Import Sermons

Import Sermons to Advanced Sermons #

Summary

Ready to make the move to Advanced Sermons, but have a wealth of sermons content tied to another WordPress plugin? Below are a few options you could can use to make migrating to Advanced Sermons from another WordPress sermon plugin easy.

Please note that sermon migration is not included in our general support services. However, we’ve created this free resource to guide you or your WordPress developer through the migration process.

 

Option 1. Import with WP Import Export Lite #

For this example we’re going to be migrating sermons from Sermon Manager to Advanced Sermons. This process however is the same for most other WordPress sermon plugins.

Step 1: Install WP Import Export Lite

In this guide we’re going to use a free WordPress plugin that you can download from the WordPress repository called WP Import Export Lite. You can download this free plugin from your WordPress dashboard or the repository here: https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-import-export-lite/

Step 2: Watch Video Guide

For the following steps we’ve created a quick and straightforward video tutorial to guide you through the export/import process with ease. Simply follow along with the video, and refer to the function and custom field names provided below.

Step 3: Add Custom Function – (skip if not using Sermon Manager)

This step is required only if you’re migrating your sermons from Sermon Manager and using the sermon_date custom field instead of the default WordPress post date functionality.

To add this function, you can save it to your child theme’s functions.php file. If your site doesn’t use a child theme, you can easily add the function by using the free Code Snippets plugin.

Simply paste the function below into the file or plugin and click Save:

// Add to child themes functions.php or with free Code Snippet plugin. You can delete code this code after the export process
function format_sermon_date( $value ) {
    if ( is_numeric( $value ) ) {
        return date( "Y-m-d H:i:s", $value ); // Format as YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS
    }
    return $value;
}

 

Step 4: Custom Field Names for Mapping

Here are the custom field names you can use to match the meta key values from your existing WordPress sermon plugin.

asp_sermon_youtube // YouTube URL

asp_sermon_vimeo // Vimeo URL

asp_sermon_facebook // Facebook URL

asp_sermon_video_embed // Video Embed Code

asp_sermon_mp4 // Audio URL

asp_sermon_audio_embed // Audio Embed Code

asp_sermon_soundcloud // SoundCloud URL

asp_sermon_bible_passage // Scripture

asp_sermon_pdf // Sermon Notes

asp_sermon_bulletin // Sermon Bulletin

 

Option 2. Modify Exported XML File #

WordPress has a built-in Import & Export functionality which can be used to migrate your data from another sermon plugin to Advanced Sermons. To get started you will need to navigate to ‘Tools’ from the WordPress dashboard and click ‘Export’. This option is a little more advanced, so if you’re looking for an easy option, see option 2.

From this page, click the radio field of the custom post type that you’re currently using to manage your WordPress sermons. The names of this custom post type will vary depending on plugins.

Now that you have downloaded your .XML file, open this file in your favorite code editor. You will be using the code editor to modify the .XML file and replacing the post type, categories, and meta_key values from your existing plugin to the values used in Advanced Sermons.

The first value you’re going to modify is the post type. Search post_type to find the current value used by your old sermon plugin. Once you have found this, replace all post_type instances with the following value:

For Post Type:

<wp:post_type><![CDATA[sermons]]></wp:post_type>

Next, you’re going to replace all instances of the category domain values to the following. The nicename and values stay the same:

For Series:

<category domain="sermon_series"</category>

For Speakers:

<category domain="sermon_speaker"</category>

For Topics:

<category domain="sermon_topics"</category>

For Books:

<category domain="sermon_book"</category>

Addons

Make sure to have the Campus and Service Type Advanced Sermons addons installed and activated before importing.

For Campuses:

<category domain="sermon_campus"</category>

For Service Types:

<category domain="sermon_service_type"</category>

Now you’re going to follow this same process to map all the meta_key values from your old sermon plugin, to the values used in Advanced Sermons. Below are all the values of the custom fields created by Advanced Sermons. For example, find the meta_key that hosts the .MP4 file and change the meta_key value to asp_sermon_mp4. You will be able to see all assigned assets below the meta_key to determine what you want to transfer over.

<wp:meta_key><![CDATA[asp_sermon_youtube]]></wp:meta_key> // YouTube URL

<wp:meta_key><![CDATA[asp_sermon_vimeo]]></wp:meta_key> // Vimeo URL

<wp:meta_key><![CDATA[asp_sermon_facebook]]></wp:meta_key> // Facebook URL

<wp:meta_key><![CDATA[asp_sermon_video_embed]]></wp:meta_key> // Video Embed Code

<wp:meta_key><![CDATA[asp_sermon_mp4]]></wp:meta_key> // Audio URL

<wp:meta_key><![CDATA[asp_sermon_audio_embed]]></wp:meta_key> // Audio Embed Code

<wp:meta_key><![CDATA[asp_sermon_soundcloud]]></wp:meta_key> // SoundCloud URL

<wp:meta_key><![CDATA[asp_sermon_bible_passage]]></wp:meta_key> // Scripture

<wp:meta_key><![CDATA[asp_sermon_pdf]]></wp:meta_key> // Sermon Notes

<wp:meta_key><![CDATA[asp_sermon_bulletin]]></wp:meta_key> // Sermon Bulletin

Once you have modified the .XML file values and saved your file, you’re ready to import your modified .XML file into WordPress using the WordPress Importer. You can find this under ‘Tools’ from the WordPress dashboard as well. We always recommend performing a backup of your WordPress install before making any changes and performing on a staging site first. This is simply a free tutorial we offer for our customers. It is up to them to ensure the necessary steps are taking to perform a clean migration with no issues.