BB1 to BB2 Conversion Helper
The BB1 to BB2 Conversion Helper lets you quickly convert your BB1 pages to BB2 pages.
This will give you all of the advantages of using BB2, including a responsive site design, more social media options, image galleries, and more.
How much time will you save, compared to converting your pages with the conventional method? Extensive testing indicates that you'll save about 50%. If you have a lot of unusual HTML in your pages, however, your savings may be less.
How to Convert a Page
To convert a BB1 page, click on its file name in Page Manager. Click on the edit in BB2 link.
This opens the file in the BB2 editor. Preview the page. Compare it to the live BB1 version of the page. If you need to tweak anything, make those changes.
If everything looks good, build the page by clicking on the Build It! button. This will overwrite the BB1 version of the file.
If you return to the live page, refresh it to see the new BB2 version.
Some Caveats and Tips
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In the BB1 to BB2 Conversion Helper, nothing is permanent (converted and published) until you click on the Build It! button in BB2. So you can change things, add new things, or delete parts of the page with confidence. Nothing will happen until you click on the Build It! button.
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The BB1 to BB2 Conversion Helper isn't perfect. As mentioned above, it cannot convert everything. And the parts it does convert may not be converted the way you want them to be. However, they will display properly in a browser. You have two options for tweaking them...
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Convert all the pages, then go back and tweak those that aren't quite the way you want them. Choose this method if you have switched or plan to switch to a new site design. This will get your site's overall look and feel consistent across all of your pages as quickly as possible.
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Convert each page and then tweak if necessary before moving on to the next page. Use this method if the tweaks are minor, such as paragraphs with different font sizes (use the "Unstyle" button in the Text section of the BB2 Text Block).
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If you see any issues with the BB1 to BB2 Conversion Helper, contact Support before you click on the Build It! button. In other words, leave the page as is in the BB1 format, so that the developers can investigate. If this is an issue with only one page, continue converting other pages until you hear back from Support.
Provide as many details about the issue, including the page file name, what the problem is, and why you think it's a problem.
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Once you click on the Build It! button, the BB2 version of the page overwrites the BB1 version. If you want to compare both pages, compare the Preview version of the BB2 page with the live version of the BB1 page. Make any changes in the editor, then preview again before building the BB2 version.
A Very Important Exception
If you "hacked" a right column, that is, you added it to your BB1 pages without using the Right Column Builder available in Site Central (Add/Manage Right Columns), you may not be able to use the BB1 to BB2 Conversion Helper.
If you're not sure if you have a "hacked" right column, click on Add/Manage Right Columns in Site Central. If there are no columns listed there, and you have a right column on your live pages, then you have a hacked column.
If you used the "table hack," you'll see an error message... "Could not load your page."
You'll have to use the regular conversion method, outlined here...
https://sbitips.sitesell.com/convert-bb1-pages-to-blockbuilder2.html
Not sure if you used the table hack? On one of your live pages, view the source code and do a find (Ctrl-F/Command-F) for...
</td>
<td valign=top>
Your version might be slightly different...
</td>
<td valign="top">
If the page code has either of the above, you used the table hack.
If you used the "absolute positioned div" hack, you will not see the error message. You could convert the page, if you want to spend some time moving blocks from the bottom of the Content Column, which is where the converter puts the blocks, into the Extra Column.
"Regular" Content (Text and Images)
"Regular" content is content that you added in BB1's Text Blocks.
As you preview each page before building it, look for paragraphs with different fonts or different font sizes. If you find any, click on the Unstyle button in the Text section of the Text Block. That button will also remove bolding and italics, which you can easily add back. It will not remove list items or links.
While BB1 Image Blocks will convert to BB2 Image Blocks with no problems, there are more image features in BB2. So check the toolbar for each image (click on the image to display the Image Block toolbar for the image) and add anything you want to the image (e.g., a Pin It button to the best image on the page).
If you added any images using HTML code in a BB1 Text Block, and those images are not in the Image Library, they will be added to the BB2 page using Raw HTML Blocks (see next section).
HTML (Including Tables)
The most common HTML added to pages is tables (<table> tags). Tables will convert properly to BB2. The code will be placed into a Raw HTML Block.
However, if you used a table as a way to create an image gallery, for example, we recommend that you use a Responsive Grid Block instead. This block will shrink the content inside it to fit any device (phone, tablet, desktop computer). A conventional table will not shrink the content inside it, which will cause display problems on phones.
While AdSense ad code (and other ad code) isn't strictly HTML, it's considered HTML by SBI!. So the ad code will be placed into a Raw HTML Block.
Navigation
Your SBI!-built vertical NavBar will be converted over to the BB2 equivalent. However, depending on your new site design, your vertical navigation could become horizontal navigation. So be sure to check that it displays the way you want it to when you preview the page. You'll only have to do this on the first one or two pages, as the navigation is in a Sitewide Dot.
Social Media
In BB1, you can have Facebook Like buttons and Facebook commenting on your pages. The Like buttons can only go in pre-assigned locations.
In BB2, the Like buttons can go wherever you want them to go. And you have additional options (Google +1 button, Twitter Follow button, Pinterest Follow button). Move the Like buttons to where you want them (if desired), and add any other social buttons (if desired). Add them to Sitewide Dots once and they'll appear on all other converted pages in that location.
Right Column
When you convert a page that contains a Right Column, the RC gets converted to a Reusable Block. So it will no longer appear in the Right Column Manager. It will, though, show up in the Reusable Block Library. Note that any changes to the converted right column (which is now a Reusable Block) will affect both BB1 and BB2 pages that use it.
You may rename the Reusable Block, but if you remove the "[Converted RC]" from the beginning of the name, it will not be available in the BB1 editor. If you want to edit BB1 pages manually with that converted block, you will need to either...
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convert them to BB2, and edit them there
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change the name so that it starts with "[Converted RC]" again.
Footer
BB1 uses a Footer Block. In BB2, the footer is built using Text and Raw HTML blocks, which you put into the Footer Sitewide Dot. The first conversion will put the BB1 Footer Block into the Footer Sitewide Dot.
We recommend that you take a few minutes to create the footer in the BB2 method, with a Text Block (and Raw HTML Block, if needed). Once the first page is built with the BB2 footer, all future conversions will have the new footer.