How to restore a site from a backup file

A ContentForge backup is a file with a complete copy of a site. Restore it to make a new draft site from it: to bring back a site that was erased, to move a site into another agency's account, or to start a new client from an old site's file. The site you backed up isn't changed.

To make the file, see How to export a site and choose ContentForge backup.

How to restore a backup

1. Go to Websites, click New site, then Restore from backup.
2. Under Backup file, choose the .zip from Settings → Export site → ContentForge backup. The .json file inside it works too.
3. Under Client, choose who the site is for. Or click New client and create one by name.
4. Type a Site name if you like. Leave it empty to use the name in the backup.
5. Tick Use this client's Business Info if the site is for a different business than the one backed up.
6. Click Restore as a new site. The button shows Uploading…, then Restoring….
7. When it's done you see "“Site name” is ready as a draft", with how many pages, blog posts and collection items came in. Click Open in Mount Olympus, or Back to Websites.

Review the site, connect anything that didn't come with it (below), then publish.

The settings

• Backup file: a .zip or .json, up to 300 MB.
• Client: required. The new site belongs to this client.
• Site name: optional, up to 100 characters. Empty means the backup's own site name.
• Use this client's Business Info: off by default. When on, the client's name, phone, email and address replace the backup's (also where they appear in page text), the client's logo is used, the forms' notification address and the root files are cleared, and analytics IDs are left out. Use it when the site moves to a different business.

What comes back

• Every page, popup, folder, the 404 page and blog layouts, with all their sections.
• The header, footer and mobile menu, the theme, fonts and the favicon.
• Site settings: SEO and AEO settings, robots settings, the cookie banner, custom code, and the site icons, social image, language and root files.
• Analytics and tracking IDs (unless Use this client's Business Info is on).
• Collections and their items.
• Blog posts and authors. Posts come in as drafts, with their language versions.
• URL redirects.
• Forms, with their fields and notification address.
• Other languages: the languages and every translation.
• Business Info and Business Text.

What doesn't come back

A backup never holds these, so set them up again on the new site:

• Domains. The new site gets its own preview address. See Connect a domain.
• Form connections (Google Sheets, HubSpot, Mailchimp) and the form webhook. See Contact forms and form responses.
• Passwords, tokens, keys and Google connections.
• Form responses, stats, comments, backups and publish history.

The images aren't inside the file. The new site uses the same image files stored in ContentForge.

Examples

• A site erased after 30 days: you exported a ContentForge backup before deleting it. Restore the file for the same client and it's back as a draft.
• Moving a client to another agency: export the backup, the other agency's owner restores it into their account for their copy of the client.
• A franchise's new location: restore the first location's backup for the new client, tick Use this client's Business Info, and the new address and phone go in.

Limits and what it can't do

• It always makes a new site. It never overwrites an existing site. To roll back a site that still exists, use Site Backup.
• Only ContentForge backups work. Static website and content pack exports can't be restored.
• Files up to 300 MB. A backup made by a newer version of ContentForge can't be read.
• The new site is always a draft. Nothing is published.

Credits

Restoring is free. The site is billed as a hosted site once you publish it. See Plans and hosted sites.

Who can use it

• Agency owners and admins with the Mount Olympus tool. Others don't see Restore from backup in the menu.
• You can only restore for clients you can see.

Troubleshooting

• "Only agency owners and admins can restore a backup.": ask an owner or admin to do it.
• "The backup file is too large.": the file is over 300 MB.
• "The backup file couldn't be opened (not a zip, or damaged).": download the backup again from the Exports list and use that file.
• "The zip has no ContentForge backup in it.": this zip is a static website or content pack export, not a ContentForge backup. Export again and choose ContentForge backup.
• "The backup file isn't valid." or "This isn't a ContentForge site backup.": the file was changed or isn't a backup. Use the file exactly as downloaded.
• "This backup was made by a newer version of ContentForge.": refresh the page and try again.
• "The uploaded file wasn't found — upload it again": choose the file again and click Restore as a new site.
• "The file didn't upload — check your connection and try again": the upload broke off. Try again on a steady connection.
• "Choose a client" or "Client not found": pick a client from the list.
• "Couldn't restore the site — nothing was created. Try again.": nothing was made. Try again.
• The restore button is grayed out: choose a backup file and a client first.