Case Studies FerryForge: moving blocks between WordPress sites
FerryForge: moving blocks between WordPress sites
TL;DR Moving content between WordPress sites usually means copy-paste that loses formatting, or a heavy migration tool. FerryForge exports a selection or a whole post to a file or the clipboard, imports it anywhere, and can save selections as synced patterns, all from the editor sidebar.
Anyone who runs more than one WordPress site eventually needs to move content between them: a section that worked on one site, a post you want to reuse, a layout worth keeping. The usual options are bad. FerryForge is my fix for the awkward middle.
The problem
There are two common ways to move content, and both are wrong for small jobs.
Copy and paste between editors is lossy. Block structure and formatting often flatten into plain text or break, so you end up rebuilding the layout by hand on the other side.
Full migration and import tools are the opposite problem: heavy, all-or-nothing machinery when all you wanted was to carry a few blocks or one post across.
Neither fits the everyday need of "take this bit and put it over there, intact."
The approach
FerryForge lives where the content does, in the editor sidebar, and works at the block level so structure survives the trip.
- Export a selection or a whole post to a file or the clipboard.
- Import it anywhere, into another site's editor, with the block structure preserved.
- Save selections as synced patterns for sections you reuse across pages or sites.
Because it operates on blocks rather than rendered text, the formatting and layout come across as they were, not as a flattened approximation.
What shipped
FerryForge moves blocks and whole posts between WordPress sites from the editor sidebar, via a file or the clipboard, and can turn a selection into a synced pattern for reuse. It fills the gap between lossy copy-paste and a full migration, which is where most real content-moving actually lives.
What I learned building it
The lesson was that the value is in respecting block structure. It would have been easy to serialise the rendered HTML and call it done, but that loses exactly what makes the editor useful. Moving content at the block level, so the destination rebuilds the same structure, is the difference between a tool people trust and one they use once and abandon.
FerryForge is one of my WordPress plugins. The full set is in the products section of the site.
FAQ
Why is moving content between WordPress sites hard?
Copy-paste between editors often loses block structure and formatting, and full migration tools are overkill for a few posts or a reusable section. There is a gap between too lossy and too heavy, which is where a focused export and import tool fits.
What can FerryForge move?
A selection of blocks, or a whole post, exported to a file or the clipboard and imported into another site. It works at the block level, so structure and formatting come across intact rather than as flattened text.
What are synced patterns good for?
They let you save a selection as a reusable block pattern that stays in sync. Handy for sections you use across many pages or sites, so you build once and reuse with structure preserved.