[wp-hackers] Improving the XML export/import

[Robert Deaton]

As everyone may have already seen via the testers list, many are not
happy with the functionality of the XML export as it stands. Let's see
what we can do to improve it.

As I was writing a plugin yesterday that involves the XML export, I
noticed a few of its limitations. I slept on a few ideas on ways to
improve it, here's what's survived.

(1) Make it essentially a database dump, but in XML format. Include a
way to recreate the entire database schema as well as repopulate it
with XML. One main drawback of this is everyone will immediately ask
"Why do what the database backup plugin does over again in XML?"
Simple, its export. This means that the format should be database
agnostic, so that it can be imported into other systems, across
versions of WP, etc. I am particularly fond of this method.

(2) Keep the system as it is, adding hooks where necessary to allow
plugins to inject their own data where they need to to have it
exported. We also (imho) need to include some other information in the
exports which the above method would fix. Some things to include are
users, options, categories, links, etc.

Thoughts?


-- 
--Robert Deaton