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You can import and export galleries in WordPress with WordPress’s own tools: Tools → Export on the old site and Tools → Import on the new one. Your Modula galleries arrive with their images and settings, and Modula re-links every image, so you don’t rebuild galleries by hand. It all works in the free Modula, too.
We make Modula, and we tested this move on Modula 3.0 and WordPress 7.1.3 in October 2026. Here’s what came over intact, and what quietly didn’t.
In five steps:
- Old site: Tools → Export → Modula Galleries → Download Export File.
- New site: install and activate Modula (and Pro, for Pro galleries).
- In Tools → Import, run the WordPress importer.
- Upload the export file, tick Download and import file attachments, then click Submit.
- Recheck any page with a gallery.
Say you built 12 client galleries on a staging site, and the live site already has a few hundred posts. Remember that last part.
Before you move your galleries
Four checks before a Modula import save you running it twice.
- Modula is active on the new site. Otherwise every gallery fails to import.
- Pro is there, if you use it. Activate your license and switch on the same extensions.
- The old site is online. Every photo is fetched from it, so it can’t be in maintenance mode, behind a login or only on your computer.
- The gallery trash is empty. Drafts and trashed galleries come along too (our demo export had 23 trashed).
Good to know
Import before you build. A gallery keeps its old ID only if the new site hasn’t used that number yet. Posts, pages, revisions and images all use up IDs, so on a live site with a few hundred posts your galleries will probably get new numbers. On a fresh install, most keep theirs.
New to Modula? Here’s how to install it.
Export your WordPress galleries
Modula galleries export from Tools → Export → Modula Galleries; Modula has no Import/Export page of its own.
- Go to Tools → Export.
- Pick Modula Galleries.
- Click Download Export File.
The .xml file holds every gallery, its settings and the address of each image. That keeps it small: our demo site’s 68 galleries and 521 images came to 4.3 MB.
With Pro, Albums, Gallery presets and Album presets are separate choices, so export each one you use. All content also covers galleries, but drags along every post and page.
Import the galleries with the WordPress Importer
The WordPress Importer brings your images only if you tick Download and import file attachments, which is off by default.
- In Tools → Import, click Install Now for WordPress, then Run Importer.
- Upload your .xml file: Choose File, then Upload file and import.
- Pick an owner under Assign Authors.
- Tick Download and import file attachments.
- Leave Change all imported URLs… ticked. It fixes links in posts and pages, not inside galleries.
- Click Submit and watch for “All done. Have fun!”
Good to know
Don’t skip that checkbox. Without it no images come over: your galleries arrive empty or, on a site with its own media, can show the wrong photos. Forgot it? Run the same file again with the box ticked.
In our test, 2 galleries and 22 images took 8 seconds with both sites on one machine. Over the internet, expect longer. Then find your galleries in Modula → Content.
What moves, and what stays behind
In our test, Modula gallery settings and images arrived intact; a few pieces didn’t:
| What | Moves? | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Gallery type, settings, filters, per-image settings | Yes | – |
| Images with title, alt text and caption | Yes, if you ticked the box | – |
| Canvas layouts | Reset if image IDs change | Re-arrange the tiles |
| Self-hosted videos | Still load from the old site | Add them again |
| Images over 2,560 px | Only the “-scaled” copy | Move the whole site |
| Albums | Separate export; still use old gallery IDs | Pick the galleries again |
| Modula’s media folders, proofing selections | No | Recreate the folders |
| Modula settings, extensions, license | No | Set them up again |
Four rows need a closer look:
- Canvas layouts. With new image IDs, the freely placed tiles drop into a plain three-across stack under your text blocks. Drag them back in the editor.
- Self-hosted videos. They play from the old site until it goes offline, so re-upload them to the new site and add them back. YouTube and Vimeo links are fine.
- Full-size originals. For uploads over 2,560 px, WordPress uses a “-scaled” copy as the full size, and that’s what the export links. Our 3,709 px test photo arrived at 2,560 px. Need the originals? Move the whole site.
- Albums. Import them after the galleries. If the gallery IDs changed, choose each album’s galleries again (albums guide).
Point your pages at the new gallery IDs
A Modula shortcode or block keeps working only if its gallery kept its ID. If not (both our test galleries got new IDs), every [modula id="12"] shortcode, Modula block, Elementor widget and Divi module still points at the old number.
- Compare each gallery’s ID on both sites (where to find it).
- Copy the gallery’s new shortcode from Embed in the editor.
- Paste it over the old one, or select the gallery again in the block or widget.
For 12 galleries, that’s a quick job. The shortcode guide covers Elementor, Divi and Beaver Builder too.
If the import stops or images are missing
Stalled WordPress imports and missing gallery images usually have one of four causes:
- The file is over “Maximum size”. That limit shows under the file field, so raise it or ask your host. Rare, though: the file holds addresses, not photos.
- The import timed out or went blank. Run the same file again. Existing galleries are skipped, so nothing doubles (our re-run made zero duplicates), and failed images get another try.
- “Failed to import … Invalid post type.” Activate Modula first, then import again.
- Galleries arrived empty. The box wasn’t ticked, or the new site couldn’t reach the old one. Fix that and run the file again.
Moving the whole WordPress site? Use a migration plugin
For a whole-site WordPress move, a migration plugin beats export and import. Migration plugins clone the database and uploads folder untouched, so IDs, Canvas layouts, videos, folders, settings and originals all stay put.
Popular picks, with active installs on WordPress.org (October 2026): All-in-One WP Migration (5 million+), UpdraftPlus (3 million+) and Migrate Guru (200,000+). All three have free versions.
Migration plugins overwrite the destination, though. Keeping the new site’s own content? Stick with export and import.
Frequently asked questions
No. The export takes every gallery, drafts and trash included, so trash the extras after the import. If you need to pick galleries, FooGallery’s Import / Export extension and 10Web’s Export/Import add-on offer that (their docs, October 2026).
Only for Pro gallery types or options. Pro isn’t in the plugin search, so download the zip from your Modula account. Upload it under Plugins → Add Plugin → Upload Plugin, then activate your license key in Modula → Extensions. On the old site, click Deactivate on the license card to free that seat.
Grab the wp-content/uploads folder, where the files usually sit by year and month, with FTP, your host’s file manager or a backup plugin. Tools → Export → Media won’t do it: you get an XML file of addresses, not images. On WordPress.com, Tools → Export Media Files → Download gives you a .tar archive.
Not by export and import: the new site can’t download images from your computer. Put the old site online first, or use a migration plugin.
Yes, no export needed. Click Duplicate under the gallery’s name in Modula → Content, and you get a “Copy of …” gallery that keeps every image and setting.
No. Those come in through Modula → Settings → Migrate, covered in our guide to moving galleries from other plugins to Modula. The help center article sums up both routes.
