# Best way to update a RW Classic site to Elements **URL:** \ **Category:** Elements\ **Created:** [October 5, 2026, 2:08am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/best-way-to-update-a-rw-classic-site-to-elements/57777 "2026-10-05T02:08:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![martef86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@martef86](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/martef86)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2026, 2:08am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/best-way-to-update-a-rw-classic-site-to-elements/57777/1 "2026-10-05T02:08:32Z")
I have been pondering on the best approach for changing an existing website for one developed in Elements. One thought I had was to 1. create a subfolder, 2. develop the site there and when all the testing and QA has been completed, 3. configure a redirection to a page that informs a user that the site is currently under maintenance, 4. erase the existing site from the server, 5. copy the new site to the root folder, 6. test the site to make sure things are working as expected 7. and then remove the redirection. One of the issues I have is that the existing site uses a number of explicit addresses for certain content. I suppose that I could leave that content (and not erase it) and then change the addresses to relative rather than explicit in the new Elements site. What has the approach been from others when changing from RW Classic to Elements? I am interested to hear from other’s experiences. Thank you ---
**Author:** ![MichaelDroste](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/michaeldroste/32/37212_2.png) [@MichaelDroste](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/MichaelDroste)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2026, 2:17am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/best-way-to-update-a-rw-classic-site-to-elements/57777/2 "2026-10-05T02:17:44Z")
Nothing so elaborate for me… deleted old site - kept files if I had to go back… uploaded new elements website worked out - repeated process for all of my websites ---
**Author:** ![MichaelDroste](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/michaeldroste/32/37212_2.png) [@MichaelDroste](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/MichaelDroste)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2026, 3:14am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/best-way-to-update-a-rw-classic-site-to-elements/57777/3 "2026-10-05T03:14:39Z")
Make sure your site is working of course - before deleting and posting new elements version… many time cosmetic issues or bad links etc ---
**Author:** ![martef86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@martef86](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/martef86)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2026, 3:15am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/best-way-to-update-a-rw-classic-site-to-elements/57777/4 "2026-10-05T03:15:32Z")
I believe it depends on the complexity. In my case, one site contains hundreds of documents, thousands of photos amongst many other items. In the case of many documents, they are currently referenced via direct web addresses and photos are divided up into many folders using Stacks to manage their display. There are also lists of addresses stored in csv files that allow those addresses to be displayed via Stacks as well. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelDroste](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/michaeldroste/32/37212_2.png) [@MichaelDroste](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/MichaelDroste)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2026, 3:24am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/best-way-to-update-a-rw-classic-site-to-elements/57777/5 "2026-10-05T03:24:23Z")
Yes - I started on a 3 page site and later escalated to over 100 page website… still need to find your new site functioning - in my opinion - before publishing… ---
**Author:** ![jbyfield](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/jbyfield/32/82_2.png) [@jbyfield](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/jbyfield)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2026, 3:48am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/best-way-to-update-a-rw-classic-site-to-elements/57777/6 "2026-10-05T03:48:15Z")
I went the easy way which is similar to your list but without all the redirects. I kept the RWC site live while I played around with the new and improved replica made in Elements. I published the Elements site to a hidden subdomain and had a couple of people look and make comments, follow links etc and then when everyone was happy I deleted all of the RW generated files on my host server and replaced them with the exported Elements site. My first tip would be to do this bit in the morning rather than just before you go to bed because you will notice something wrong as soon as you do it. My RWC sites were pretty basic in the scheme of things with a bit of additional code and a handful of stacks. In the end as I played around with Elements and realised how much it could do out of the box my replica site was no longer a replica but a totally new layout. That would be my second tip, don’t let yourself be restrained by your RW layout. ---
**Author:** ![WeaverPixel](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/weaverpixel/32/25453_2.png) [@WeaverPixel](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/WeaverPixel)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2026, 7:45am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/best-way-to-update-a-rw-classic-site-to-elements/57777/7 "2026-10-05T07:45:27Z")
Hi Frank @martef86 I was porting over my website [https://weaverpixel.com](https://weaverpixel.com) more than a year ago. It had at that time around 20…25 pages and some of the pages I wanted to keep, but without any changes for the future. These pages are shop pages where external shops were linking to. For the porting I cannot recommend enough to use the “Import Classic Project”. It is importing the complete content with all the assets, the page structure, the export settings and your meta data. After the import I replaced then page by page with the Elements pages. The old shopping pages are still existing here but they are set to “Do not publish” so all the “old” content is still online. ![image](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/realmacsoftware1/original/3X/b/3/b38bcc541e74882d6bb66bc75dc164d43c0a23f0.png)