WHY LEAVE
Why people leave a legacy CMS.
And when it's time.
A custom system made sense when it was built. Today, often nobody knows how to change it, and the site is kept alive mostly by caution.
Nobody understands it
The developer is gone and there's no documentation. Every change is a risk, because nobody knows what else it will break.
Old PHP and an old server
The system runs on a PHP or database version that no longer gets security fixes. Sooner or later your host will stop offering it.
Security
Unpatched code, old libraries and an admin without two-factor authentication. An easy target for attackers.
Content tangled with HTML
Text is stored with its formatting, tables and inline styles. Without cleanup, it can't be moved or reused.
No export
The system can't export its content. The only ways out are the database or the published site.
No room to grow
A mobile version, new sections, another language. On an old foundation, every change is slow and laborious.
MIGRATION TARGET
Where to from a legacy CMS?
Depends on who runs the site.
Not sure? I'll recommend one after an audit.
WHAT CARRIES OVER
What carries over.
And what replaces the old features.
I pull the content from the database, through an API or from the published site and move it into the new structure. Here's where everything goes.
| CUSTOM OR LEGACY CMS | WEBFLOW | SANITY CMS |
|---|---|---|
| Articles and news | Blog CMS collection | Documents in Sanity |
| Pages | Pages and templates | Pages built from blocks |
| Sections and tags | Reference fields in the CMS | References between documents |
| Files and images on the server | Assets, compressed | Sanity media library |
| Page titles and descriptions | Title, description, OG, canonical URL | The same fields on every document |
| Server-side forms | Webflow forms | Forms connected to your system |
| Custom tables and records | CMS collections with custom fields | Content schema in Sanity |
| Users and internal records | Not migrated, handled separately | Not migrated, handled separately |
What replaces the add-ons
| FEATURE | WEBFLOW | SANITY CMS |
|---|---|---|
| Custom admin | The Webflow CMS editor | Sanity Studio with a tailored editor |
| SEO hard-coded in templates | SEO settings and fields in Webflow CMS | SEO fields in Sanity, metadata in Astro |
| Language versions as copied pages | Webflow Localization | Language versions in Sanity and Astro |
| Forms via PHP mail() | Webflow forms with integrations | Custom forms with storage and integrations |
| Database search | Webflow search or an external service | Search over Sanity content or an external service |
| Manual backups and server patches | Managed Webflow hosting | Separate Sanity CMS and managed website hosting |
PROCESS
How a legacy CMS migration works.
From export to rank monitoring.
Legacy system audit
I crawl the whole site, go through the database and the files on the server, and list the content types, features and URLs.
URL map and redirects
URLs with ?id=, .php or .html become clean new URLs, each with a 301 redirect.
Content conversion and cleanup
I move content from the database and the old HTML into a clean structure, with no inline styles and no tables used for layout.
Your content review
You go through the site in a dedicated feedback tool. You leave comments right on the page, and I fix them.
Launch
I switch the domain, check redirects, forms and analytics, and submit the new sitemap. You keep a backup of the old system and its database.
Post-launch monitoring
I watch Search Console and traffic. Whatever shows up after launch, I fix.
Send me your site's URL. I'll tell you what it takes.
I'll go through your site, its features and content types and suggest whether to move to Webflow or go custom. No commitment, no sales pitch.
STATUS:OPEN FOR PROJECTS· REPLY WITHIN 2 DAYS· NO COMMITMENT
FAQ
What people ask
about leaving a legacy CMS.
Our system has no export. Can it still be done?
Yes. I pull the content straight from the database. If there's no access to it, I take the content from the published site and rebuild the structure.
Will my old articles and their URLs carry over?
Yes. I move them into the new structure and redirect every old URL, including ones with ?id= or .php, to its new one with a 301.
What do you need from us to get started?
Your site's URL and, ideally, access to the database or FTP. If you don't have access, we'll find out who does, or I'll start from the published site.
The system also handles internal work, like orders or records. What happens to that?
The website part moves to Webflow or custom development, and the internal side is handled separately. We either connect it to an existing tool or build it as part of custom development.
Our site is in several languages. Can it be migrated?
Yes. I move the language versions into Webflow Localization or a multilingual schema in Sanity. Language URLs and hreflang get set up again.
Can I edit the site myself after the migration?
Yes. In Webflow you edit pages directly, in Sanity in an editor with a preview. You no longer need a developer for everyday text changes.
Does the old site have to go offline during the migration?
No. The old site keeps running until you approve the new one. Anything added in the meantime gets synced before launch.
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