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Advanced Features

Export & Import — Move Your Data Between Sites

Move everything URL Shortify stores from one WordPress site to another in a single file — links, groups, tags, custom domains, UTM presets, tracking pixels, click history and your plugin settings.

Use it to move from staging to production, migrate to a new host or domain, or set up a second site with the same configuration, without touching the database by hand.

PRO Feature

Export / Import is available in URL Shortify PRO, and only administrators can run it.

Where to Find It

Go to URL Shortify → Tools → Export / Import.

The page has two sections: Export at the top, Import below it.

What Is Included

Data Included
Links, with all their settings and rules Yes
Groups and tags, and their link relationships Yes
Custom domains Yes
UTM presets Yes
Tracking pixels Yes
Auto link keywords Yes
Link meta Yes
Click history and click rotations Optional
Favourite links Yes
REST API keys Optional, excluded by default
Plugin settings Always exported, optional on import

Exporting

  1. Go to URL Shortify → Tools → Export / Import.
  2. Choose what to include:
    • Everything — links, groups, tags, settings and click statistics.
    • Without click statistics — a much smaller file. Recommended for busy sites.
    • Choose what to include — tick individual data types. Each shows how many rows it holds.
  3. Leave Compress the file (gzip) ticked unless you want to read the file yourself. Compression usually reduces the size by a factor of ten or more.
  4. Click Create Export File.

A progress bar shows how many rows have been written. Large sites are processed in batches, so the export cannot time out.

When it finishes you get:

  • the number of rows and the file size,
  • a SHA256 checksum you can copy, to verify the file after downloading it,
  • a Download button.

Export files are stored in a protected folder on your server and are deleted automatically after 24 hours. Download the file before then, or simply run the export again.

Importing

1. Upload the file

In the Import section, choose the .json or .json.gz file you exported from the other site and click Upload & Preview.

Nothing is written to your database at this stage.

2. Review the preview

URL Shortify reads the whole file and shows you:

  • Rows in file for each type of data.
  • Already on this site — how many entries would clash, with a few examples so you can see which ones.
  • Warnings, such as a different link prefix between the two sites, or the presence of API keys.
  • An integrity check. Every export carries a digest of its own contents, so a file that was truncated during download or edited afterwards is detected here — before anything is imported.

3. Choose how to import

When an entry already exists here

Option What happens
Keep what is already here (default) The existing entry and its statistics are left untouched, and the imported one is skipped.
Update it with the imported version The existing entry is overwritten with the imported values, and its related data is imported too.
Import as a new link with a new slug A colliding link is imported as a brand new link with an automatically generated slug. Nothing existing is changed.

Additional options

  • Import click statistics — bring the click history across. Turn it off for a faster, lighter import.
  • Import plugin settings — apply the source site's URL Shortify settings.
  • Import REST API keys — off by default. Only enable this if you want the other site's integrations to be able to write to this site.
  • Delete all existing URL Shortify data first — see below.

4. Run it

Click Start Import. Progress is shown as rows are written, in batches, so the import cannot time out.

When it finishes you get a summary table showing, for each type of data, how many rows were Added, Updated, Skipped and Failed.

Making an Exact Copy

Tick Delete all existing URL Shortify data first to replace this site's data entirely rather than merging.

Before anything is removed, URL Shortify creates a full backup of your current data and offers it as a download link in the result summary. If the import turns out to be wrong, you can import that backup to get back to where you were.

When the destination tables start out empty — which is the case after this option, and on a fresh site — links keep their original IDs, so the copy is identical to the source.

Every link is related to other records: its groups, its tags, its clicks, its tracking pixels, its custom domain.

  • On an empty site, the original IDs are preserved and everything lines up exactly as it did on the source site.
  • When merging into a site that already has data, imported records get new IDs and every relationship is rewritten to match — including the custom domain and tracking pixels stored inside a link's rules, and the custom domain settings.

Either way you do not need to fix anything up by hand afterwards.

Plugin Settings

Your whole URL Shortify configuration travels in the same file as your data, so you can set a site up the way you like it and reproduce that on the next one.

What counts as a setting

Everything under URL Shortify → Settings, across all of its tabs:

Tab Examples of what carries over
General Click anonymisation, public link, case-sensitive slugs, uninstall behaviour
Links Default redirect type, link prefix, nofollow, sponsored, parameter forwarding, tracking, slug character rules, splash countdown, custom UTM parameters
Display Where to show short URLs, displayed HTML and CSS, default domain, password page, auto-create behaviour
Reports Email digest frequency, day, time and recipients

Settings are always in the export

Your settings are written into every export file whatever scope you choose, and they are written first. There is no way to leave them out — and no way to export them on their own either, since an export must include at least one type of data.

Applying them on the destination

Tick Import plugin settings in the import options.

Settings are not applied unless you ask

Import plugin settings is off by default. Leave it unticked and your data is imported while the destination site keeps its own configuration untouched — usually what you want when merging links into an existing site.

Settings are applied after the data has been written, so any IDs they hold can be repointed at the records that just arrived.

  • Both custom domain settings — the domain new links default to, and the domain used to display links set to All my domains — are repointed automatically to the matching domain on the destination. If that domain was not part of the import, they fall back to your own site's domain, so links keep working rather than pointing at a domain that does not exist.
  • Display → Password Page stores a WordPress page ID from the source site. Page IDs rarely match between sites, so re-select it afterwards. See Password Protected Links.

Settings are stored as a single value, so importing them replaces the destination's configuration wholesale — individual options cannot be merged or picked out.

Reusing one configuration across several sites

If you set URL Shortify up the same way on every site you build:

  1. Configure one site exactly how you like it. This becomes your template.
  2. Export from it with Without click statistics selected, so the file stays small.
  3. On each new site, upload the package and tick Import plugin settings.
  4. Re-select the password page if you use one.

Remember the package carries data as well as settings, so the template site's links and groups are created on the destination too. Keep the template site's link list small, or delete the imported records afterwards.

Things to Know

  • Slugs travel unchanged, so your short links keep working on the new site as long as the domain is the same. If the two sites use a different link prefix, the preview warns you; imported links continue to work, but new links will use the destination site's prefix.
  • Upload limit. Very large exports can exceed the maximum upload size your server allows — the Import section shows what that limit is. Export without click statistics to produce a much smaller file, or ask your host to raise the limit.
  • Favourite links are stored per WordPress user, so they only line up if both sites share the same user IDs.
  • Importing settings does not move your licence. Activate URL Shortify PRO on each site separately.
  • Keep both sites on the same URL Shortify version where you can. Importing into an older version means any settings it does not recognise are simply ignored.
  • Export packages contain your API secrets. They are stored in a protected folder and served only to logged-in administrators — but treat any file you download as sensitive.
  • This is a single-site tool. It does not export a whole multisite network in one go.

Troubleshooting

"This is not a URL Shortify migration file." The file is not an export package, or was replaced during download. Export it again.

"The contents of this file do not match its integrity marker." The file was truncated or modified after it was exported. Download it again rather than importing it.

"This file has no integrity marker." The export did not finish, usually because it was interrupted. Run the export again.

The file is too large to upload. Export again with Without click statistics selected, or raise the upload limit on the destination server.

My settings did not change after importing. Import plugin settings was most likely left unticked. Run the import again with it enabled.

The password page is set to something odd, or blank. Expected — it holds a page ID from the source site. Re-select it under Settings → Display → Password Page.

Short links are showing on the wrong domain. Check Settings → Display → Default domain, and the Domain setting on the individual links.

My email digest is going to the wrong address. Digest recipients travel with the settings. Update them under Settings → Reports.

FAQ

Export a package from the first site under Tools → Export / Import, then upload that file on the second site and run the import. Slugs are preserved, so your short links keep working.

Only if you choose that. The default is to keep what is already there and skip the incoming duplicate. You can instead update existing entries, or import colliding links under a new slug.

Can I copy my URL Shortify settings to another site?

Yes. Settings travel in every export file. Tick Import plugin settings on the destination to apply them.

Does the export include my click history?

Optionally. Exporting without click statistics produces a much smaller file, which is the better choice on busy sites.

Is the migration file safe to store or email?

Treat it as sensitive. A package can contain REST API keys and your plugin settings, so keep it somewhere private.

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