Migration Workflow

How a site migration flows end-to-end — prep, import, validation, promotion.

The Migration Workflow is the cross-product process that takes a site migration from "we are about to move data into SGEN" through "the migrated site is live and verified". It pulls together Backups, Import, Post Migration, Search and Replace, and Recovery Considerations into one end-to-end flow. This page is the Reference definition.

What is this for?

Read this page when you want the full structural definition of a planned migration into SGEN — the sequence of operations, the gate between each stage, and the recovery framing.

Good use cases

• You are scoping a site migration project into SGEN.
• You are explaining to a stakeholder how SGEN handles end-to-end migration.
• You are designing internal SOPs for migration handoff.

What NOT to use this for

• Step-by-step procedures — open the relevant Guide and the Migration sub-page References.
• Per-release shipped change — open What's New or Changelog.
• Per-source platform export specifics — provider-side documentation.

How this connects to other features

• Workflows Overview — parent Reference area.
• Migration and Import Overview — the Migration Reference area this workflow draws from.
• Backups — pre-migration safeguard.
• Import — entry-path operation.
• Post Migration — validation cycle.

Definition

The Migration Workflow is the cross-product, multi-stage process for moving data and site state into SGEN. It has four named stages (prep, import, validation, promotion), a recovery branch (when validation fails), and explicit gates between stages.

The defining property is staged. The workflow does not collapse into a single action; each stage has a clear entry and exit so the team can pause, validate, and decide between forward and rollback at each gate.

Purpose

The purpose of this page is to define the migration end-to-end flow as a Reference layer. It explains the four stages, the gates, and the recovery branch.

Scope

This page covers the workflow at the Reference level.

The page covers:

• The four named stages (prep, import, validation, promotion).
• The gate between each stage.
• The recovery branch.
• The boundary against per-stage Reference (covered in Migration and Import sub-pages).

• Per-step procedures — Guides.
• Per-source platform export — provider-side documentation.
• Per-release shipped change — What's New or Changelog.

The four stages

Stage 1 — Prep

Capture the pre-migration backup snapshot. Confirm the staging environment is ready. Source-side export prepared. Plan the import scope.

Stage 2 — Import

Run the import per the Import Reference. Records land in the admin (typically on staging). Identification metadata attaches.

Stage 3 — Validation

Walk the Post Migration validation cycle. Reconciliation, structural validation, behavior validation, cleanup pass (often Search and Replace), sign-off.

Stage 4 — Promotion

Promote staging to live. The migrated site becomes the production-serving site.

Gates between stages

Prep → Import gate

The pre-migration snapshot is captured and the import scope is locked. Without the snapshot, the import is rejected by discipline (not by the platform; the operator should not proceed without the rollback target).

Import → Validation gate

The import has completed. Identification metadata is in place. The validation cycle can begin.

Validation → Promotion gate

Sign-off given per Post Migration discipline. Without sign-off, promotion does not happen.

Recovery branch

If any gate fails, the workflow branches into Recovery Considerations. The decision shape (fix-in-place / rollback / escalate) frames the response. The pre-migration snapshot is the rollback target.

Constraints and boundaries

This Reference covers the end-to-end workflow.

Use this Reference for:

• Scoping the full migration project shape.
• Reasoning about gate sequence and recovery branching.

• Per-step procedures — Guides + per-stage Migration sub-pages.
• Per-source platform export — provider documentation.
• Per-release shipped change — What's New or Changelog.

Public boundary

This page is intentionally public-safe.

Examples

Example 1 — Standard migration runs all four stages cleanly

Prep complete; import lands cleanly; validation cycle passes on first walk; sign-off given; promotion to live succeeds. Standard happy path.

Example 2 — Validation gate fails, recovery resolves it

Behavior validation reveals broken layout from un-translated source-platform shortcodes. The team opens Recovery Considerations, decides on fix-in-place (cleanup pass + custom-code adjustment), re-runs validation, achieves sign-off, promotes.

Example 3 — Import gate fails, rollback triggered

The import fails partway. The team rolls back via the pre-migration snapshot, rescopes the import to handle the failing record class differently, retries.

Documentation guidance

Use this page as the structural definition for the end-to-end migration workflow. Per-stage detail lives in the Migration sub-pages.

Reading order

Open this page first when scoping a migration project. Descend into per-stage Migration sub-pages for the details of each stage.

Related reading

• Workflows Overview — parent Reference area.
• Migration and Import Overview — Migration Reference area.
• Backups — Stage 1 operation.
• Import — Stage 2 operation.
• Post Migration — Stage 3 operation.
• Publishing Workflow — sibling for post-migration publishing.
• Content Update Workflow — sibling for post-migration editing cycle.

Vocabulary cross-reference

• Stage is one of the four named workflow phases (prep, import, validation, promotion).
• Gate is the explicit transition condition between two stages.
• Recovery branch is the alternate path when a gate fails.
• Pre-migration snapshot is the backup captured during prep that becomes the rollback target.
• Sign-off is the explicit confirmation given after validation passes.

Maintenance discipline

When the migration workflow changes across releases (new stage, new gate, new recovery option), update this Reference and log the change in Changelog.

Related reading