The safest Joomla-to-WordPress migration is a staged rebuild: back up Joomla, create WordPress on a private staging URL, import the content, recreate the design and extensions, map every changed URL, then switch the domain with working 301 redirects. Joomla has no native export that WordPress can read directly, so you need either a migration plugin such as FG Joomla to WordPress or a manual database conversion.
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Do not treat the import as the whole migration. A plugin can bring over articles, categories, tags, images and other media, but it does not transfer your Joomla template, replace extensions, recreate forms or galleries, or configure redirects. Those tasks determine whether visitors see a usable site and whether old search results continue to work.
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What a Joomla-to-WordPress migration includes
You are moving several different layers, not one file:
- Content: articles, categories, tags, images and media.
- Structure: menus, navigation hierarchy, archives and permalink patterns.
- Presentation: the Joomla template must be rebuilt as a WordPress theme or replaced with a WordPress-compatible design.
- Functions: forms, galleries, search, user areas and every Joomla extension need a WordPress equivalent or a new implementation.
- Search access: each indexed Joomla URL needs either the same WordPress address or a permanent redirect to its new address.
- Operations: hosting, DNS, analytics, user accounts, metadata, media paths and XML sitemaps must be checked after launch.
There is no official step-by-step migration guide from WordPress.org or Joomla.org identified for this process. The practical workflow comes from third-party guides and the FG Joomla to WordPress listing, so confirm plugin compatibility on its live WordPress.org page before you begin.
Choose an import method
Most sites should start with a direct database connection through a migration plugin. A manual export gives you more control, but it requires you to understand Joomla’s database schema and construct WordPress data yourself.
| Approach | What you do | Best fit | Main trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| FG Joomla to WordPress plugin | Install the plugin in WordPress and provide the Joomla database host, database name, user and password. | Standard Joomla articles, categories, tags and media. | Fastest route, but the imported result still needs design, extension and redirect work. |
| Manual database export | Export Joomla article, category and user tables through phpMyAdmin as SQL or CSV, then transform them into WordPress data. A custom WordPress WXR XML file may be required. | Highly customised or non-standard Joomla installations, or projects needing field-level control. | More effort and greater risk of mapping errors, but maximum control over post structure. |
Joomla’s Article Manager does not provide a WordPress-ready export. Exporting tables is therefore a technical fallback, not a button inside Joomla that produces an import file WordPress can consume directly.
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Make independent backups
Create and download a complete Joomla database backup and a copy of all site files, including images and extension data. Store at least one copy outside the server. A third-party guide suggests the Akeeba Backup extension as one possible backup method; treat that as an optional example rather than a requirement, and verify that your backup can actually be restored.
- Record the Joomla version, PHP version, database engine and database credentials.
- Save the current configuration file and web-server rules.
- Export a list of administrator and other user accounts if those users must be recreated in WordPress.
- Note every extension that affects visible content: forms, galleries, search, comments, downloads, memberships and custom fields.
- Take screenshots of important pages and menus so you have a reference while rebuilding the site.
Freeze or document content changes
Decide when Joomla content will stop changing. If authors continue publishing during a long migration, your staging copy can become incomplete. Record the freeze time and plan a final import or a short manual reconciliation immediately before the domain switch.
Check access requirements
The plugin connects to the Joomla database rather than reading only the public HTML. Have the database host, name, user and password ready, and confirm that the WordPress server can reach the Joomla database. If the databases are on different servers, your host may need to allow a remote connection or provide a temporary export instead.
Build WordPress on staging
Install WordPress at a temporary or private staging address. Protect it with authentication or an equivalent access restriction so search engines do not index duplicate pages while you work. Do not point the public domain at the new installation yet.
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- Set the site language, timezone and administrator accounts.
- Confirm that uploads can be written and that the staging server has enough disk space for the Joomla media library.
- Install only the plugins needed for migration and testing at first. Adding unrelated plugins makes troubleshooting harder.
- Keep a written record of the WordPress version, PHP version and every migration-plugin version used.
The migration plugin’s listed minimums are WordPress 4.5 or higher and PHP 5.6 or higher. Those figures describe compatibility requirements in the listing, not a recommendation to run old software. Use versions supported by your host and verify the plugin against the WordPress release you actually install.
Inventory URLs and valuable pages
A redirect plan is only as good as the URL list behind it. Crawl the live Joomla site before changing anything. One guide suggests Screaming Frog for this crawl. Export at least the address, status code, title, canonical information, image URLs and internal links where your crawler provides them.
Also review the top landing pages in Google Search Console. A page that receives little internal navigation may still bring important visitors from search. Include those addresses even if they do not appear in your menu crawl.
Classify the list into articles, category pages, menu pages, media or download URLs, pagination, feeds and utility pages. Mark pages that will be deleted, merged or replaced. Each retained page needs a WordPress destination; each intentionally removed page needs a deliberate replacement or a documented decision not to redirect.
Match Joomla’s URL pattern where practical
Open WordPress’s Settings > Permalinks screen and choose a structure that reproduces the important Joomla paths as closely as WordPress allows. Matching addresses reduces the number of redirect rules and lowers the chance of missing a high-value page. Exact parity is not always possible, especially when Joomla URLs depend on menu aliases, numeric identifiers or extension-specific query strings.
| URL strategy | Advantages | Costs and risks |
|---|---|---|
| Match the Joomla pattern | Fewer 301 rules; simpler launch and easier sharing continuity. | May constrain your preferred WordPress permalink structure and cannot reproduce every Joomla route. |
| Adopt a new WordPress pattern | Cleaner or more consistent long-term structure. | Requires a complete redirect map; any missed URL can become a 404 after launch. |
Do this before importing and before publishing new WordPress content. Changing the permalink structure after the import creates an additional round of URL changes and redirect work.
Install and run the FG Joomla to WordPress import
Check the current compatibility information
The WordPress.org listing says the plugin supports Joomla 1.5 through 6.0, with the WordPress and PHP minimums noted above. Cached copies of the listing show different “Tested up to” values: WordPress 6.8.3 for version 4.32.0 in an en-CA listing, WordPress 7.0.4 for version 4.34.0 in en-AU, and WordPress 7.0.1 for version 4.34.0 in en-GB. A newer changelog snippet claims version 4.34.1 was tested with WordPress 7.1, but the main listing’s current field was not visible in that snippet.
These differences are most plausibly stale cached copies rather than separate product lines. Before installing, open the live listing, note the current plugin version and its current “Tested up to” value, and save that information with your migration notes. The plugin’s behaviour on a particular Joomla 5 or Joomla 6 site still needs to be validated on your staging copy.
Connect the plugin to Joomla
- In WordPress, open Plugins > Add New, search for “FG Joomla to WordPress,” install the current listing and activate it.
- Open the plugin’s Joomla import screen.
- Enter the Joomla database host, database name, database user and password. Use the table prefix and other connection fields shown by the plugin for your installation.
- Run the connection or configuration check before starting the import. Resolve authentication, network or permission errors at this stage.
- Choose the content options offered by the plugin, including categories, tags, images and other media. Keep a record of any option that changes how existing content is mapped.
- Start the import on staging and let it finish. Do not repeatedly refresh or close the process while a large media library is being copied.
The listing describes migration of categories, posts, tags, images and other media. It does not promise a copy of your Joomla template, extensions, forms, menus or every custom field. Treat the imported WordPress site as a content foundation that still requires reconstruction.
Repair internal links and media references
Use the plugin’s internal-link repair function if it is available in your installed version. One guide reports that it can rewrite older addresses such as /index.php?option=com_content to cleaner WordPress URLs, but that behaviour was not independently verified. After it runs, crawl the staging site and inspect links manually; do not assume every extension-generated URL was converted.
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Check image filenames, captions, featured images, galleries and downloadable files. Open representative old articles containing images, tables, embeds and custom HTML. A successful post count does not prove that every referenced asset arrived or that its URL is valid.
Rebuild the theme, menus and extensions
Recreate the visual design
Joomla templates are not converted into WordPress themes by the content importer. Rebuild the header, footer, typography, navigation, article layout, archive pages, sidebars and responsive behavior with a WordPress theme or a custom implementation. Compare equivalent Joomla and staging pages at desktop and mobile widths.
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Recreate navigation
Build WordPress menus from your Joomla menu inventory. Check parent-child relationships, menu aliases, breadcrumbs and links to category or landing pages. A menu item that points to an old Joomla address can remain broken even when the article itself imported correctly.
Replace extension functionality
List every Joomla extension by function, then choose a WordPress implementation or remove the function if it is no longer needed. Pay special attention to contact forms, galleries, search enhancements, downloads, comments, membership features and custom fields. Test submissions and notifications with real but non-sensitive data on staging.
Review metadata and users
Inspect page titles, descriptions, canonical settings, robots directives, author attribution, publication dates and categories. User accounts may require separate recreation or a controlled import, depending on your chosen method. Confirm that authors shown on articles still exist and that their permissions are appropriate.
Build and test the 301 redirect map
For every Joomla URL that changes, create a permanent (301) redirect to the closest relevant WordPress address. A redirect manager plugin can store the rules; the redirect feature in an SEO plugin may also be used. Choose one system and document where the rules live so future administrators can maintain them.
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- Export the final Joomla URL list from your crawl and combine it with the Search Console landing-page list.
- Assign one destination to each retained or merged URL. Avoid sending unrelated pages to the home page simply to eliminate errors.
- Enter the old path and new path in the redirect tool. Preserve the correct protocol and host when your setup requires full URLs.
- Test each rule with a request to the old address. Confirm a single 301 response followed by the intended WordPress page.
- Check for chains, loops, mixed-case duplicates, trailing-slash differences and query-string variants.
- Keep the map as a permanent maintenance document. New content, deleted pages and future redesigns will depend on it.
Without these redirects, old Joomla addresses return 404 errors after the domain is switched. A page can be present and readable at its new address while visitors following an old bookmark or search result still receive an error.
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Test the staging site as if you were an arriving visitor, an editor and a search crawler.
- Content: sample short and long articles, category archives, tags, pagination, author pages and publication dates.
- Media: featured images, inline images, galleries, downloads, captions and alt text.
- Links: crawl internal links, menu items, breadcrumbs and links embedded in article HTML.
- Forms: submit each form, confirm validation, notification delivery and success messages.
- Accounts: test administrator, editor and ordinary user permissions if the site uses accounts.
- Search: test site search, filters and any custom search extensions you replaced.
- Responsive layout: inspect navigation, tables, images and forms on narrow screens.
- SEO controls: verify titles, descriptions, canonicals, robots settings and the absence of accidental staging-indexing directives when you are ready to launch.
- Redirects: test a representative sample from every URL type and every important Search Console landing page.
Do not use the staging crawl as proof that the live switch will work. The domain, HTTPS certificate, server rules and DNS path can introduce failures that are invisible on a private URL.
Switch the domain and submit the new sitemap
- Take a final Joomla backup and preserve the completed WordPress staging database and files.
- Apply the last content changes or run a final import, then repeat checks for newly changed articles and media.
- Put the tested redirect rules in the production WordPress environment.
- Point the domain to the WordPress host, update the WordPress site and home URLs if your host requires it, and verify HTTPS.
- Open representative old Joomla URLs and new WordPress URLs from an external connection.
- Submit the new XML sitemap in Google Search Console and check crawl errors, redirect responses and important landing pages.
Keep the Joomla backup available until you have verified the live site and resolved launch errors. Do not delete the old installation merely because DNS has changed; the backup is your recovery path if a database, media or redirect problem appears.
Troubleshooting common migration failures
The plugin cannot connect to Joomla
Recheck the database host, name, user, password and table prefix. A database that accepts local connections from Joomla may reject connections from the WordPress server. Ask the host whether remote access is allowed, or export the required tables and use the manual route.
Posts imported but images are missing
Confirm that the Joomla files were accessible during import and that the WordPress uploads directory is writable. Inspect a missing image’s original path and compare it with the copied media library. Re-run only after preserving the first import and documenting which records would be duplicated.
Menus or categories look wrong
Compare the Joomla menu inventory with WordPress menu locations and parent-child relationships. Check whether a category was imported under a different parent or whether a menu item pointed to an extension route that has no WordPress equivalent.
Old links return 404
Add the missing source URL to the redirect map, test the rule directly and verify that the redirect target itself returns a successful page. If many URLs fail in the same pattern, adjust the permalink structure or create a grouped rule only when all affected paths have the same destination logic.
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Redirects loop or chain
Inspect the entire sequence from the original Joomla address to the final WordPress address. Replace a Joomla-to-old-WordPress-to-new-WordPress chain with one direct 301 wherever possible, and remove rules that redirect a destination back to an earlier source.
The staging site works but production does not
Compare DNS, HTTPS, web-server rewrite rules, database values, file permissions and active plugins between environments. Test from outside the staging network and recrawl after the domain resolves to production.
Manual conversion for highly customised Joomla sites
Use the manual route when the plugin cannot represent custom Joomla fields or non-standard extensions accurately. Export the relevant article, category and user tables through phpMyAdmin as SQL or CSV, then map each field into WordPress posts, taxonomies and users. Some guides describe constructing a WordPress WXR XML file from the database; this is generally reserved for heavily customised installations.
Before importing manually, define a field map that specifies the WordPress destination for every Joomla value, including status, author, publication date, category, tags, featured image, body HTML and custom fields. Test with a small sample, compare the rendered pages, then process the remaining records. Manual control does not remove the need to rebuild the theme, replace extensions or create 301 redirects.
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Migration completion checklist
- Independent Joomla database and file backups are stored and restorable.
- WordPress staging was built before the domain switch.
- The live Joomla site was crawled and important Search Console landing pages were included.
- WordPress permalinks were selected before the final import.
- Plugin version and compatibility information were confirmed on the live listing.
- Articles, categories, tags, images, media, metadata, users and forms were reviewed.
- The Joomla template, menus and extensions were rebuilt or intentionally retired.
- Every changed high-value URL has a tested 301 redirect.
- Production HTTPS, DNS, redirects and sitemap were checked after launch.
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