How to Move WordPress Term to a Different Taxonomy
When you create posts, taxonomy terms, or other content, there is no default way to move them to other areas of WordPress.
For example, if you create a post, you'll need to find a plugin if you want to change it to a page. Or if you create a tag, you'll need to find a plugin if you want to change it to a category.
In this tutorial, we'll show you how to convert your tags into categories, or any other type of taxonomy. The difference between Tags, Categories, and other taxonomies is technically small, so moving is normally quite simple. The IDs of the terms won't change and there's only a couple of database changes required.
How to Move Terms One-by-One
If you want to move a small number of terms from one taxonomy to another, I recommend the TaxoPress plugin. You can migrate terms using the “Terms” screen.
In this screenshot below there are posts with four tags. We are going to migrate those to the Categories taxonomy.
- Go to “TaxoPress” then “Terms”, as in this screenshot below:
- Click the “Quick Edit” link under any term.
- Choose the new taxonomy.
- Click “Update”.
- Repeat this for all the terms you want to move.
Now when you go back to the “Posts” screen, the tags will be displayed in the “Categories” column, as in this screenshot below:
How to Move Terms in Bulk
If you want to convert a large number of terms from categories to tags, or vice versa, you can use the “Categories to Tags Convertor” plugin. Despite the name, this should work with any taxonomy, including custom taxonomies.
- After installing this plugin, go to “Tools”, then “Import” in the WordPress admin menu.
- Click “Run Importer” next to “Categories and Tags Converter”.
- You can select either categories or tags and click the button. At the moment, this plugin does not support non-core taxonomies.
Do More with TaxoPress
If you don't want to migrate terms, it's also import an external taxonomy to WordPress. You can also choose to merge terms that are too similar, or delete unused terms.