Extract a site from a WordPress Multisite

When I started this blog in 2018, I thought it would be a good idea to set up a WordPress Multisite Network. At the time, I was managing three other WordPress instances and was tired of keeping them all up to date. Unfortunately, things fell apart and it soon became clear that a Multisite setup was a bad idea and a security risk.

So the idea was to simply extract my blog from the network and import it to a new installation. I recommend using the CLI for this.

Export the user

There are export commands available, but I discovered that WordPress Multisite manages all instances as a single installation. Fortunately, I had used different users for each website, so I was able to identify the correct commands for exporting data for just one user.

List all Instances:

wp user list --networkCode-Sprache: Bash (bash)

List all users in the network:

wp site listCode-Sprache: Bash (bash)

Now you should have the id of the user you want to export and the url of the website the user is in. You can export all content with:

wp export --url=https://XYZ.de --author=X --with_attachmentsCode-Sprache: Bash (bash)

You can take this export and import it with the web interface

ActivityPub

Update: According to this blogpost from Mathew Exon, the migration failed. Maybe I have to self destruct and start again.

Oh boy this is bad. My Blog is also connected to the Fediverse with the ActivityPub Plugin. But how to migrate that? You don’t!

To ensure a smooth migration of your ActivityPub/Fediverse identity:

Match User IDs: The new WordPress user must have the same ID as the old one. If your old user was ID 10, create 9 dummy users in the new installation (IDs 1–9) so your main user gets ID 10. Delete the dummies afterward.

Install & Activate: Install and activate the ActivityPub plugin on the new site.

Update DNS/URL: Point your domain to the new installation.

Wait for Cache Refresh: Fediverse servers (e.g., Mastodon) will gradually recognize the new location as their caches update. Followers and interactions will reappear over time.

What now?

I hope this will be helpful for you and also a warning to not use WordPress Multisites again!!