Importing older Joomla exports

The main use of ConfigPort is moving settings from an old site to a new one, for example from Joomla 3 to Joomla 6. Install ConfigPort on both sites, export on the old one and import on the new one. The same package runs on both.

Which files can be imported

A file from a newer major version than the site, for example a Joomla 6 file on a Joomla 4 site, can be previewed but not imported. The preview says so, for example "The file comes from Joomla 6.2.0, newer than this site (Joomla 4.4.14). It can be previewed but not applied.", and offers no Continue. Extensions can change their settings in a new major version, and an older version would read settings it does not know.

The notice on the preview

For a file from an older major version, the preview names both versions: "The file comes from Joomla 3.10.11 and this site runs Joomla 6.2.0. Extensions can change their settings between major versions: check every item in the preview." The import itself works as for any other file.

What to check

Open each item in the preview and look at the settings it changes.

• Some settings no longer exist in the new version. Joomla 4 removed some settings that Joomla 3 had, for example show_icons, show_print_icon, show_email_icon and show_vote in the Articles options. They show as New, because this site does not have them. An import adds them, and Joomla ignores settings it does not use.
• Some settings exist only in the new version. Merge keeps them. Replace removes them, and the preview lists them under Replace removes these settings. Keep Merge for a file from an older major version unless you have a reason. See Merge or replace.
• The same value can show as Changed. Joomla 3 often stores numbers as text, for example "4", where Joomla 6 stores the number 4. The preview shows such a setting as Changed with the same value on both sides, and the import writes the type from the file.
• Some values only make sense on the old site. Menu items, categories, user groups, access levels and other items of the old site have other ids on the new one. The preview marks these values with Check: this site only? Check each one after the import.

Items that are not on the new site

An item is in the group Not on this site when the new site has no matching extension, module type or template. The common case is a template style whose template the new Joomla does not have. Protostar, the Joomla 3 site template, does not exist on Joomla 4 and later, so its styles cannot be imported there.

Install the extension first if a newer version of it exists, then upload the file again. For a template that does not exist on the new Joomla, set up the styles of the new template by hand.

Third-party extensions

ConfigPort matches a third-party extension by its element, as any other. When the extension changed its settings between the version on the old site and the version on the new one, the preview shows the differences, and Merge keeps the settings that only the new version has. ConfigPort does not convert settings from one version of an extension to another. Check such items with the extension's own documentation.

Joomla 3 sites

The export runs on Joomla 3.10. A Joomla 3 site before 3.10 needs an update to 3.10 first, because the package refuses older Joomla 3 versions.