Bricks Import & Export

Export and import your Bricks Builder configuration — settings, Style Manager, theme styles, global classes, variables, pages, templates, and Bricks-enabled post types — as a single zip archive. Supports both the WordPress admin UI and WP-CLI.

Overview

Bricks Import & Export adds a dedicated submenu page under Bricks in the WordPress admin for one-click site backups and migrations. It bundles Bricks settings, Style Manager data, theme styles, global classes, global variables, color palettes, components, query manager data, global elements, pages, templates, and Bricks meta on enabled post types into a portable zip archive. The same archive can be restored on any WordPress site running the same Bricks version.

The plugin is intentionally lightweight — no external dependencies, no database tables, and no build step. Everything is plain PHP using the native ZipArchive extension and standard WordPress APIs.

Highlights

Area	What it gives you
Export	Downloads a zip containing Bricks global options, all pages, all Bricks templates, and Bricks meta on enabled post types.
Import	Uploads and restores a previously exported archive, remapping post IDs and regenerating Bricks CSS/code signatures where possible.
Manifest	Every archive includes a manifest.json with plugin version, Bricks version, and export date for version-safe imports.
Admin UI	Clean export/import screen registered as the last submenu item under Bricks.
WP-CLI	wp bricks export and wp bricks import for scripted backups, migrations, and CI/CD pipelines.
Filters	Three action hooks let you extend the exported options, meta keys, and post types without modifying the plugin.
Security	All admin actions are protected by manage_options capability checks and WordPress nonces.

Requirements

Requirement	Version
WordPress	6.0 or newer
PHP	7.4 or newer
PHP extension	ZipArchive (enabled by default on most hosts)
Theme	Bricks Builder (any version — version is recorded in the manifest)
Permissions	Administrator role

What Gets Exported

Options

Option	Contains
bricks_global_settings	Global Bricks builder settings, including enabled builder post types.
bricks_theme_styles	Registered theme styles and their element overrides.
bricks_global_classes	All global CSS classes and their style definitions.
bricks_color_palette	Custom color palette swatches.
bricks_style_manager	Style Manager settings such as modes and scales.
bricks_global_variables	Global variables used in Bricks styles.
bricks_global_variables_categories	Variable categories, scale metadata, and utility-class configuration.
bricks_components	Bricks components.
bricks_global_queries	Query Manager global queries.
bricks_global_queries_categories	Query Manager categories.
bricks_global_elements	Bricks global elements.
bricks_global_classes_categories	Global class categories.
bricks_global_classes_locked	Locked global class state.
bricks_global_classes_trash	Global class trash state.
bricks_global_pseudo_classes	Custom pseudo selectors.
bricks_breakpoints	Custom Bricks breakpoints.
bricks_icon_sets	Icon set registry data.
bricks_custom_icons	Custom icon registry data.
bricks_disabled_icon_sets	Disabled icon set state.
bricks_font_favorites	Builder font favorites.
bricks_sidebars	Bricks sidebars.
bricks_element_manager	Element Manager state.

Media-backed custom font files, uploads, generated CSS/cache markers, remote template cache, and builder UI preferences are not bundled.

Post types

Post type	Description
page	All WordPress pages with Bricks content meta.
bricks_template	All Bricks templates (headers, footers, sections, popups, etc.).
Bricks-enabled post types	Additional post types listed in bricks_global_settings.postTypes, such as WooCommerce product, when they carry Bricks meta.

Post meta — _bricks_page_content_2, _bricks_page_header_2, _bricks_page_footer_2, _bricks_editor_mode, _bricks_template_type, _bricks_template_settings, _bricks_page_settings

Archive Structure

bricks-export-YYYY-MM-DD.zip
├── manifest.json              Plugin version, Bricks version, export timestamp
├── options/
│   ├── bricks_global_settings.json
│   ├── bricks_theme_styles.json
│   ├── bricks_global_classes.json
│   ├── bricks_color_palette.json
│   ├── bricks_style_manager.json
│   ├── bricks_global_variables.json
│   └── ...
└── posts/
    ├── index.json             Slug, type, and filename for every exported post
    ├── page__home.json
    ├── page__about.json
    ├── bricks_template__site-header.json
    └── product__relaxactive.json

Installation

Place the plugin directory inside WordPress:

wp-content/plugins/bricks-import-export

Activate the plugin in WordPress:

wp plugin activate bricks-import-export

You can also activate it from Plugins in the WordPress admin.

Usage

Admin UI

1. Open Bricks → Import & Export in the WordPress admin sidebar.
2. Click Export to download the current Bricks state as a zip archive.
3. To restore, choose the zip file under Import and click Import.

WP-CLI

Export

# Export to the current directory with a date-stamped filename
wp bricks export

# Export to a specific path
wp bricks export /backups/bricks-backup.zip

Import

# Import with a confirmation prompt
wp bricks import --file=bricks-export-2026-05-12.zip

# Import without prompting (useful in CI/CD pipelines)
wp bricks import --file=bricks-export-2026-05-12.zip --yes

Filters

Filters let you extend the export/import scope without editing the plugin.

bricks_ie_options — add or remove WordPress option names:

add_filter( 'bricks_ie_options', function ( $options ) {
    $options[] = 'my_custom_bricks_option';
    return $options;
} );

bricks_ie_meta_keys — add or remove post meta keys:

add_filter( 'bricks_ie_meta_keys', function ( $keys ) {
    $keys[] = '_my_custom_bricks_meta';
    return $keys;
} );

bricks_ie_post_types — add or remove exported post types:

add_filter( 'bricks_ie_post_types', function ( $types ) {
    $types[] = 'my_custom_post_type';
    return $types;
} );

bricks_ie_create_missing_post_types — allow specific post types to be created if they are missing on import:

add_filter( 'bricks_ie_create_missing_post_types', function ( $types ) {
    $types[] = 'my_custom_post_type';
    return $types;
} );

bricks_ie_update_post_fields_post_types — allow title/status updates for specific post types during import:

add_filter( 'bricks_ie_update_post_fields_post_types', function ( $types ) {
    $types[] = 'my_custom_post_type';
    return $types;
} );

By default, imports may create and update page and bricks_template records. For enabled dynamic post types like WooCommerce product, the importer matches existing posts by slug and only restores Bricks meta; missing products are skipped so catalog data is not created or overwritten accidentally.

Architecture

bricks-import-export.php          Plugin bootstrap, admin_post handlers, WP-CLI registration
includes/
  class-bricks-exporter.php       Builds the zip archive (options, posts, manifest)
  class-bricks-importer.php       Restores a zip archive, remaps post IDs
  class-admin-page.php            Registers and renders the Bricks submenu page
  class-cli-command.php           WP-CLI `wp bricks export` and `wp bricks import` commands
assets/
  admin.css                       Styles for the admin Import & Export screen

License

Bricks Import & Export is licensed under GPL-2.0-or-later.

Copyright (C) 2026 Katsarov Design.