Migrating from Other Plugins

If you're already using a different FlipBook plugin, you don't have to rebuild everything from scratch. The built-in migration toolkit imports your existing FlipBooks in one click — settings, hotspots, PDFs, and metadata included. This article walks through the full migration process and post-migration cleanup.

What you can migrate from

Source plugin

What gets imported

TNC FlipBook Classic / PDF Viewer for WordPress

Title, slug, PDF, display settings, hotspots, custom CSS, attachments

Real3D Flipbook

Title, PDF, basic display settings (some advanced settings don't map directly)

DearFlip

Title, PDF, basic display settings

Interactive3D Flipbook

Title, PDF, basic display settings

For Classic / PDF Viewer (our own older plugin), the migration is high-fidelity — almost every setting carries over. For other plugins, basic content carries over; you may need to re-configure some specific settings.

Where to find the migration tool

Go to FlipBooks → Migration in your WordPress admin sidebar.

The migration page shows one card per detected source plugin. Cards only appear when there's actually content to import — so if you don't see a card, you don't have FlipBooks from that source.

Step-by-step

1. Open the Migration page

FlipBooks → Migration.

You'll see cards for each source plugin that has content to import:

  • Source plugin name (e.g. "DearFlip")
  • Count (how many FlipBooks from that source)
  • A Migrate button

2. Pick the source

Click Migrate on the source card. A configuration screen opens with options:

3. Configure the migration

Option

What it does

Create redirects

When enabled, every imported FlipBook saves a redirect from its original URL to the new TNC FlipBook 3D URL. Visitors hitting the old link are sent to the new one.

Redirect Type

301 (permanent) or 302 (temporary). Use 301 unless you have a specific reason to use 302.

Recommendation: turn on Create redirects if your old FlipBooks were public. This preserves search rankings, bookmarks, and shared links.

4. Start the import

Click Import. The toolkit:

  1. Loops over every FlipBook from the source plugin.
  2. Creates a new TNC FlipBook 3D for each.
  3. Copies the PDF or image gallery.
  4. Maps the title and slug.
  5. Maps display settings (where they correspond).
  6. Imports hotspots (best-effort — some plugins use different coordinate systems).
  7. Saves the URL redirect (if you enabled it).

Progress is shown live. For large libraries (50+ FlipBooks), expect a few minutes.

5. Review the result

When the import finishes, a summary appears showing:

  • Imported: count of successful imports.
  • Skipped: anything that couldn't be migrated (rare; you'll see the reason per item).
  • Errors: if any FlipBook failed entirely.

Open FlipBooks → All FlipBooks to see your imported FlipBooks. Open a few side-by-side with the originals to compare.

After the migration

1. Compare side by side

Open the original FlipBooks (on the old plugin) and the new ones (TNC FlipBook 3D). Confirm:

  • Page count matches.
  • Display looks right.
  • Hotspots are positioned correctly.
  • Toolbar settings make sense.

For any FlipBook that needs tweaks, edit in the new editor. The new plugin's settings are richer, so you may want to adopt new features (hotspots, hardcover style, watermarks, etc.).

2. Make sure redirects work

If you enabled redirects, test a few old URLs:

  1. Copy the old FlipBook URL.
  2. Open it in an incognito browser window.
  3. Confirm you're redirected to the new TNC FlipBook 3D URL.

If a redirect doesn't fire, check the Redirects sub-page under the Migration menu.

3. Don't immediately uninstall the old plugin

Wait through a release cycle (a few weeks) before uninstalling. Reasons:

  • You may discover settings that didn't migrate perfectly and want to refer back to the old plugin to copy them by hand.
  • The old plugin's posts remain in the database as a fallback.
  • Uninstalling the old plugin can delete its content (depending on plugin uninstall behavior).

When you're confident, deactivate the old plugin first (don't uninstall yet). Wait another week. Then uninstall.

Managing redirects

Redirects are managed under FlipBooks → Migration → Redirects.

The page shows every saved redirect with:

  • Old URL — the URL on the source plugin.
  • New URL — the TNC FlipBook 3D URL.
  • Type — 301 or 302.
  • Enabled — toggle each redirect on or off.
  • Bulk actions — delete selected, clear all.

You can also add manual redirects:

  1. Click Add Redirect.
  2. Type the old URL (full path or relative).
  3. Type the new URL or pick a FlipBook from the dropdown.
  4. Choose 301 or 302.
  5. Save.

Manual redirects are useful for one-off cases: old WordPress pages, deleted PDFs, anything you want to redirect to a new FlipBook.

How redirects actually work

When a visitor requests a URL, WordPress checks the redirect table. If it matches, the visitor is sent to the new URL with the chosen HTTP status (301 = permanent, 302 = temporary).

Redirects fire at WordPress's template_redirect hook with priority 1 — before most other plugins. They take effect immediately on save.

How source detection works

Source plugin cards appear only when our migration tool detects FlipBooks from that plugin in the database:

  • The plugin checks wp_posts for post types matching each source plugin's CPT.
  • If count > 0, the card appears.
  • If you uninstall a source plugin but its posts remain, the card still appears.
  • If you delete all the source plugin's posts, the card disappears.

Removing a source plugin alone is not enough to hide its card — its posts need to be gone too.

Migration patterns by source

From TNC FlipBook Classic / PDF Viewer

Highest fidelity. Nearly every Classic setting maps to a TNC FlipBook 3D equivalent:

  • PDF source — direct copy.
  • Color scheme — maps to closest 3D Chrome (Slate / Paper / etc.).
  • Toolbar buttons — toggles carry over.
  • Hotspots — Classic hotspots are imported with their position, action, and URL.
  • Custom CSS — copied as-is.

Some Classic-specific features (Navigative Addon shortcodes, Display Addon shortcodes) don't apply to 3D — those need different setup.

From Real3D Flipbook

  • PDF source — copied.
  • Title and slug — copied.
  • Display settings — basic mapping (dark theme → Slate dark, etc.).
  • Hotspots — imported where Real3D's coordinate system aligns. Test and tweak as needed.

From DearFlip

  • PDF source — copied.
  • Title and slug — copied.
  • Page settings — copied where they correspond.
  • Hotspots — DearFlip uses different hotspot logic; some get imported, others may need manual recreation.

From Interactive3D Flipbook

  • PDF source — copied.
  • Title and slug — copied.
  • Basic settings — copied.

Treat the import as a "starting point" — review and adjust each FlipBook after.

Migration vs. PDF Import

Two similar-sounding tools but different purposes:

Tool

What it does

FlipBooks → Migration

Imports from other FlipBook plugins (Classic, Real3D, DearFlip, Interactive3D)

FlipBooks → PDF Import

Bulk-creates FlipBooks from raw PDFs already in your media library

If you don't have a previous FlipBook plugin but you have a folder of PDFs to convert, use PDF Import (see Auto Create Addon).

Troubleshooting

No source plugin cards appear, even though I have FlipBooks from one.

  • Confirm the source plugin's posts exist in the database. Source detection is DB-only — uninstalling the source plugin doesn't necessarily delete its posts.
  • Check All FlipBooks for the source plugin — if you see content there, source detection should pick it up. Refresh the Migration page.

Import gets partway through, then stops.

  • Check the WordPress debug log for errors.
  • A specific FlipBook might have a corrupted PDF or unusual settings. Note which one and try migrating it manually.
  • Large libraries can hit PHP timeout limits. Try migrating in batches (Migrate, wait, Migrate again — the tool skips already-imported FlipBooks).

Hotspots are in the wrong position after migration. Different plugins use different coordinate systems. Open the imported FlipBook in the visual editor and reposition hotspots. The PDF positioning data may need manual adjustment.

Old URLs return 404 instead of redirecting.

  • Confirm Create redirects was enabled during migration.
  • Open FlipBooks → Migration → Redirects and verify the redirect exists.
  • Toggle it off and on to refresh.

Some settings didn't migrate. This is expected for non-Classic sources. Different plugins have different settings; the migrator only translates what makes sense. Re-configure missing settings in the new TNC FlipBook 3D editor.

I want to roll back the migration.

  • TNC FlipBook 3D content can be deleted from FlipBooks → All FlipBooks (Trash).
  • The original FlipBooks from the source plugin are untouched — they remain in the source plugin.
  • Redirects can be cleared from FlipBooks → Migration → Redirects.

Next steps

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