MediaWiki Import & Export — XML Export, Page Migration, and Interwiki Import

DodaTech Updated 2026-06-26 9 min read

In this tutorial, you will learn about MediaWiki Import & Export. We cover key concepts, practical examples, and best practices to help you master this topic.

Import and export in MediaWiki enable page migration between wikis using XML dumps that include content, revisions, templates, and metadata — with interwiki import for pulling pages from remote wikis, essential for Wikipedia content reuse and wiki-to-wiki migration.

What You'll Learn

Exporting pages as XML
Importing XML files into a wiki
Using Special:Export and Special:Import
Handling images and files during migration
Using interwiki import
Managing user accounts during import
Best practices for safe migration

Why It Matters

Wikis grow and change. Content needs to move between wikis — from a staging wiki to production, from an old wiki to a new installation, between different language wikis, or from a third-party wiki to yours. Manual copy-paste loses revision history, dates, and authorship. XML export preserves everything: every revision, every editor, every timestamp. The import process recreates the page with its full history intact.

Real-World Use

A DodaTech team redesigns their wiki infrastructure. The old wiki has 500 documentation pages with 2 years of revision history. Instead of manually recreating each page, they export the XML from the old wiki and import it into the new one. The import takes 10 minutes. All 500 pages appear with their full revision history, correct authorship, and original timestamps. No content is lost.

Learning Path

flowchart LR
  A["31: Wiki Farms"] --> B["32: Content Translation"]
  B --> C["33: Import & Export"]
  C:::current
  D["34: REST API"]
  E["35: Database Maintenance"]
  F["36: Logging & Monitoring"]

  C --> D --> E --> F

  classDef current fill#38bdf8,color#0f172a,stroke-width:2px

Step 1: Export Pages as XML

Using Special:Export

Go to Special:Export on the source wiki
Enter the page titles (one per line):

DodaBrowser
DodaBrowser/Installation
DodaBrowser/Configuration
DodaSync

Choose options:
- Include only the current revision: Include all revisions for full history (uncheck for only the latest)
- Include templates: Also export templates used by these pages
- Save as file: Downloads the XML file
Click "Export"

Using the Maintenance Script

For bulk exports:

# Export a single page
php maintenance/dumpBackup.php --page="DodaBrowser" > dodaBrowser.xml

# Export multiple pages
php maintenance/dumpBackup.php \
    --page="DodaBrowser" \
    --page="DodaSync" \
    --page="DodaZIP" > products.xml

# Export full wiki (all pages)
php maintenance/dumpBackup.php --full > full-wiki.xml

Export for Migration

For a full wiki migration, export everything:

# Export all pages with full history
php maintenance/dumpBackup.php --full --logs --uploads > full-export.xml

# Export only current revisions (faster, smaller)
php maintenance/dumpBackup.php --current > current-only.xml

Step 2: Understand the XML Format

An exported XML file looks like:

<mediawiki xmlns="http://www.mediawiki.org/xml/export-0.11/">
  <page>
    <title>DodaBrowser</title>
    <ns>0</ns>
    <id>1</id>
    <revision>
      <id>10</id>
      <timestamp>2026-06-15T10:30:00Z</timestamp>
      <contributor>
        <username>Alice</username>
        <id>1</id>
      </contributor>
      <comment>Created product page</comment>
      <origin>10</origin>
      <model>wikitext</model>
      <format>text/x-wiki</format>
      <text xml:space="preserve">'''DodaBrowser''' is a web browser.</text>
      <sha1>abc123...</sha1>
    </revision>
  </page>
</mediawiki>

Key elements:

<page>: Contains the page title, namespace, and all revisions
<revision>: Individual edit with timestamp, contributor, and content
<contributor>: Author of the revision (username or IP)

Step 3: Import XML into a Wiki

Using Special:Import

Go to Special:Import on the target wiki
Choose the XML file
Select import options:
- Import interwiki pages: For importing from other wikis
- Assign edits to users: Map contributors to local accounts
- Interleave revisions: Preserve revision order
Click "Import"

Using the Maintenance Script

# Import pages from XML
php maintenance/importDump.php < full-export.xml

# Import with progress reporting
php maintenance/importDump.php --report=1000 < full-export.xml

# Import and assign to a specific user
php maintenance/importDump.php --username="Admin" < pages.xml

Importing to a Specific Namespace

# Import pages into the Help namespace
php maintenance/importDump.php --namespaces="12" < help-pages.xml

Step 4: Handle User Accounts During Import

User accounts from the export cannot be automatically created on the target wiki.

Options for User Handling

Option 1: Create matching accounts

Before importing, create accounts on the target wiki with the same usernames. The import will match revisions to these accounts.

Option 2: Assign to a local user

Use the --username flag to assign all imported revisions to a single local account:

php maintenance/importDump.php --username="ImportBot" < export.xml

Option 3: Username prefix

Add a prefix to prevent username collisions:

php maintenance/importDump.php --username-prefix="imported_" < export.xml

Revisions by "Alice" become attributed to "imported_Alice".

Step 5: Import Images and Files

Images require separate handling because they are not included in standard page exports.

Exporting Images

# Export images as XML metadata
php maintenance/dumpUploads.php > images.xml

# Copy image files directly
cp -r images/* /target-wiki/images/

Importing Images

# Import image metadata
php maintenance/importImages.php /path/to/images/ --extensions=jpg,png,gif,svg

Complete Migration with Images

# Step 1: Export pages and images
cd /source-wiki
php maintenance/dumpBackup.php --full > full-export.xml
php maintenance/dumpBackup.php --uploads > uploads-export.xml
tar -czf images.tar.gz images/

# Step 2: Transfer to target
scp full-export.xml uploads-export.xml images.tar.gz user@target-server:/tmp/

# Step 3: Import on target
cd /target-wiki
php maintenance/importDump.php < /tmp/full-export.xml
php maintenance/importDump.php < /tmp/uploads-export.xml
tar -xzf /tmp/images.tar.gz -C images/
php maintenance/rebuildImages.php

Step 6: Interwiki Import

Import pages directly from another wiki without downloading XML files.

Enable Interwiki Import

// Enable interwiki import from trusted sources
$wgImportSources = [
    'wikipedia' => [ 'en', 'fr', 'de' ],
    'commons' => [ 'commons' ],
    'mediawikiwiki' => [ 'mediawikiwiki' ],
];

Using Special:Import with Interwiki

Go to Special:Import on your wiki
Select "Import interwiki" tab
Choose the source wiki (e.g., wikipedia)
Enter page title: MediaWiki
Choose options:
- Include all revisions or just current
- Assign to local users
Click "Import"

The page is downloaded from the remote wiki and imported into your wiki with full revision history.

Limitations

Only pages that allow import (not restricted by the source wiki)
Images are not imported (only text content)
Templates referenced by the page are not automatically imported
License Compliance required (attribution must be maintained)

Step 7: Importing Templates

When you import a page that uses templates, those templates may not exist on the target wiki.

Finding Missing Templates

After import, check for red links to templates:

Go to the imported page
Look for red links (missing templates)
Export and import each missing template

Bulk Template Import

# Export all templates
php maintenance/dumpBackup.php --namespaces="10" > templates.xml

# Import templates
php maintenance/importDump.php < templates.xml

Template Migration Strategy

Export templates first
Import templates
Export content pages
Import content pages
Verify all templates render correctly

Step 8: Post-Import Tasks

Rebuild Indexes

# Rebuild search index
php maintenance/rebuildrecentchanges.php

# Rebuild category links
php maintenance/refreshLinks.php

# Rebuild image thumbnails
php maintenance/rebuildImages.php

Verify Import

Check:

Page count matches expected
Revision history is intact
Templates render correctly
Images display properly
Categories are populated
Search index is rebuilt

What You Learned

Special:Export creates XML files with page content and history
maintenance/dumpBackup.php provides command-line export
Special:Import and maintenance/importDump.php handle import
User accounts require careful handling during import
Images require separate migration
Interwiki import pulls pages directly from remote wikis
Templates must be imported separately
Post-import tasks include rebuilding indexes and verifying content

In the next lesson, you'll learn about the MediaWiki REST API.

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Why It Happens	How to Fix
Import fails with "XML error"	File is not valid XML or was truncated	Validate the XML file before importing. Check for truncation if the file was transferred over a network. Re-export if needed.
Imported pages show incorrect authorship	Users not created on target wiki	Create matching user accounts before importing, or use --username to assign all revisions to a local user.
Images not visible after import	Image files not copied	Images are not included in standard XML exports. Copy the images/ directory separately and run rebuildImages.php.
Templates render as raw wikitext	Templates not imported	Export and import templates from the source wiki. Use --namespaces="10" to include templates in the dump.
"Import failed: unknown namespace"	Source wiki has custom namespaces	Before importing, create matching custom namespaces on the target wiki. The namespace IDs must match between wikis.

Practice Questions

What information is preserved in an XML export beyond page content?
How do you handle user account attribution when importing pages into a new wiki?
What additional steps are required to migrate images and files between wikis?
Challenge: Perform a complete wiki migration. Set up two MediaWiki instances (source and target). On the source wiki, create 5 pages with 3 revisions each, upload 2 images, and create 2 templates. Export the pages with full history. Export the templates. Copy the image files. On the target wiki, create matching user accounts. Import the pages, templates, and images. Verify that revision history is preserved, images display correctly, and templates render properly. Rebuild the search index and category links. Document the migration process with the exact commands used.

FAQ

Can I export only specific revisions of a page?

Yes. Special:Export allows you to specify a date range or include only the current revision. For precise revision selection, use the API action=query with a list of revision IDs and export those.

What is the maximum file size for XML import?

The default PHP upload limit applies (usually 2-8 MB as configured in php.ini). For large imports, use the maintenance/importDump.php script which reads from STDIN and has no size limit.

Does import preserve page protection settings?

No. Page protection settings are not included in the XML export. After importing, you must reconfigure page protection on the target wiki for protected pages.

Can I import pages from Wikipedia into my wiki?

Yes, using interwiki import. However, be aware of licensing requirements. Wikipedia content is CC-BY-SA licensed and requires attribution. The import tool preserves revision history which serves as attribution.

How do I handle namespace differences between wikis?

If the target wiki does not have a custom namespace that the source wiki uses, the import will fail. Create matching namespaces on the target wiki before importing, or use --namespaces to map imported pages to a different namespace.

Mini Project

Goal: Execute a complete wiki-to-wiki migration.

Set up two MediaWiki instances (source on localhost/wiki1, target on localhost/wiki2)
On source, create 5 pages with multiple revisions each
On source, upload 3 images and create 2 templates
Export from source:
- Full page dump with all revisions
- Template dump
- Image files (copy the images directory)
Transfer to target
On target, create user accounts matching source contributors
Import pages, templates, and images
Rebuild indexes and thumbnails
Verify: page count, revision count, image display, template rendering
Create a "Migration Report" page documenting the process and any issues encountered

What's Next

Import and export let you move content between wikis. Now let's explore programmatic access with the REST API.

Continue to Lesson 34: REST API — learn how to use the MediaWiki Action API and REST API for programmatic wiki access.

← Previous MediaWiki Content Translation — Translate Extension, Page Translation Workflow, and Language Management Next → MediaWiki REST API — Action API, Query Modules, Authentication, and API Usage

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