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Free Plugin by Ben Balter v4.1.0

Static Site Exporter

Features

Static Site Exporter

The facts

Rating
3.5★ from 12
Active installs
400+
Price
Free
Last updated
27 Jul 2026
Added
Dec 2014
Requires WP
6.4
Tested up to
WP 6.9.7
Requires PHP
8.2
Downloads
44,057

Our analysis

AI-assisted

Static Site Exporter is a WordPress plugin that converts posts, pages, and settings from WordPress into Markdown and YAML formats suitable for Jekyll or similar static site generators. It processes content through the_content filter, ensuring that the output reflects what users see rather than the raw database entries.

The plugin allows for selective exports based on categories, tags, or post types, making it useful for users with large sites who only want to migrate specific sections. It requires minimal setup, with a straightforward activation and export process via the WordPress dashboard or WP-CLI.

Best for: This plugin is suitable for WordPress users looking to migrate content to static site generators like Jekyll or Hugo.

What it does well

  • Converts WordPress content to Markdown and YAML
  • Selective export by categories, tags, or post types
  • Outputs a zip file with structured content for Jekyll
  • No settings required for operation
  • Compatible with WP-CLI for command-line usage

Where it falls short

  • Limited information on user experience and support
  • No detailed feature list beyond basic functionality

Verdict

Static Site Exporter provides a simple solution for exporting WordPress content, but its effectiveness may depend on the specific needs of your site and the complexity of your content.

From the developer

Ben Balter's own description of Static Site Exporter, lightly tidied.

Features

  • Converts all posts, pages, and settings from WordPress to Markdown and YAML for use in Jekyll (or Hugo or any other Markdown and YAML based site engine)
  • Export what your users see, not what the database stores (runs post content through the_content filter prior to export, allowing third-party plugins to modify the output)
  • Converts all post_content to Markdown
  • Converts all post_meta and fields within the wp_posts table to YAML front matter for parsing by Jekyll
  • Generates a _config.yml with all settings in the wp_options table
  • Outputs a single zip file with _config.yml, pages, and _posts folder containing .md files for each post in the proper Jekyll naming convention
  • Selective export: Export only specific categories, tags, or post types using WP-CLI
  • No settings. Just a single click.

Usage

  1. Place plugin in /wp-content/plugins/ folder
  2. Activate plugin in WordPress dashboard
  3. Select Export to Jekyll from the Tools menu

More information

See the full documentation:

Selective Export by Category or Tag

This feature allows you to export only a specific subset of your WordPress content, filtered by category, tag, or post type. This is particularly useful when:

  • You have a large WordPress site but only need to convert specific sections
  • You want to migrate content by topic or category
  • You need to export content incrementally

Using WP-CLI

The easiest way to perform selective exports is via WP-CLI commands.

Export by Category

To export posts from a single category, use the category slug:

`bash

wp jekyll-export –category=technology > technology-export.zip
`

Read the full description on the official page →

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