> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.bymiles.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Export or import a design

> Move a Miles design into WordPress as a theme, a full-site clone, or a blueprint.

When you are happy with a design you've created with Miles in a design sandbox, you can bring it into a WordPress site you control or download a blueprint zip that can be added to either the Local or WP Studio app.

## Choose an export path

The design sandbox offers two ways to take a design elsewhere:

| Option                             | Use it when                                                                |
| ---------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Transfer with the Miles plugin** | You have a WordPress install and want to continue working with Miles there |
| **Download blueprint .zip**        | You want a complete copy that can be opened in Local or WP Studio          |

For a plugin transfer, install and activate the Miles plugin on the destination site, open **Appearance → Miles**, and choose **Import a design**.

For a blueprint, download the `.zip`, then use **Add site → Select an existing zip** in Local or **Add site → Import from a backup** in WP Studio.

The blueprint export reads from the running design sandbox. If its download button is unavailable, wait for the site preview to finish loading.

## Import through the Miles plugin

The plugin lists the design sandboxes available to your connected Miles account. Choose a design, then decide how it should arrive.

|                   | Install as a new theme                                                        | Replace with a full-site clone                                                       |
| ----------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Best for          | A WordPress site that already has content or needs a reversible design change | A new and empty WordPress install                                                    |
| What arrives      | The generated theme and its page templates                                    | The complete design sandbox, including content, themes, plugins, media, and settings |
| Existing content  | Pages and content are not created, changed, or removed                        | Everything on the destination site is replaced                                       |
| When it goes live | Only after you activate the theme                                             | Immediately when the clone finishes                                                  |
| Reversing it      | Switch back to the previous theme                                             | There is no automatic restore point                                                  |

Miles normally recommends a full-site clone when the destination looks like a fresh WordPress install. If it finds real content, store data, or cannot confirm that the site is empty, it recommends the theme path instead. The recommendation is guidance; you still make the choice.

<Warning>
  Only use **Replace this site with a design sandbox clone** on a new and empty WordPress site. Existing content is removed and is not recoverable through Miles. The plugin asks you to type `replace` before it begins.
</Warning>

Design import is not currently available for team accounts.

## Install as a new theme

The theme is installed without being activated. Nothing on the site changes until you activate it from **Appearance**.

Before activation:

1. Preview the design with the site's content.
2. Install, activate, and configure any required plugins separately.
3. Activate the theme when you are ready for its homepage to go live.
4. Assign the imported templates to any other pages you want to change.

After activation, return to Miles and choose **Work with my design** to continue editing.

Activating the imported theme switches the homepage to the design's homepage. Switching back to the previous theme restores the previous theme and homepage. The import does not merge the sandbox's posts, media library, plugin data, or settings into the destination.

## Replace with a full-site clone

A clone recreates the complete sandbox on the destination. It replaces the destination's database and files involved in the import, then activates the cloned design immediately.

The destination's users, Miles connection credentials, and site address are preserved rather than copied from the sandbox.

Use this path only when the destination was prepared specifically as an empty target for the design. Do not use it to merge a design into an existing site.

## Before handoff

Work in a Sandbox, Staging, or Development environment and keep a recent backup. Review pages, navigation, media, mobile layouts, links, forms, plugin settings, and business-critical content before handoff.

Read [Site protection](/safety/site-protection) for the current environment and backup requirements.