WP Manifestindependent plugin directory
manifest / i18n / mlp-migration-tool

MLP Migration Tool (PoC)

Proof of concept for migrating Polylang or WPML sites to Multisite + MLP.

by Your Name · github.com/femiyb/mlp-migration-tool

★ 0stars

Install

Download source zip No release zip yet

This is the repository archive. It installs, but the folder name will carry the branch suffix and updates will not flow.

Install straight from GitHub with WP-CLI:

wp plugin install https://github.com/femiyb/mlp-migration-tool/archive/refs/heads/main.zip
No built-in updater. New versions won't appear under Dashboard → Updates. Install new releases yourself, or let Git Updater track the repository.
Readme github.com/femiyb/mlp-migration-tool ↗

Proof‑of‑concept WordPress plugin to migrate an existing single‑site multilingual setup to a Multisite network powered by MultilingualPress (MLP).

At the moment this is intended for internal / agency use, not as a polished end‑user product.

What it does

  • Creates one subsite per language (except the default language, which stays on the main site).
  • Assigns the correct WordPress site language (WPLANG) and MLP site language for each site.
  • Relates all sites in a single MLP site group.
  • For each language and for post types post and page:
    • Copies content from the original site to the corresponding language site.
    • Re‑creates translation relationships in MultilingualPress using the source plugin’s translation sets.

Supported source plugins

  • Polylang
    • Uses pll_the_languages(), pll_default_language(), pll_get_post_translations(), and the lang query var.
  • WPML (experimental)
    • Uses the icl_translations table to discover translation groups (trid) and their posts.
    • For real translation sets (posts available in multiple languages), copies each language’s post to its site and links them in MultilingualPress.
    • For single-language content (no translations in WPML), duplicates the post to all language sites but does not create MultilingualPress relationships between those copies.

Requirements

  • WordPress Multisite.
  • MultilingualPress (MLP) active and working.
  • Exactly one of:
    • Polylang, or
    • WPML
  • PHP 8+ (to match MLP’s requirements).

How to use (high‑level)

  1. Make a full backup of the database and files.
  2. Ensure you are running a Multisite network with MLP active.
  3. Activate this plugin on the network.
  4. Make sure exactly one source plugin (Polylang or WPML) is active.
  5. Go to Network Admin → MLP Migration.
  6. Click “Run PoC Migration”.
  7. Watch the notices at the top of the page for progress and errors.

Important limitations

  • Only migrates posts and pages; no custom post types, taxonomies, menus, or widgets yet.
  • Designed as a one‑way, one‑time migration helper; it is not idempotent or reversible.
  • Assumes the original site is the main site of the network and contains all source content.
  • Very minimal UI: a single button to run the migration and a log of actions; advanced options might require code changes.

Safety notes

  • Always test on a staging copy of the project before running on production.
  • Expect to do manual cleanup and checks after migration (menus, widgets, theme‑specific content, etc.).
  • If you change the migration logic, document the changes here so other team members understand the behavior.