin.

What can’t be recovered — regardless of how the PHP is written

Fusion/Avada sliders store all slide data in a separate fusion_slider custom post type, not in post_content. The [(don’t read this as a shortcode) fusion_slider] shortcode in your content is just a reference ID. Export and import that CPT separately.
Revolution Slider, Smart Slider 3, and LayerSlider all store slide data in their own database tables.
Elementor dynamic widgets — posts grids, portfolio carousels — render from other database tables at page load. Their stored HTML in post_content is empty scaffolding.
Some Elementor setups also store layout JSON in a _elementor_data post meta field rather than post_content. If Elementor pages come through nearly empty after cleaning, that’s why. You’d need to export that meta field separately.

Slider output format

Slider content comes out as stacked HTML: a div with class bcc-slide, containing an img with the resolved URL, an h2 with the slide title, and a p with body copy. Slides missing a title or body copy just omit those elements.

bcc-slide has no built-in styles. Add CSS to your new theme to display them however you want, or use Search Regex after import to bulk-replace them with your new site’s slider shortcode format.

Adding builders or keeping plugin shortcodes

To add a builder not in the list, find the $prefixes array in bcc_strip_builder_shortcodes() and add a line with the shortcode prefix and a label. Any shortcode starting with that prefix will be handled from there.

To keep plugin shortcodes intact — WooCommerce, contact forms, anything like that — comment out the bcc_strip_remaining_shortcodes() call in bcc_clean(). The prefix-based stripper only touches known builder prefixes and won’t touch plugin shortcodes on its own.

The code

Both files are posted below with inline comments throughout. Every section explains what it’s doing and why. The Swift Builder and Elementor sections go into more detail on how those builders store content — it’s my experience they’re the worst offenders (the cause of much yelling in my office, again), and understanding the structure is what makes the cleaning logic make sense.

Free PHP Shortcode Stripper for WP Export: bcc-export.php

Copy to Clipboard

<?php
/**
 * Builder Content Cleaner — EXPORT VERSION (bcc-export.php)
 * ==========================================================
 * Use this on your OLD site while its database is still intact.
 *
 * PLUGIN COMPATIBILITY: WP All Export, WP Import Export
 *
 * SETUP — two steps:
 *   1. Paste this file into the Export PHP Functions editor, or save to:
 *        wp-content/uploads/wpallexport/functions.php
 *      (that path only runs during export — safe, won't touch your live site)
 *   2. In your post_content field mapping, enter:
 *        return bcc_clean( $post_content );
 *
 * WHY THE EXPORT SIDE MATTERS:
 *   WordPress stores many builder images as attachment IDs — integers that
 *   reference a row in your wp_posts table. Once you leave the old database,
 *   those IDs are meaningless. This file calls wp_get_attachment_url() to
 *   convert every ID to a real URL before the export. The import version
 *   cannot do this. Run this first for the cleanest possible output.
 *
 * AFTER IMPORT — find what needs manual attention:
 *   Search all post content for:  BCC-SKIP
 *   The free Search Regex plugin (wp.org) can do this across all posts at once.
 *
 * Do not load this file and bcc-import.php at the same time.
 *   They define the same function names. Use one or the other per context.
 */

// =============================================================================
// MAIN ENTRY POINT
// =============================================================================
// Call this from your field mapping: return bcc_clean( $post_content );
//
// Processing order is intentional:
//   - Slider/image extractors run FIRST so content is recovered before the
//     shortcode strippers would delete it
//   - Video extractor runs before shortcode strippers for the same reason
//   - Elementor runs separately because it uses HTML divs, not shortcodes
//   - Generic prefix stripper runs last to catch anything the extractors missed
//   - Catch-all runs after that for truly unknown tags

function bcc_clean( $content ) {
    if ( empty( $content ) ) return $content;

$content = bcc_extract_divi_sliders( $content );
    $content = bcc_extract_wpbakery_sliders( $content );
    $content = bcc_extract_swift_sliders( $content );
    $content = bcc_extract_video_urls( $content );
    $content = bcc_extract_fusion_text( $content );
    $content = bcc_strip_elementor( $content );
    $content = bcc_strip_builder_shortcodes( $content );

// Catch-all: strips unknown shortcodes while preserving native WP ones.
    // Comment this line out if your content uses shortcodes from plugins
    // (contact forms, WooCommerce, etc.) that will also run on the new site.
    $content = bcc_strip_remaining_shortcodes( $content );

$content = bcc_cleanup( $content );

return $content;
}

// =============================================================================
// SWIFT BUILDER — EXPORT VERSION
// =============================================================================
//
// Swift Builder (by SwiftIdeas) ships bundled with dozens of ThemeForest themes
// (Neighborhood, Turbo, Sweet Date, etc.). It is among the worst offenders for
// sheer volume of shortcode output — a single page can produce hundreds of
// nested tags. Understanding how it stores content is key to cleaning it.
//
// HOW SWIFT STORES CONTENT:
//
//   [spb_row] / [spb_column]
//     Pure layout scaffolding. No content value. Handled in the prefix stripper.
//
//   [spb_slider] ... [spb_slide] ... [/spb_slide] ... [/spb_slider]
//     The slider wrapper contains individual slide items. Each [spb_slide] has:
//       image="423"          — attachment ID (an integer referencing wp_posts)
//       image="https://..."  — occasionally a full URL (Swift did this inconsistently)
//       title="Slide Title"  — plain text, stored as a shortcode attribute
//     And optionally, inner content between [spb_slide]...[/spb_slide] tags
//     for longer body copy.
//
//   [spb_single_image]
//     A standalone image outside of a slider context. Also uses image="ID".
//     May include an optional link="https://..." attribute.
//
//   [spb_video]
//     Video embed. Stores a URL in video_url="https://...". Fully recoverable.
//     Handled in bcc_extract_video_urls().
//
//   [spb_text_block] ... [/spb_text_block]
//     A wrapper around normal content with no useful attributes of its own.
//     We strip the tags and preserve the inner HTML. Handled in prefix stripper.
//
// EXPORT ADVANTAGE:
//   wp_get_attachment_url( $id ) converts each attachment ID to a full URL
//   while the old database is still available. This is the entire reason to
//   run the export version — without it, every slider image is lost.

function bcc_extract_swift_sliders( $content ) {

// -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    // [spb_slider] — outer wrapper containing [spb_slide] items.
    //
    // We match the full [spb_slider]...[/spb_slider] block first (the 's' flag
    // makes . match newlines, since slider content spans many lines).
    // Then we find each [spb_slide] inside it and output a div per slide.
    // -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    $content = preg_replace_callback(
        '/\[spb_slider[^\]]*\](.*?)\[\/spb_slider\]/si',
        function( $slider_match ) {

$inner  = $slider_match[1]; // everything between [spb_slider]...[/spb_slider]
            $output = '';

// Find each individual slide inside this slider block
            preg_match_all(
                '/\[spb_slide([^\]]*)\](.*?)\[\/spb_slide\]/si',
                $inner,
                $slides,
                PREG_SET_ORDER // group each full slide match together for easy iteration
            );

if ( empty( $slides ) ) {
                return '';
            }

foreach ( $slides as $slide ) {
                $attrs    = $slide[1]; // shortcode attributes for this slide
                $text_raw = trim( $slide[2] ); // inner content between the slide tags

$div = '<div class="bcc-slide">';

// --- IMAGE ---
                // Swift stores the image as an integer attachment ID in image="423".
                // We resolve it with wp_get_attachment_url() while the old DB is live.
                // Fallback: occasionally Swift stored a full URL directly.
                if ( preg_match( '/\bimage="(\d+)"/', $attrs, $img_id ) ) {
                    $url = wp_get_attachment_url( (int) $img_id[1] );
                    if ( $url ) {
                        $div .= '<img class="lazyload" decoding="async" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" data-orig-src="' . esc_url( $url ) . '" alt="">';
                    } else {
                        $div .= '';
                    }
                } elseif ( preg_match( '/\bimage="(https?:\/\/[^"]+)"/', $attrs, $img_url ) ) {
                    $div .= '<img class="lazyload" decoding="async" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" data-orig-src="' . esc_url( $img_url[1] ) . '" alt="">';
                }

// --- TITLE ---
                // Stored as a plain text shortcode attribute. Always a string, never an ID.
                if ( preg_match( '/\btitle="([^"]*)"/', $attrs, $t ) && trim( $t[1] ) !== '' ) {
                    $div .= '<h2>' . esc_html( $t[1] ) . '</h2>';
                }

// --- INNER TEXT CONTENT ---
                // Some slides have longer copy between the slide tags, not just a title.
                // Strip any nested shortcodes that remain, then keep the text/HTML.
                if ( $text_raw !== '' ) {
                    $text_raw = preg_replace( '/\[\/?\w[^\]]*\]/i', '', $text_raw );
                    $text_raw = trim( $text_raw );
                    if ( $text_raw !== '' ) {
                        $div .= '<p>' . $text_raw . '</p>';
                    }
                }

$div    .= '</div>';
                $output .= $div . "\n";
            }

return $output ?: '';
        },
        $content
    );

// -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    // [spb_single_image] — standalone image outside a slider.
    //
    // Same attachment ID logic as slide images above. Also checks for an
    // optional link="..." attribute to wrap the image in an anchor tag.
    //
    // Note the \s* before /?] — Swift occasionally included a trailing space
    // before the closing bracket: [spb_single_image attr="val" ]
    // -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    $content = preg_replace_callback(
        '/\[spb_single_image([^\]]*)\s*\/?]/i',
        function( $m ) {
            $attrs   = $m[1];
            $img_tag = '';
            $link    = '';

if ( preg_match( '/\blink="(https?:\/\/[^"]+)"/', $attrs, $lnk ) ) {
                $link = $lnk[1];
            }

if ( preg_match( '/\bimage="(\d+)"/', $attrs, $img_id ) ) {
                $url = wp_get_attachment_url( (int) $img_id[1] );
                if ( $url ) {
                    $img_tag = '<img class="lazyload" decoding="async" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" data-orig-src="' . esc_url( $url ) . '" alt="">';
                } else {
                    return '';
                }
            } elseif ( preg_match( '/\bimage="(https?:\/\/[^"]+)"/', $attrs, $img_url ) ) {
                $img_tag = '<img class="lazyload" decoding="async" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" data-orig-src="' . esc_url( $img_url[1] ) . '" alt="">';
            } else {
                return '';
            }

return $link
                ? '<a href="' . esc_url( $link ) . '">' . $img_tag . '</a>'
                : $img_tag;
        },
        $content
    );

return $content;
}

// =============================================================================
// ELEMENTOR — EXPORT VERSION
// =============================================================================
//
// Elementor is fundamentally different from every other builder here because
// it does NOT use WordPress shortcodes. Instead, it serializes its entire page
// structure as rendered HTML with data-* attributes, stored directly in
// post_content. A single Elementor page is typically 50–200KB of nested div
// tags before the actual readable content even starts.
//
// THE STRUCTURE YOU'RE DEALING WITH:
//
//   Top-level fingerprint (how we detect Elementor content):
//     <div data-elementor-type="wp-page" data-elementor-id="123" class="...">
//
//   Layout layers — pure scaffolding, no content value:
//     <div class="elementor-section ...">       — horizontal row/section
//       <div class="elementor-container ...">   — width-constrained inner wrapper
//         <div class="elementor-row ...">       — flexbox row
//           <div class="elementor-column ...">  — individual column
//             <div class="elementor-widget-wrap ..."> — wraps widgets in column
//
//   Widget layer — one per content element (heading, text, image, video, etc.):
//     <div class="elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading ...">
//       <div class="elementor-widget-container">
//         <h2 class="elementor-heading-title">Actual heading text</h2>
//       </div>
//     </div>
//
//   To get from Elementor's stored HTML to clean content, we need to:
//     1. Detect and unwrap the outer page wrapper
//     2. Strip opening tags of all layout divs (keep inner HTML)
//     3. Unwrap elementor-widget-container to expose actual content tags
//     4. Mark dynamic widgets as unrecoverable
//     5. Strip leftover data-* attributes from surviving tags
//     6. Clean up orphaned closing div tags
//
// WHAT CANNOT BE RECOVERED:
//   Dynamic widgets render from other database tables at runtime — empty in post_content:
//     elementor-widget-posts, elementor-widget-portfolio,
//     elementor-widget-testimonial-carousel, elementor-widget-loop-grid
//
//   _elementor_data meta: Some setups store layout JSON in post meta rather than
//   post_content. If posts come through nearly empty, that's why.

function bcc_strip_elementor( $content ) {

// -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    // Step 1: Detect Elementor content before running any regexes.
    // Non-Elementor posts are returned immediately.
    // -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    if ( strpos( $content, 'data-elementor-type' ) === false
      && strpos( $content, 'elementor-section' ) === false ) {
        return $content;
    }

// -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    // Step 2: Remove the outer Elementor page wrapper's opening tag.
    // -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    $content = preg_replace(
        '/<div[^>]+data-elementor-type[^>]*>/i',
        '',
        $content
    );

// -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    // Step 3: Strip opening tags for layout-only div classes.
    // We remove the opening tag and leave the inner HTML in place.
    // Matching closing tags become orphans and are cleaned up below.
    //
    //   elementor-section-wrap  — outermost inner wrapper
    //   elementor-section       — horizontal row / section block
    //   elementor-container     — width-constrained wrapper
    //   elementor-row           — flexbox row inside container
    //   elementor-column-wrap   — inner column padding wrapper
    //   elementor-column        — individual column
    //   elementor-widget-wrap   — wraps all widgets inside a column
    // -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    $layout_classes = [
        'elementor-section-wrap',
        'elementor-section',
        'elementor-container',
        'elementor-row',
        'elementor-column-wrap',
        'elementor-column',
        'elementor-widget-wrap',
    ];

foreach ( $layout_classes as $cls ) {
        $content = preg_replace(
            '/<div[^>]+class="[^"]*' . preg_quote( $cls, '/' ) . '[^"]*"[^>]*>/i',
            '',
            $content
        );
    }

// -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    // Step 4: Unwrap elementor-widget-container divs.
    // This is the immediate parent of actual content — headings, paragraphs,
    // images. We replace the full wrapper with just its inner HTML.
    // -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    $content = preg_replace_callback(
        '/<div[^>]+class="[^"]*elementor-widget-container[^"]*"[^>]*>(.*?)<\/div>/si',
        function( $m ) {
            return trim( $m[1] );
        },
        $content
    );

// -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    // Step 5: Mark dynamic widgets as unrecoverable.
    // These pull content from other sources at runtime — nothing to save here.
    // -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    $dynamic_widgets = [
        'elementor-widget-posts',
        'elementor-widget-portfolio',
        'elementor-widget-testimonial-carousel',
        'elementor-widget-loop-grid',
        'elementor-widget-nav-menu',
    ];

foreach ( $dynamic_widgets as $widget_class ) {
        $content = preg_replace(
            '/<div[^>]+class="[^"]*' . preg_quote( $widget_class, '/' ) . '[^"]*"[^>]*>.*?<\/div>/si',
            '',
            $content
        );
    }

// -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    // Step 6: Strip Elementor data-* attributes from surviving HTML tags.
    // After unwrapping, tags like <h2 data-id="abc" data-settings="{...}">
    // are left on legitimate content elements. Strip them.
    // -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    $content = preg_replace(
        '/\s+data-(?:id|element_type|widget_type|settings|aos|aos-delay)="[^"]*"/i',
        '',
        $content
    );

// -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    // Step 7: Strip empty utility elements (spacers, dividers).
    // -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    $content = preg_replace(
        '/<div[^>]+class="[^"]*elementor-(?:spacer|divider|icon-box-wrapper)[^"]*"[^>]*>\s*<\/div>/i',
        '',
        $content
    );

// -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    // Step 8: Clean up orphaned closing div tags.
    // Reduce chains of 3+ consecutive </div> tags to one — safer than deleting
    // all of them, since some may belong to legitimate content wrappers.
    // bcc_cleanup() handles any truly empty tags that remain.
    // -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    $content = preg_replace( '/(<\/div>\s*){3,}/i', '</div>', $content );

return $content;
}

// =============================================================================
// DIVI SLIDER EXTRACTOR
// =============================================================================
// Divi stores background_image as a FULL URL in the shortcode attribute —
// not as an attachment ID. Slider images are recoverable on both export and
// import sides for Divi. This is unlike Swift and WPBakery.
//
// Structure:
//   [et_pb_slider] wraps [et_pb_slide] items.
//   Each [et_pb_slide] has:
//     background_image="https://..."  — full URL, directly usable
//     heading="Slide Title"           — optional heading attribute
//     Inner content between tags      — optional longer body copy

function bcc_extract_divi_sliders( $content ) {
    return preg_replace_callback(
        '/\[et_pb_slider[^\]]*\](.*?)\[\/et_pb_slider\]/si',
        function( $slider_match ) {
            $slides_raw = $slider_match[1];
            $output     = '';

preg_match_all(
                '/\[et_pb_slide([^\]]*)\](.*?)\[\/et_pb_slide\]/si',
                $slides_raw,
                $slides,
                PREG_SET_ORDER
            );

if ( empty( $slides ) ) {
                return '';
            }

foreach ( $slides as $slide ) {
                $attrs = $slide[1];
                $inner = trim( $slide[2] );
                $div   = '<div class="bcc-slide">';

if ( preg_match( '/\bheading="([^"]*)"/', $attrs, $h ) && trim( $h[1] ) !== '' ) {
                    $div .= '<h2>' . esc_html( $h[1] ) . '</h2>';
                }

if ( $inner !== '' ) {
                    $inner = preg_replace( '/\[\/?\w[^\]]*\]/i', '', $inner );
                    $inner = trim( $inner );
                    if ( $inner !== '' ) {
                        $div .= '<p>' . $inner . '</p>';
                    }
                }

$div    .= '</div>';
                $output .= $div . "\n";
            }

return $output ?: '';
        },
        $content
    );
}

// =============================================================================
// WPBAKERY / VISUAL COMPOSER SLIDER EXTRACTOR — EXPORT VERSION
// =============================================================================
// WPBakery stores gallery/carousel images as a comma-separated list of
// attachment IDs: [vc_gallery images="12,34,56,78"]
//
// EXPORT VERSION resolves each ID with wp_get_attachment_url() while the
// old database is available. The import version cannot do this.

function bcc_extract_wpbakery_sliders( $content ) {
    $tags = [ 'vc_gallery', 'vc_carousel', 'vc_slider', 'vc_images_carousel' ];

foreach ( $tags as $tag ) {
        $content = preg_replace_callback(
            '/\[' . $tag . '([^\]]*)\]/i',
            function( $m ) use ( $tag ) {
                $attrs  = $m[1];
                $output = '';

if ( preg_match( '/\b(?:images|ids)="([^"]+)"/', $attrs, $id_match ) ) {
                    $ids = array_filter( array_map( 'trim', explode( ',', $id_match[1] ) ) );
                    foreach ( $ids as $id ) {
                        if ( ! ctype_digit( $id ) ) continue;
                        $url = wp_get_attachment_url( (int) $id );
                        if ( $url ) {
                            $output .= '<div class="bcc-slide"><img class="lazyload" decoding="async" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" data-orig-src="' . esc_url( $url ) . '" alt=""></div>' . "\n";
                        }
                    }
                }

return $output ?: '';
            },
            $content
        );
    }

return $content;
}

// =============================================================================
// FUSION / AVADA TEXT AND SLIDER HANDLING
// =============================================================================
// Fusion Builder uses shortcodes but has one major gotcha:
//
// Fusion Slider data is stored in a SEPARATE CPT (fusion_slider), NOT in
// post_content. The [fusion_slider] shortcode is just a reference — the actual
// slides live in a different database table. Unrecoverable from post_content alone.
//
// What IS recoverable:
//   [fusion_text]        — strip wrapper tags, keep inner HTML
//   [fusion_imageframe]  — recover image if src URL is in the attribute
//   [fusion_youtube]     — reconstruct full URL from video ID attribute
//   [fusion_vimeo]       — same reconstruction approach

function bcc_extract_fusion_text( $content ) {

$content = preg_replace_callback(
        '/\[fusion_text[^\]]*\](.*?)\[\/fusion_text\]/si',
        function( $m ) {
            $inner = trim( $m[1] );
            return $inner !== '' ? $inner : '';
        },
        $content
    );

$content = preg_replace_callback(
        '/\[fusion_imageframe[^\]]*\bsrc="(https?:\/\/[^"]+)"[^\]]*\/?]/i',
        function( $m ) {
            return '<img class="lazyload" decoding="async" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" data-orig-src="' . esc_url( $m[1] ) . '" alt="">';
        },
        $content
    );

$content = preg_replace(
        '/\[fusion_slider[^\]]*\].*?\[\/fusion_slider\]/si',
        '',
        $content
    );

return $content;
}

// =============================================================================
// VIDEO URL RECOVERY
// =============================================================================
// Plain YouTube and Vimeo URLs on their own line auto-embed in WordPress
// via oEmbed. The goal is to extract the bare URL from whatever builder
// wrapper stored it, then output it on its own line.
//
// Note: [video src="..."] is handled here explicitly rather than being left
// for the catch-all stash, so we output a clean bare URL instead of preserving
// the raw shortcode.

function bcc_extract_video_urls( $content ) {

// Native WP [video src="..."]
    $content = preg_replace_callback(
        '/\[video[^\]]*\bsrc="(https?:\/\/[^"]+)"[^\]]*\/?]/i',
        function( $m ) { return "\n" . trim( $m[1] ) . "\n"; },
        $content
    );

// Native WP [embed]URL[/embed]
    $content = preg_replace_callback(
        '/\[embed\]\s*(https?:\/\/[^\[]+?)\s*\[\/embed\]/i',
        function( $m ) { return "\n" . trim( $m[1] ) . "\n"; },
        $content
    );

// Builder video shortcodes (multiple attribute names across builders):
    //   vc_video → link, et_pb_video → src, spb_video → video_url, fl_video → url
    $content = preg_replace_callback(
        '/\[(?:vc_video|et_pb_video|spb_video|fl_video)[^\]]*\b(?:link|url|src|video_url)="(https?:\/\/[^"]+)"[^\]]*\/?]/i',
        function( $m ) { return "\n" . trim( $m[1] ) . "\n"; },
        $content
    );

// Fusion YouTube: stores video ID, not full URL — reconstruct it
    $content = preg_replace_callback(
        '/\[fusion_youtube[^\]]*\bid="([^"]+)"[^\]]*\/?]/i',
        function( $m ) {
            return "\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=" . trim( $m[1] ) . "\n";
        },
        $content
    );

// Fusion Vimeo: same pattern
    $content = preg_replace_callback(
        '/\[fusion_vimeo[^\]]*\bid="([^"]+)"[^\]]*\/?]/i',
        function( $m ) {
            return "\nhttps://vimeo.com/" . trim( $m[1] ) . "\n";
        },
        $content
    );

return $content;
}

// =============================================================================
// BUILDER SHORTCODE STRIPPER (prefix-based)
// =============================================================================
// By the time this runs, extractors have already recovered sliders, images,
// and video URLs. This strips remaining shortcode scaffolding by prefix.
//
// STRUCTURAL WRAPPERS (rows, columns, sliders, galleries):
//   Strip the tag AND all inner content — extractors already got what mattered.
//   Matched by $structural_keywords below (partial names after the prefix).
//   e.g. 'row' matches [vc_row], [spb_row], [et_pb_row], [fl_row], etc.
//
// ALL OTHER TAGS:
//   Strip the shortcode tags, PRESERVE inner content.
//   e.g. [vc_column_text]<p>Hello</p>[/vc_column_text] → <p>Hello</p>
//
// TO ADD A BUILDER: add its prefix to $prefixes. All tags with that prefix
// are handled automatically.

function bcc_strip_builder_shortcodes( $content ) {

$prefixes = [
        'fusion_'      => 'Avada / Fusion Builder',
        'vc_'          => 'WPBakery / Visual Composer',
        'et_pb_'       => 'Divi',
        'spb_'         => 'Swift Builder',
        'fl_'          => 'Beaver Builder',
        'so_'          => 'SiteOrigin Page Builder',
        'themify_'     => 'Themify Builder',
        'cornerstone_' => 'Cornerstone (X Theme)',
        'mk_'          => 'MK / Jupiter Theme',
        'av_'          => 'Enfold',
        'nectar_'      => 'Salient',
        'dt_'          => 'X Theme / Integrity',
    ];

// These partial tag names identify structural/layout wrappers across all builders.
    // Matched after the prefix: 'row' → [vc_row], [spb_row], [et_pb_row], etc.
    $structural_keywords = [
        'row', 'column', 'col', 'section', 'container', 'wrapper', 'inner',
        'slider', 'slide', 'carousel', 'gallery', 'portfolio',
        'testimonials', 'accordion', 'toggle', 'tabs', 'tab',
        'tour', 'tour_section', 'counter_circle', 'countdown',
        'pricing_table', 'pricing_column',
    ];

foreach ( $prefixes as $prefix => $label ) {
        $p = preg_quote( $prefix, '/' );

// Strip structural wrappers — tag AND inner content
        foreach ( $structural_keywords as $kw ) {
            $content = preg_replace(
                '/\[' . $p . $kw . '[^\]]*\].*?\[\/' . $p . $kw . '[^\]]*\]/si',
                '',
                $content
            );
        }

// Strip remaining closing tags
        $content = preg_replace( '/\[\/' . $p . '[^\]]*\]/i', '', $content );

// Strip remaining opening/self-closing tags, preserve inner content
        $content = preg_replace( '/\[' . $p . '[^\]]*\s*\/?]/i', '', $content );
    }

return $content;
}

// =============================================================================
// CATCH-ALL SHORTCODE STRIPPER (opt-in)
// =============================================================================
// Strips shortcode tags not caught by the prefix stripper above.
//
// PRESERVES native WP shortcodes: [caption], [gallery], [embed], [audio],
// [video], [playlist], [wp_caption]
//
// TO OPT OUT: comment out bcc_strip_remaining_shortcodes() in bcc_clean().
// Do this if your content uses plugin shortcodes active on the new site.

function bcc_strip_remaining_shortcodes( $content ) {

$preserve = [ 'caption', 'gallery', 'embed', 'audio', 'video', 'playlist', 'wp_caption' ];
    $stash    = [];

// Temporarily replace native WP shortcodes with placeholders
    foreach ( $preserve as $tag ) {
        $content = preg_replace_callback(
            '/\[' . $tag . '(?:\s[^\]]*)?\].*?\[\/' . $tag . '\]|\[' . $tag . '(?:\s[^\]]*)?\s*\/?]/si',
            function( $m ) use ( &$stash ) {
                $key           = '%%BCC_STASH_' . count( $stash ) . '%%';
                $stash[ $key ] = $m[0];
                return $key;
            },
            $content
        );
    }

// Strip all remaining shortcode tags
    $content = preg_replace( '/\[\/?[a-z][a-z0-9_-]*(?:\s[^\]]*)?\s*\/?]/i', '', $content );

// Restore the native WP shortcodes
    foreach ( $stash as $key => $original ) {
        $content = str_replace( $key, $original, $content );
    }

return $content;
}

// =============================================================================
// FINAL CLEANUP
// =============================================================================

Free PHP Shortcode Stripper for WP Import: bcc-import.php

Copy to Clipboard

<?php
/**
 * Builder Content Cleaner — IMPORT VERSION (bcc-import.php)
 * ==========================================================
 * Use this on your NEW site during import — especially for testing with Preview.
 *
 * PLUGIN COMPATIBILITY: WP All Import, WP Import Export
 *
 * SETUP — two steps:
 *   1. Paste this file into the Import PHP Functions editor:
 *        Manage Imports → [your import] → Import PHP Functions
 *   2. In your post_content field mapping, enter:
 *        return bcc_clean( $post_content );
 *
 * WHY USE THE IMPORT VERSION?
 *   WP All Import's Preview feature shows you exactly what the cleaner will
 *   produce before anything touches your database. Test first, import when
 *   the output looks right.
 *
 * THE KEY LIMITATION — ATTACHMENT IDs:
 *   Builders like Swift and WPBakery store images as integer IDs (image="423").
 *   Those reference the old database — meaningless on the new site. This version
 *   cannot resolve them. Run bcc-export.php on the old site first to convert
 *   all IDs to full URLs, then import the cleaned file here.
 *
 *   Wherever ID-only images are found, this cleaner leaves a BCC-SKIP comment.
 *
 * AFTER IMPORT — find what needs manual attention:
 *   Search all post content for:  BCC-SKIP
 *   The free Search Regex plugin (wp.org) can do this across all posts at once.
 *
 * Do not load this file and bcc-export.php at the same time.
 *   They define the same function names. Use one or the other per context.
 */

// =============================================================================
// MAIN ENTRY POINT
// =============================================================================

function bcc_clean( $content ) {
    if ( empty( $content ) ) return $content;

// Comment this out to preserve shortcodes from plugins active on the new site
    $content = bcc_strip_remaining_shortcodes( $content );

$content = bcc_cleanup( $content );

return $content;
}

// =============================================================================
// SWIFT BUILDER — IMPORT VERSION
// =============================================================================
//
// Swift Builder stores images as attachment IDs — the core problem on the
// import side. See bcc-export.php for the full breakdown of Swift's structure.
//
// THIS VERSION:
//   - Checks for full URLs first (present if export version was run on old site)
//   - Falls back to a descriptive BCC-SKIP comment for ID-only images
//   - Always recovers title text and inner copy regardless of image situation

function bcc_extract_swift_sliders( $content ) {

// -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    // [spb_slider] — outer wrapper, process each [spb_slide] inside
    // -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    $content = preg_replace_callback(
        '/\[spb_slider[^\]]*\](.*?)\[\/spb_slider\]/si',
        function( $slider_match ) {
            $inner  = $slider_match[1];
            $output = '';

preg_match_all(
                '/\[spb_slide([^\]]*)\](.*?)\[\/spb_slide\]/si',
                $inner,
                $slides,
                PREG_SET_ORDER
            );

if ( empty( $slides ) ) {
                return '';
            }

foreach ( $slides as $slide ) {
                $attrs    = $slide[1];
                $text_raw = trim( $slide[2] );
                $div      = '<div class="bcc-slide">';

// Full URL first (present if export version was already run).
                // Integer ID only — can't resolve without the old database.
                if ( preg_match( '/\bimage="(https?:\/\/[^"]+)"/', $attrs, $img_url ) ) {
                    $div .= '<img class="lazyload" decoding="async" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" data-orig-src="' . esc_url( $img_url[1] ) . '" alt="">';
                } elseif ( preg_match( '/\bimage="(\d+)"/', $attrs, $img_id ) ) {
                    $div .= '';
                }

// Title is always a plain text attribute — always recoverable
                if ( preg_match( '/\btitle="([^"]*)"/', $attrs, $t ) && trim( $t[1] ) !== '' ) {
                    $div .= '<h2>' . esc_html( $t[1] ) . '</h2>';
                }

// Inner text — strip nested shortcodes, keep content
                if ( $text_raw !== '' ) {
                    $text_raw = preg_replace( '/\[\/?\w[^\]]*\]/i', '', $text_raw );
                    $text_raw = trim( $text_raw );
                    if ( $text_raw !== '' ) {
                        $div .= '<p>' . $text_raw . '</p>';
                    }
                }

$div    .= '</div>';
                $output .= $div . "\n";
            }

return $output ?: '';
        },
        $content
    );

// -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    // [spb_single_image] — standalone image, same URL-first / ID-fallback logic.
    // \s* before /?] handles trailing spaces Swift occasionally left in tags.
    // -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    $content = preg_replace_callback(
        '/\[spb_single_image([^\]]*)\s*\/?]/i',
        function( $m ) {
            $attrs   = $m[1];
            $img_tag = '';
            $link    = '';

if ( preg_match( '/\blink="(https?:\/\/[^"]+)"/', $attrs, $lnk ) ) {
                $link = $lnk[1];
            }

if ( preg_match( '/\bimage="(https?:\/\/[^"]+)"/', $attrs, $img_url ) ) {
                $img_tag = '<img class="lazyload" decoding="async" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" data-orig-src="' . esc_url( $img_url[1] ) . '" alt="">';
            } elseif ( preg_match( '/\bimage="(\d+)"/', $attrs, $img_id ) ) {
                return '';
            } else {
                return '';
            }

return $link
                ? '<a href="' . esc_url( $link ) . '">' . $img_tag . '</a>'
                : $img_tag;
        },
        $content
    );

return $content;
}

// =============================================================================
// ELEMENTOR — IMPORT VERSION
// =============================================================================
//
// Elementor behavior is identical on import and export sides because Elementor
// stores image URLs (not IDs) in its HTML img tags — no attachment ID problem.
//
// See bcc-export.php for the full explanation of Elementor's div structure,
// what each layout class does, and which widget types are unrecoverable.
//
// Import-specific note:
//   If posts come in nearly empty, the site may store layout in _elementor_data
//   post meta (JSON) rather than post_content. Export that field separately.

function bcc_strip_elementor( $content ) {

if ( strpos( $content, 'data-elementor-type' ) === false
      && strpos( $content, 'elementor-section' ) === false ) {
        return $content;
    }

// Remove outer page wrapper opening tag
    $content = preg_replace( '/<div[^>]+data-elementor-type[^>]*>/i', '', $content );

// Strip layout div opening tags — section, container, row, column, widget-wrap
    // (keep inner HTML; orphaned </div>s cleaned up at the end of this function)
    $layout_classes = [
        'elementor-section-wrap',
        'elementor-section',
        'elementor-container',
        'elementor-row',
        'elementor-column-wrap',
        'elementor-column',
        'elementor-widget-wrap',
    ];

// Unwrap elementor-widget-container — return only the inner content
    $content = preg_replace_callback(
        '/<div[^>]+class="[^"]*elementor-widget-container[^"]*"[^>]*>(.*?)<\/div>/si',
        function( $m ) { return trim( $m[1] ); },
        $content
    );

// Mark dynamic widgets as unrecoverable (render from other data at runtime)
    $dynamic_widgets = [
        'elementor-widget-posts',
        'elementor-widget-portfolio',
        'elementor-widget-testimonial-carousel',
        'elementor-widget-loop-grid',
        'elementor-widget-nav-menu',
    ];

// Strip empty utility elements (spacers, dividers)
    $content = preg_replace(
        '/<div[^>]+class="[^"]*elementor-(?:spacer|divider|icon-box-wrapper)[^"]*"[^>]*>\s*<\/div>/i',
        '',
        $content
    );

// Reduce chains of 3+ orphaned </div>s to one — safer than deleting all
    $content = preg_replace( '/(<\/div>\s*){3,}/i', '</div>', $content );

return $content;
}

// =============================================================================
// DIVI SLIDER EXTRACTOR — identical on both sides
// =============================================================================
// Divi stores background_image as full URL — works the same on import side.
// See bcc-export.php for full notes.

preg_match_all(
                '/\[et_pb_slide([^\]]*)\](.*?)\[\/et_pb_slide\]/si',
                $slides_raw, $slides, PREG_SET_ORDER
            );

if ( empty( $slides ) ) {
                return '';
            }

foreach ( $slides as $slide ) {
                $attrs = $slide[1];
                $inner = trim( $slide[2] );
                $div   = '<div class="bcc-slide">';

if ( preg_match( '/\bbackground_image="(https?:\/\/[^"]+)"/', $attrs, $img ) ) {
                    $div .= '<img class="lazyload" decoding="async" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" data-orig-src="' . esc_url( $img[1] ) . '" alt="">';
                }
                if ( preg_match( '/\bheading="([^"]*)"/', $attrs, $h ) && trim( $h[1] ) !== '' ) {
                    $div .= '<h2>' . esc_html( $h[1] ) . '</h2>';
                }
                if ( $inner !== '' ) {
                    $inner = trim( preg_replace( '/\[\/?\w[^\]]*\]/i', '', $inner ) );
                    if ( $inner !== '' ) $div .= '<p>' . $inner . '</p>';
                }

$div    .= '</div>';
                $output .= $div . "\n";
            }

return $output ?: '';
        },
        $content
    );
}

// =============================================================================
// WPBAKERY / VISUAL COMPOSER SLIDER EXTRACTOR — IMPORT VERSION
// =============================================================================
// WPBakery stores images as attachment IDs — not resolvable on import side.
// Checks for full URLs first (present if export version was run), then BCC-SKIP.

function bcc_extract_wpbakery_sliders( $content ) {
    $tags = [ 'vc_gallery', 'vc_carousel', 'vc_slider', 'vc_images_carousel' ];

// Check for full image URLs first (present if export version was run)
                if ( preg_match_all( '/https?:\/\/[^\s"\'<>\]]+/i', $attrs, $urls ) ) {
                    foreach ( $urls[0] as $url ) {
                        if ( preg_match( '/\.(?:jpe?g|png|gif|webp|avif|svg)(?:[?#]|$)/i', $url ) ) {
                            $output .= '<div class="bcc-slide"><img class="lazyload" decoding="async" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" data-orig-src="' . esc_url( $url ) . '" alt=""></div>' . "\n";
                        }
                    }
                    if ( $output ) return $output;
                }

// Integer IDs only — can't resolve without the old database
                if ( preg_match( '/\b(?:images|ids)="[\d,\s]+"/', $attrs ) ) {
                    return '';
                }

return '';
            },
            $content
        );
    }

return $content;
}

// =============================================================================
// FUSION / AVADA TEXT AND SLIDER HANDLING — identical on both sides
// =============================================================================
// See bcc-export.php for full notes. Fusion sliders remain unrecoverable from
// post_content on either side — data lives in the fusion_slider CPT.

function bcc_extract_fusion_text( $content ) {

$content = preg_replace_callback(
        '/\[fusion_text[^\]]*\](.*?)\[\/fusion_text\]/si',
        function( $m ) { return trim( $m[1] ); },
        $content
    );

$content = preg_replace_callback(
        '/\[fusion_imageframe[^\]]*\bsrc="(https?:\/\/[^"]+)"[^\]]*\/?]/i',
        function( $m ) { return '<img class="lazyload" decoding="async" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" data-orig-src="' . esc_url( $m[1] ) . '" alt="">'; },
        $content
    );

$content = preg_replace(
        '/\[fusion_slider[^\]]*\].*?\[\/fusion_slider\]/si',
        '',
        $content
    );

return $content;
}

// =============================================================================
// VIDEO URL RECOVERY — identical on both sides
// =============================================================================

function bcc_extract_video_urls( $content ) {

$content = preg_replace_callback(
        '/\[video[^\]]*\bsrc="(https?:\/\/[^"]+)"[^\]]*\/?]/i',
        function( $m ) { return "\n" . trim( $m[1] ) . "\n"; },
        $content
    );
    $content = preg_replace_callback(
        '/\[embed\]\s*(https?:\/\/[^\[]+?)\s*\[\/embed\]/i',
        function( $m ) { return "\n" . trim( $m[1] ) . "\n"; },
        $content
    );
    $content = preg_replace_callback(
        '/\[(?:vc_video|et_pb_video|spb_video|fl_video)[^\]]*\b(?:link|url|src|video_url)="(https?:\/\/[^"]+)"[^\]]*\/?]/i',
        function( $m ) { return "\n" . trim( $m[1] ) . "\n"; },
        $content
    );
    $content = preg_replace_callback(
        '/\[fusion_youtube[^\]]*\bid="([^"]+)"[^\]]*\/?]/i',
        function( $m ) { return "\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=" . trim( $m[1] ) . "\n"; },
        $content
    );
    $content = preg_replace_callback(
        '/\[fusion_vimeo[^\]]*\bid="([^"]+)"[^\]]*\/?]/i',
        function( $m ) { return "\nhttps://vimeo.com/" . trim( $m[1] ) . "\n"; },
        $content
    );

return $content;
}

// =============================================================================
// BUILDER SHORTCODE STRIPPER — identical on both sides
// =============================================================================

function bcc_strip_builder_shortcodes( $content ) {

$structural_keywords = [
        'row', 'column', 'col', 'section', 'container', 'wrapper', 'inner',
        'slider', 'slide', 'carousel', 'gallery', 'portfolio',
        'testimonials', 'accordion', 'toggle', 'tabs', 'tab',
        'tour', 'tour_section', 'counter_circle', 'countdown',
        'pricing_table', 'pricing_column',
    ];

foreach ( $prefixes as $prefix => $label ) {
        $p = preg_quote( $prefix, '/' );
        foreach ( $structural_keywords as $kw ) {
            $content = preg_replace(
                '/\[' . $p . $kw . '[^\]]*\].*?\[\/' . $p . $kw . '[^\]]*\]/si',
                '', $content
            );
        }
        $content = preg_replace( '/\[\/' . $p . '[^\]]*\]/i', '', $content );
        $content = preg_replace( '/\[' . $p . '[^\]]*\s*\/?]/i', '', $content );
    }

return $content;
}

// =============================================================================
// CATCH-ALL SHORTCODE STRIPPER — identical on both sides
// =============================================================================

function bcc_strip_remaining_shortcodes( $content ) {

$preserve = [ 'caption', 'gallery', 'embed', 'audio', 'video', 'playlist', 'wp_caption' ];
    $stash    = [];

foreach ( $preserve as $tag ) {
        $content = preg_replace_callback(
            '/\[' . $tag . '(?:\s[^\]]*)?\].*?\[\/' . $tag . '\]|\[' . $tag . '(?:\s[^\]]*)?\s*\/?]/si',
            function( $m ) use ( &$stash ) {
                $key           = '%%BCC_STASH_' . count( $stash ) . '%%';
                $stash[ $key ] = $m[0];
                return $key;
            },
            $content
        );
    }

$content = preg_replace( '/\[\/?[a-z][a-z0-9_-]*(?:\s[^\]]*)?\s*\/?]/i', '', $content );

foreach ( $stash as $key => $original ) {
        $content = str_replace( $key, $original, $content );
    }

return $content;
}

// =============================================================================
// FINAL CLEANUP — identical on both sides
// =============================================================================

Need This Done for You?

If you’d rather hand this off than DIY it — this is exactly the kind of work I do at CarrierSignal. I’ve been doing web development since the nineties.

Book a Free IT Strategy Call

Built and tested in a real production environment. Developed in collaboration with Claude (Anthropic) through an iterative process of live debugging, page source analysis, and multiple rounds of testing. Code independently reviewed by Claude Sonnet for security and quality.

Free PHP Shortcode Stripper to use for WordPress Migration with WP Export / WP Import

By Ann Morgan|2026-04-23T17:35:24+00:00April 21, 2026|PHP Fixes|

How to Fix LearnDash and Vimeo Video Progression (Free Code Included)

By Ann Morgan|2026-04-22T18:47:08+00:00April 15, 2026|PHP Fixes|

April 21, 2026

Free PHP Shortcode Stripper to use for WordPress Migration with WP Export / WP Import

Some code to use with WP All Import and WP All Export to make migrating a site to a new theme and builder a little easier.

What the PHP tool does

Two PHP files, one for WP Import and WP Export

The attachment ID issue

Setup

Finding what needs manual work

What can’t be recovered — regardless of how the PHP is written

Slider output format

Adding builders or keeping plugin shortcodes

The code

Free PHP Shortcode Stripper for WP Export: bcc-export.php

Free PHP Shortcode Stripper for WP Import: bcc-import.php

Need This Done for You?

Free PHP Shortcode Stripper to use for WordPress Migration with WP Export / WP Import

How to Fix LearnDash and Vimeo Video Progression (Free Code Included)

Share this article