Title: Static Site Exporter
Author: Ben Balter
Published: دسامبر 12, 2014
Last modified: فوریه 9, 2026
---
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# Static Site Exporter
By [Ben Balter](https://profiles.wordpress.org/benbalter/)
[Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/jekyll-exporter.3.1.1.zip)
* [Details](https://haz.wordpress.org/plugins/jekyll-exporter/#description)
* [Reviews](https://haz.wordpress.org/plugins/jekyll-exporter/#reviews)
* [Development](https://haz.wordpress.org/plugins/jekyll-exporter/#developers)
[Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/jekyll-exporter/)
## Description
### شاخصها
* Converts all posts, pages, and settings from WordPress to Markdown and YAML for
use in Jekyll (or Hugo or any other Markdown and YAML based site engine)
* Export what your users see, not what the database stores (runs post content through`
the_content` filter prior to export, allowing third-party plugins to modify the
output)
* Converts all `post_content` to Markdown
* Converts all `post_meta` and fields within the `wp_posts` table to YAML front
matter for parsing by Jekyll
* Generates a `_config.yml` with all settings in the `wp_options` table
* Outputs a single zip file with `_config.yml`, pages, and `_posts` folder containing`.
md` files for each post in the proper Jekyll naming convention
* **Selective export**: Export only specific categories, tags, or post types using
WP-CLI
* No settings. Just a single click.
### Usage
1. Place plugin in `/wp-content/plugins/` folder
2. Activate plugin in WordPress dashboard
3. Select `Export to Jekyll` from the `Tools` menu
### More information
See [the full documentation](https://ben.balter.com/wordpress-to-jekyll-exporter):
* [Changelog](https://ben.balter.com/wordpress-to-jekyll-exporter/./docs/changelog/)
* [Command-line-usage](https://ben.balter.com/wordpress-to-jekyll-exporter/./docs/command-line-usage/)
* [Selective export by category or tag](https://ben.balter.com/wordpress-to-jekyll-exporter/./docs/selective-export/)
* [Custom post types](https://ben.balter.com/wordpress-to-jekyll-exporter/./docs/custom-post-types/)
* [Custom fields](https://ben.balter.com/wordpress-to-jekyll-exporter/./docs/custom-fields/)
* [Developing locally](https://ben.balter.com/wordpress-to-jekyll-exporter/./docs/developing-locally/)
* [Minimum required PHP version](https://ben.balter.com/wordpress-to-jekyll-exporter/./docs/required-php-version/)
### Security Policy
To report a security vulnerability, please email [ben@balter.com](https://haz.wordpress.org/plugins/jekyll-exporter/ben@balter.com?output_format=md).
### Where to get help or report an issue
* For getting started and general documentation, please browse, and feel free to
contribute to [the project documentation](http://ben.balter.com/wordpress-to-jekyll-exporter/).
* For support questions (“How do I”, “I can’t seem to”, etc.) please search and
if not already answered, open a thread in the [Support Forums](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/jekyll-exporter).
* For technical issues (e.g., to submit a bug or feature request) please search
and if not already filed, [open an issue on GitHub](https://github.com/benbalter//wordpress-to-jekyll-exporter/issues).
### Things to check before reporting an issue
* Are you using the latest version of WordPress?
* Are you using the latest version of the plugin?
* Does the problem occur even when you deactivate all plugins and use the default
theme?
* Have you tried deactivating and reactivating the plugin?
* Has your issue [already been reported](https://github.com/benbalter/wordpress-to-jekyll-exporter/issues)?
### What to include in an issue
* What steps can another user take to recreate the issue?
* What is the expected outcome of that action?
* What is the actual outcome of that action?
* Are there any screenshots or screencasts that may be helpful to include?
* Only include one bug per issue. If you have discovered two bugs, please file
two issues.
### Command-line Usage
If you’re having trouble with your web server timing out before the export is complete,
or if you just like terminal better, you may enjoy the command-line tool.
It works just like the plugin, but produces the zipfile on STDOUT:
```
`
```
php jekyll-export-cli.php > jekyll-export.zip
`
If using this method, you must run first `cd` into the wordpress-to-jekyll-exporter
directory.
Alternatively, if you have [WP-CLI](http://wp-cli.org) installed, you can run:
```
`
```
wp jekyll-export > export.zip
`
The WP-CLI version will provide greater compatibility for alternate WordPress environments,
such as when `wp-content` isn’t in the usual location.
### Filtering by Category or Tag
You can export only specific categories or tags using the WP-CLI command. This is
useful when you want to convert just one section of your WordPress site instead
of the entire corpus.
#### Export posts from a specific category:
```
`bash
```
wp jekyll-export –category=technology > export.zip
`
#### Export posts from multiple categories:
```
`bash
```
wp jekyll-export –category=tech,news,updates > export.zip
`
#### Export posts with a specific tag:
```
`bash
```
wp jekyll-export –tag=featured > export.zip
`
#### Export only pages (or specific post types):
```
`bash
```
wp jekyll-export –post_type=page > export.zip
`
#### Combine filters:
```
`bash
```
wp jekyll-export –category=technology –tag=featured –post_type=post > export.zip
`
Using Filters in PHP
If you're using the plugin via PHP code or want more
control, you can use thejekyll_export_taxonomy_filters` filter:
```
`php
```
add_filter( ‘jekyll_export_taxonomy_filters’, function() {
return array( ‘category’
=> array( ‘technology’, ‘science’ ), ‘post_tag’ => array( ‘featured’ ), ); } );
// Then trigger the export
global $jekyll_export; $jekyll_export->export(); `
### Custom fields
When using custom fields (e.g. with the Advanced Custom fields plugin) you might
have to register a filter to convert array style configs to plain values.
#### Available Filters
The plugin provides two filters for customizing post metadata:
* **`jekyll_export_meta`**: Filters the metadata for a single post before it’s
merged with taxonomy terms. Receives `$meta` array as the only parameter.
* **`jekyll_export_post_meta`**: Filters the complete metadata array (including
taxonomy terms) just before it’s written to the YAML frontmatter. Receives `$
meta` array and `$post` object as parameters. This is the recommended filter
for most use cases.
**Note:** As of the latest version, the plugin no longer automatically removes empty
or falsy values from the frontmatter. All metadata is preserved by default. If you
want to remove certain fields, you can use the `jekyll_export_post_meta` filter
to customize this behavior.
By default, the plugin saves custom fields in an array structure that is exported
as:
```
`php
```
[“my-bool”]=>
array(1) { [0] => string(1) “1” } [“location”]=> array(1) { [0] =
> string(88) “My address” } `
And this leads to a YAML structure like:
```
`yaml
```
my-bool:
– “1” location: – ‘My address’ `
This is likely not the structure you expect or want to work with. You can convert
it using a filter:
```
`php
```
add_filter( ‘jekyll_export_meta’, function($meta) {
foreach ($meta as $key => $
value) { if (is_array($value) && count($value) === 1 && array_key_exists(0, $value)){
$meta[$key] = $value[0]; } }
```
return $meta;
```
});
`
A more complete solution could look like that:
```
`php
```
add_filter( ‘jekyll_export_meta’, function($meta) {
foreach ($meta as $key => $
value) { // Advanced Custom Fields if (is_array($value) && count($value) === 1 &&
array_key_exists(0, $value)) { $value = maybe_unserialize($value[0]); // Advanced
Custom Fields: NextGEN Gallery Field add-on if (is_array($value) && count($value)
=== 1 && array_key_exists(0, $value)) { $value = $value[0]; } } // convert types
$value = match ($key) { // Advanced Custom Fields: “true_false” type ‘my-bool’ =
> (bool) $value, default => $value }; $meta[$key] = $value; }
```
return $meta;
```
});
`
#### Removing Empty or Falsy Values
If you want to remove empty or falsy values from the frontmatter (similar to the
pre-3.0.3 behavior), you can use the `jekyll_export_post_meta` filter:
```
`php
```
add_filter( ‘jekyll_export_post_meta’, function( $meta, $post ) {
foreach ( $meta
as $key => $value ) { // Remove falsy values except numeric 0 if ( ! is_numeric(
$value ) && ! $value ) { unset( $meta[ $key ] ); } } return $meta; }, 10, 2 ); `
### Custom post types
To export custom post types, you’ll need to add a filter (w.g. to your themes config
file) to do the following:
```
`php
```
add_filter( ‘jekyll_export_post_types’, function() {
return array(‘post’, ‘page’,‘
you-custom-post-type’); }); `
The custom post type will be exported as a Jekyll collection. You’ll need to initialize
it in the resulting Jekyll site’s `_config.yml`.
### Developing locally
#### Option 1: Using Dev Containers (Recommended)
The easiest way to get started is using [VS Code Dev Containers](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/devcontainers/containers)
or [GitHub Codespaces](https://github.com/features/codespaces):
1. Install [VS Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/) and the [Dev Containers extension](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers)
2. `git clone https://github.com/benbalter/wordpress-to-jekyll-exporter`
3. Open the folder in VS Code
4. Click “Reopen in Container” when prompted
5. Wait for the container to build and dependencies to install
6. Access WordPress at `http://localhost:8088`
The devcontainer includes:
– Pre-configured WordPress and MySQL – All PHP extensions
and Composer dependencies – VS Code extensions for PHP development, debugging, and
testing – WordPress coding standards configured
See [.devcontainer/README.md](https://ben.balter.com/wordpress-to-jekyll-exporter/./.devcontainer/README/)
for more details.
#### Option 2: Manual Setup
#### Prerequisites
1. `sudo apt-get update`
2. `sudo apt-get install composer`
3. `sudo apt-get install php7.3-xml`
4. `sudo apt-get install php7.3-mysql`
5. `sudo apt-get install php7.3-zip`
6. `sudo apt-get install php-mbstring`
7. `sudo apt-get install subversion`
8. `sudo apt-get install mysql-server`
9. `sudo apt-get install php-pear`
10. `sudo pear install PHP_CodeSniffer`
#### Bootstrap & Setup
1. `git clone https://github.com/benbalter/wordpress-to-jekyll-exporter`
2. `cd wordpress-to-jekyll-exporter`
3. `script/bootstrap`
4. `script/setup`
#### Option 3: Docker Compose Only
1. `git clone https://github.com/benbalter/wordpress-to-jekyll-exporter`
2. `docker-compose up`
3. `open localhost:8088`
### Running tests
```
script/cibuildPerformance Optimizations
```
This document describes the performance optimizations implemented in Static Site
Exporter to improve export speed and reduce resource usage, especially for large
WordPress sites.
### Overview
The following optimizations have been implemented to address performance bottlenecks
identified in the export process:
#### 1. Optimized Database Queries
**Problem**: The original `get_posts()` method executed a separate SQL query for
each post type, then merged the results using `array_merge()`.
```
`php
```
// Before (inefficient)
foreach ( $post_types as $post_type ) { $ids = $wpdb->get_col(
$wpdb->prepare( “SELECT ID FROM {$wpdb->posts} WHERE post_type = %s”, $post_type));
$posts = array_merge( $posts, $ids ); } `
**Solution**: Changed to a single SQL query using an IN clause.
```
`php
```
// After (optimized)
$placeholders = implode( ‘, ‘, array_fill( 0, count( $post_types),‘%
s’ ) ); $query = “SELECT ID FROM {$wpdb->posts} WHERE post_type IN ($placeholders)”;
$posts = $wpdb->get_col( $wpdb->prepare( $query, $post_types ) ); `
**Impact**: Reduces database round trips from N (number of post types, typically
3) to 1, significantly improving performance on sites with many posts.
#### 2. User Data Caching
**Problem**: The `convert_meta()` method called `get_userdata()` for every post,
resulting in redundant database queries for posts by the same author (N+1 query
problem).
```
`php
```
// Before (inefficient)
‘author’ => get_userdata( $post->post_author )->display_name,`
**Solution**: Implemented a static cache to store user data across post conversions.
```
`php
```
// After (optimized)
static $user_cache = array(); if ( ! isset( $user_cache[ $
post->post_author ] ) ) { $user_data = get_userdata( $post->post_author ); $user_cache[
$post->post_author ] = $user_data ? $user_data->display_name : ”; } ‘author’ =>
$user_cache[ $post->post_author ], `
**Impact**: Eliminates redundant database queries for author information. On a site
with 1000 posts by 10 authors, this reduces queries from 1000 to 10.
#### 3. HTML to Markdown Converter Reuse
**Problem**: A new `HtmlConverter` instance was created for every post, wasting
memory and CPU cycles on object initialization.
```
`php
```
// Before (inefficient)
$converter = new HtmlConverter( $converter_options ); $
converter->getEnvironment()->addConverter( new TableConverter() ); `
**Solution**: Reuse a single static instance across all post conversions.
```
`php
```
// After (optimized)
static $converter = null; if ( null === $converter ) { $converter_options
= apply_filters( ‘jekyll_export_markdown_converter_options’, array( ‘header_style’
=> ‘atx’ ) ); $converter = new HtmlConverter( $converter_options ); $converter->
getEnvironment()->addConverter( new TableConverter() ); } `
**Impact**: Reduces object creation overhead. On a site with 1000 posts, this eliminates
999 unnecessary object instantiations.
#### 4. Improved File Operations
**Problem**: The `copy_recursive()` method used the legacy `dir()` API which is
slower than modern alternatives.
```
`php
```
// Before (inefficient)
$dir = dir( $source ); while ( $entry = $dir->read() ) {//
process files } $dir->close(); `
**Solution**: Replaced with `scandir()` which is faster and more memory-efficient.
```
`php
```
// After (optimized)
$entries = @scandir( $source ); if ( false === $entries ) {
return false; } foreach ( $entries as $entry ) { // process files } `
**Impact**: Improves directory traversal speed, particularly noticeable when copying
large upload directories.
#### 5. Upload Directory Filtering
**New Feature**: Added filters to allow skipping or excluding directories during
the upload copy process.
**Skip Entire Uploads**:
`php add_filter( 'jekyll_export_skip_uploads', '__return_true');
**Exclude Specific Directories** (e.g., cache or temporary files):
`php add_filter('
jekyll_export_excluded_upload_dirs', function( $excluded ) { return array_merge(
$excluded, array( '/cache/', '/tmp/', '/backup/' ) ); } );
**Impact**: Allows large sites to:
– Skip uploads entirely if they’re served from
a CDN – Exclude cache directories that aren’t needed in the export – Reduce export
time and file size for very large installations
### Performance Benchmarks
#### Estimated Improvements
Based on the optimizations, expected performance improvements for a typical WordPress
site:
Site Size
Before After Improvement
Small (100 posts, 5 authors)
~5s ~3s 40% faster
Medium (1000 posts, 20 authors)
~45s ~20s 55% faster
Large (10000 posts, 50 authors)
~8min ~3min 63% faster
_Note: Actual performance depends on server hardware, database configuration, and
content complexity._
#### Database Query Reduction
Operation
Queries Before Queries After Reduction
Get posts (3 post types)
3 1 67%
User data (100 posts, 5 authors)
100 5 95%
**Total for 100 posts**
**103** **6** **94%**
### Backward Compatibility
All optimizations maintain backward compatibility:
– All existing WordPress hooks
and filters continue to work – No changes to the exported file format – No changes
to the public API – New filters are opt-in and don’t affect default behavior
### Additional Optimization Tips
For even better performance on large sites:
1. **Increase PHP memory limit**: Add to `wp-config.php`:
`php define( 'WP_MEMORY_LIMIT','
512M' );
2. **Use WP-CLI**: The command-line interface bypasses web server timeouts:
`bash
wp jekyll-export > export.zip
3. **Skip uploads if using CDN**: If your uploads are served from a CDN, you can skip
copying them:
`php add_filter( 'jekyll_export_skip_uploads', '__return_true' );
4. **Enable object caching**: Use Redis or Memcached to speed up WordPress core queries.
### Technical Notes
#### Why Static Variables?
Static variables in PHP persist across function calls within the same request. This
makes them ideal for caching data during a batch export process where the same function
is called many times (once per post).
#### Thread Safety
These optimizations are safe for:
– Single-threaded PHP execution (standard) –
WordPress multisite installations – WP-CLI execution
They are NOT designed for:
– Multi-threaded or async PHP environments (not common
in WordPress) – Long-running daemon processes (not the intended use case)
### Future Optimization Opportunities
Potential areas for future improvement:
1. **Bulk metadata loading**: Pre-load all post meta in a single query
2. **Taxonomy term caching**: Pre-load all terms to avoid per-post queries
3. **Streaming ZIP creation**: Write directly to ZIP instead of creating temp directory
4. **Parallel processing**: Use multiple processes for very large exports (WP-CLI
only)
### Questions?
For questions about these optimizations or to report performance issues:
– [Open an issue](https://github.com/benbalter/wordpress-to-jekyll-exporter/issues)–
[View the documentation](https://ben.balter.com/wordpress-to-jekyll-exporter/)
### Performance Tips for Large Sites
If you’re running a large WordPress site with thousands of posts or gigabytes of
uploads, here are some tips to make the export process faster and more efficient.
### Quick Wins
#### 1. Use WP-CLI Instead of Browser Export
Browser-based exports are subject to PHP execution time limits (typically 30-300
seconds). Use WP-CLI for unlimited execution time:
```
`bash
```
wp jekyll-export > export.zip
`
#### 2. Skip Uploads if You Don’t Need Them
If your images and files are served from a CDN or you plan to handle them separately,
you can skip the uploads directory entirely:
```
`php
```
// Add to your theme’s functions.php or a custom plugin
add_filter( ‘jekyll_export_skip_uploads’,‘
__return_true’ ); `
This can save significant time and disk space, especially if you have gigabytes
of media files.
#### 3. Exclude Cache and Temporary Directories
Many sites accumulate cache files and temporary uploads that aren’t needed in the
export:
```
`php
```
add_filter( ‘jekyll_export_excluded_upload_dirs’, function( $excluded ) {
return
array_merge( $excluded, array( ‘/cache/’, ‘/tmp/’, ‘/backup/’, ‘/wc-logs/’, // WooCommerce
logs ‘/wpml/’, // WPML cache ) ); } ); `
### Performance Improvements in Version 2.4.3+
Recent optimizations …
## Reviews
### [Useless](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/useless-594/)
[andybrandt](https://profiles.wordpress.org/andybrandt/) می 6, 2025
Markdown export is not really Markdown…
### [Does exactly what it says, nothing more](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/does-exactly-what-it-says-nothing-more/)
[andrewjgwise](https://profiles.wordpress.org/andrewjgwise/) ژانویه 30, 2023
Worked without issue on a WordPress site on shared hosting. Much quicker than using
the Jekyll importer.
### [Try command line version if not working for you](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/try-command-line-version-if-not-working-for-you/)
[rpeyron](https://profiles.wordpress.org/rpeyron/) آگوست 14, 2022
If you have a not so small WordPress site, it is very likely you won’t have any
success using this plugin within the WordPress interface, as I can read in the reviews
and support messages. But the plugin offer a command line interface that does not
have the timeout of the web version. Go inside the plugin folder and run the cli
version : php jekyll-export-cli.php > jekyll-export.zip The GitHub does provide
more information (WordPress forbid to include the link, but the project name seems
to be benbalter/wordpress-to-jekyll-exporter) Not doing miracles with plugins, you
will have some rework, but definitely working and very useful!
### [Working in 2022](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/working-in-2022-2/)
[turbidplaque](https://profiles.wordpress.org/turbidplaque/) مارس 17, 2022
I wasn’t expecting much because of the previous reviews indicating this was broken,
but having just used it on an (admittedly somewhat small) WP site, I can confirm
that it now works. Even with only a couple dozen posts and some pictures, it took
a few minutes, so give it time, but the result was exactly as advertised: a .zip
file containing all posts as Jekyll-formatted .md files, and the WP uploads directory
with all the images. Thanks!
### [Finally dead](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/finally-dead/)
[sinisam](https://profiles.wordpress.org/sinisam/) ژانویه 8, 2020 1 reply
It does not work anymore. I suppose it was good while it worked but I will never
know.
### [Broken. doesn’t work anymore](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/broken-doesnt-work-anymore/)
[Aslan French](https://profiles.wordpress.org/thedonquixotic/) دسامبر 19, 2019
Sad because I’d really like to export my posts but doesn’t work.
[ Read all 12 reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/jekyll-exporter/reviews/)
## Contributors & Developers
“Static Site Exporter” is open source software. The following people have contributed
to this plugin.
Contributors
* [ Ben Balter ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/benbalter/)
[Translate “Static Site Exporter” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/jekyll-exporter)
### Interested in development?
[Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/jekyll-exporter/),
check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/jekyll-exporter/),
or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/jekyll-exporter/)
by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/jekyll-exporter/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss).
## Changelog
[View Past Releases](https://github.com/benbalter/wordpress-to-jekyll-exporter/releases)
## Meta
* Version **3.1.1**
* Last updated **2 ماه ago**
* Active installations **600+**
* WordPress version ** 4.4 or higher **
* Tested up to **6.9.4**
* PHP version ** 7.2 or higher **
* Language
* [English (US)](https://wordpress.org/plugins/jekyll-exporter/)
* Tags
* [export](https://haz.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/export/)[Github](https://haz.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/github/)
[jekyll](https://haz.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/jekyll/)[yaml](https://haz.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/yaml/)
* [Advanced View](https://haz.wordpress.org/plugins/jekyll-exporter/advanced/)
## Ratings
3.5 out of 5 stars.
* [ 6 5-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/jekyll-exporter/reviews/?filter=5)
* [ 1 4-star review ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/jekyll-exporter/reviews/?filter=4)
* [ 1 3-star review ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/jekyll-exporter/reviews/?filter=3)
* [ 1 2-star review ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/jekyll-exporter/reviews/?filter=2)
* [ 3 1-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/jekyll-exporter/reviews/?filter=1)
[Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/jekyll-exporter/reviews/#new-post)
[See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/jekyll-exporter/reviews/)
## Contributors
* [ Ben Balter ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/benbalter/)
## Support
Got something to say? Need help?
[View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/jekyll-exporter/)