About Importing and Exporting
Paligo lets you import existing content in several formats, including HTML, DocBook, DITA, Microsoft Word, Paligo Export Format (XML), Atlassian Confluence, MadCap Flare, Zendesk Guide (help center) and more. Some can be imported directly, but in other cases, you will need first to convert the content into a different format and then import that.
There are always some limitations regarding what can be imported from one format to another; some import formats will work better than others. Generally, the more structured the legacy format, the more complete the import will be.
When an import is too big, Paligo recommends dividing the import into smaller packages. Variable sets that have been included in previous imports, will get duplicated, unless a variable set ID is entered in "Match with existing variable set", see Use the Import Wizard and Find a Variable Set ID.
However, you can only match one variable set, so if there are multiple in the import, the others will still be duplicated. Therefore it might be a good idea before exporting the content, to either:
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Merge the variable sets into one
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To use one variable set per import package
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Warning
An import is not the same as a migration, but a tool that speeds up the process of migration significantly. But every import must always be checked manually to make sure no content is missing or incorrect in any way.
Note
When importing content, Paligo will not automatically create a snapshot of the imported content. Paligo recommends you to always create a Create Snapshot in Resource View of the imported content, to have an archived version to compare with the changes you make.
Tip
For translations see Export a Translation Package and Import a Translation Package.
A prerequisite for a successful import is that the legacy format is fairly well-structured. It should also be noted that if you're moving from unstructured and non-topic-based content (such as Word), you are likely to want to rewrite quite a bit of the content to make it topic-based, reusable, and so on. So while the import functionality works very well, you should always consider carefully what is the best strategy for your content.
If your content is well-structured and divided into topic-like sections already, you may gain a lot from an import, saving you time on migration. But if a lot of rewriting is necessary anyway, the gains will be smaller, and importing in such a case might not even be a good idea at all.
"Smart Import" means that Paligo does not just blindly import all your content, it will create reuse directly.
It can intelligently detect in many cases whether the same content has already been imported. That is, it will recognize if a topic or image is identical to one previously imported. So you will not get unnecessary duplicates, and your work on reuse may begin already during import.
For Paligo to recognize topics and images they need to be identical. But if they are, it will automatically ignore the topic or image and instead reuse the one already in the system.
You can import many different types of content into Paligo. Some formats can be imported directly, whereas others require an indirect import where you convert the content into a different format before you import it into Paligo.
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Direct imports means that you can Use the Import Wizard without converting the files.
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Indirect imports means that you have to use an external application to convert the content to a format that Paligo supports for direct imports before you can Use the Import Wizard.
Tip
Always check the existing tool for output or conversion formats. For example, if you want to import Adobe FrameMaker content, you could use FrameMaker to create an XHMTL version and then import the XHTML content into Paligo.
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The table below describes the different import formats. Each format has its own preparations.
Tip
It is also possible to have the import customized for your needs. Contact support for more information.
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Import format |
Description |
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Paligo Export File (PEF) |
Direct import in Paligo import wizard. This XML format is used for backups among other things, see Import Paligo Export File (PEF). |
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Author-it |
Export to XHTML and use the Author-it format option in the Import Wizard. Prepare the content, see Import from Other Formats. |
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Confluence |
Direct import in Paligo import wizard. The import works with an HTML Confluence Space export and other XHTML imports. Prepare the content, see Import from Confluence. |
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DITA (ditamap) |
Direct import in Paligo import wizard. Prepare the content, see Import from DITA. |
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DocBook 4 or 5 |
Direct import in Paligo import wizard. Prepare the content, see Import from DocBook. |
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FrameMaker |
Export to XHTML and use the Confluence format option in the Import Wizard. Prepare the content, see Import from Other Formats. |
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HTML |
Direct import in Paligo import wizard. Prepare the content, see Import HTML (Single File) and Import HTML (Multi File). |
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Help & Manual |
Direct import in Paligo import wizard. Prepare the content, see Import from Help and Manual. |
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MadCap Flare |
Direct import in Paligo import wizard. Prepare the content, see Import from MadCap Flare. |
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MS Word |
There are three options when preparing import from Microsoft Word, see Import from Microsoft Word. |
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RoboHelp |
Export to XHTML, HTML, DITA or MS Word and use the corresponding format option in the Import Wizard. Prepare the content, see Import from Other Formats. |
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Swagger OpenAPI |
Direct import in Paligo import wizard. Prepare the content, see Import Swagger OpenAPI. |
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Zendesk Guide (Help Center) |
Direct import in Paligo import wizard. Prepare the content, see Import from Zendesk. |
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Other formats:
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Export to XHTML, HTML, DITA or MS Word and use the corresponding format option in the Import Wizard. Prepare the content, see Import from Other Formats. |