How to Move a WordPress Site Over to Joomla:
This guide walks you through migrating a WordPress site into Joomla. It works with most WordPress versions up to 5 and is built around Joomla 3-4. If you’re going the other way, we’ve also got a separate guide on moving from Joomla to WordPress.
Before you jump in, here’s what you should know:
Categories do get imported, but Joomla won’t link posts or pages to them. That’s because WordPress allows a post to have multiple categories, while Joomla only supports one.
All WordPress categories and sub-categories will just show up as plain categories in Joomla — no nesting or hierarchy is preserved.
Passwords won’t work by default. WordPress encrypts passwords using phpass, while Joomla uses MD5. To avoid issues, you can install the MD5 Password Hashes plugin in WordPress before you run the import:
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/md ... rd-hashes/
This process imports your database only — so images and files won’t come along for the ride. You’ll need to move those manually.
If you want to bring over comments, make sure the JComments extension is installed in Joomla first. It’ll hook into the import process.
Step 1: Set Up Joomla and Install JConverter
Start by installing a clean copy of Joomla — no sample content.
Then download the JConverter extension (you can find it on the Joomla Extensions Directory). Install it like any other extension.
Step 2: Grab Your WordPress Database Info
Head over to your WordPress root folder and open wp-config.php. You’ll need to copy these values:
Database name
Database username
Database password
Database host
Table prefix (usually wp_, but always double check)
Step 3: Configure JConverter in Joomla
In your Joomla admin panel, go to:
nginx
Copy
Edit
Extensions → JConverter → Configuration
Paste in the WordPress DB info from the previous step. Scroll down a bit to the Import Options section and set your preferences for what content to bring over (posts, pages, users, etc).
Step 4: Run the Import
Once everything’s filled in, click Save, then hit Start Conversion.
JConverter will now pull in the data and show a status report of what it imported — articles, categories, users, and so on.
Step 5: Review the Results
Hop over to your Joomla backend and check:
Content → Articles
Content → Categories
Users
Make sure everything looks right. You’ll probably need to do a bit of cleanup, like relinking images, fixing aliases, or adjusting menus — but the core data should be there.
