Export Templates with Template Exporter (MT Hacks)

Export Templates with Template Exporter

Designed to be used with the Template Installer plugin, Template Exporter is a plugin for Movable Type that enables you to easily export your blog templates in a way that can be shared, distribute, or even sold to to others.

Screencasts

The easist way to describe how Template Exporter works is to show you. The first video below shows how you can export all of a blog templates:

And the the following video shows how you can export only selected templates:

Potential Uses of Template Exporter

This plugin can be put to use in several ways:

To create a "backup" of their templates, which can be re-installed later if desired.
To copy a set of template from one blog (or installation) to another (some call this "template portability").
To share your templates with friends, or post them for download on your blog.
To package and sell your customized template designs.
To deploy a common template design to multiple blogs in an MT installation.
To distribute blog Widgets.
To distribute blog templates with MT plugins, providing easy installation.

How it Works (if you care)

Template Exporter provides two main functions:

It extracts your templates and saves them in files named according to the template_identifier or template_name, such as main_index.mtml. Each template gets stored in its own file. (Technical note: if a template has an "identifier" field defined in the database, then it will be used for the file name. If not, a "dirified" version of the template name will be used, so "Main Index" will become "main_index".)
It automagically creates a YAML file named config.yaml, which defined the configuration information for template set. This includes things like the type and name of the template, and for index templates, the output file and "rebuild with indexes" setting. For example of a Template Exporter config.yaml file, click here.

These files are then saved in their own directory inside a "template_exporter" subdirectory of your blog. You can then use FTP or other means to download the directory and files from there, and subsequent shares the exported template or use with Template Installer to install them on another blog or installation.

Requirements

MT4+

Installation

Download and extract the zip file and upload the contents of the 'plugins' folder to the 'plugins' directory of your MT installation.
Go the blog you want, then Design > Templates then choose the "Export Templates" link from the lower right. (Or, to export only selected templates, check the boxes of the templates you want, then choose "Export Template(s)" from the "more actions" drop-down box, then click "Go".)
Give the template set a name, using only letters, numbers, and spaces, and then click Continue.

Get Template Exporter

Commercial License - $97

Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Comments (18)

nixx

How did you make the movies?

Posted by nixx | September 2, 2007 3:45 PM

Posted on September 2, 2007 15:45

Sara:

Just got my copy of the exporter. I wonder if it would be an idea for future improvements to prefix exported files with widget_ if it's a widget, system_ if it's a system template etc That way it would be a bit easier to find the exact template I'm looking for if I'm making any changes to exported templates.

Posted by Sara | September 7, 2007 11:12 AM

Posted on September 7, 2007 11:12

Mark Carey

Sara, that's a good idea, I've had that problem too. The main problem is that the name of the name needs to match the name/id in the config.yaml file. And after installation, you don't want your widgets to be named "Widget Top Entries", etc. I suppose I could preface the type to all template names and then strip those out on install, but for now I decided to remain consistent with the approach/naming convention that MT uses to install templates for new blogs, and that TemplateRefresh uses to refresh your templates.

Posted by Mark Carey | September 7, 2007 11:38 AM

Posted on September 7, 2007 11:38

KevinR

Hiya! Did this disappear or am I missing the download link somewhere? I've just loaded the Importer and really like it!

Posted by KevinR | September 25, 2007 3:57 PM

Posted on September 25, 2007 15:57

rm_blogger

One thing I have found is that once you have installed the plugin it completely takes the place of the link to export entries. Once I exported my templates in order to move my blog I had to disable the plugin in order to export the entries.

Posted by rm_blogger | September 25, 2007 9:32 PM

Posted on September 25, 2007 21:32

bangart:

Is there a personal license available?

Posted by bangart | October 10, 2007 7:20 PM

Posted on October 10, 2007 19:20

SomeGuy

My blogs are small personal non-commercial ones - I REALLY wish that we could export our templates but can't. The amount of this plugin is currently far above my means to afford. The inability to export templates from MT 4 is, I believe, a very serious design problem and will eventually drive more people over to other applications such as WordPress which are far easier to customize.

Posted by SomeGuy | October 11, 2007 3:12 AM

Posted on October 11, 2007 03:12

hudson:

Any chance there's an upgrade path if we've just recently (within the last 2 months) purchased Template Exporter? Thanks.

Posted by hudson | January 24, 2008 5:05 PM

Posted on January 24, 2008 17:05

mike:

Does this plugin work with MT4.2?

Posted by mike | January 16, 2009 1:19 PM

Posted on January 16, 2009 13:19

JT:

Does this plugin work with MT4.25?

Posted by JT | April 2, 2009 11:49 PM

Posted on April 2, 2009 23:49

Andrea:

Could someone tell me how to export widgets with this? It's doing a fine job of exporting my templates, but when I go to the widget management page (I'm running 4.23), there's an export option but no import option. Thanks.

Posted by Andrea | March 23, 2010 11:49 AM

Posted on March 23, 2010 11:49

منتدى حسايف:

E eu tenho certeza que tem tofu aqui :(

Posted by منتدى حسايف | February 27, 2011 5:47 AM

Posted on February 27, 2011 05:47

شات صوتي:

E eu tenho certeza que tem tofu aqui :(

Posted by شات صوتي | February 27, 2011 5:48 AM

Posted on February 27, 2011 05:48

دردشة صوتية:

E eu tenho certeza que tem tofu aqui :(