Import a guide from GitBook
Builds on Create a guide.
Paste the address of your GitBook site and Markdrop Guides copies it into a new guide: every page, including hidden ones, the sidebar's groups and order, images and files, page icons, your logo and accent colour, and the old addresses. Your GitBook site isn't changed.
Import a guide
#Start a new guide
#Choose New guide, pick where it lives, and under How do you want to start? choose Import from GitBook.
Paste the address
#Under Your GitBook site, paste the Public address readers use, like
https://docs.acme.com. Markdrop Guides suggests an address from it.Name it
#Type the Guide name, check the Address, and choose Import.
Wait for the steps
#The import screen shows four steps: reading the navigation and page list, copying pages and converting blocks, copying images and files, and saving the pages as drafts. A large site takes a few minutes. You can close the page: the import keeps running, and the screen shows where it is when you come back.
Markdrop Guides can only read a site anyone can open. A private GitBook space can't be imported this way.
Watch it once
#Check the report
#When the import is done, the screen says Your pages are here and lists what Needs a look before you publish. Each row opens its list, and each entry links to the page in the editor.
| Row | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Images or files we couldn't copy | They were missing or unreachable on the old site. | Upload them again in the editor, or remove them. |
| Links that were already broken | Links that didn't work on the GitBook site either. | Fix or remove them. |
| Image descriptions we wrote for you | GitBook had no alt text, so the importer used the file names. | Write a real description: screen readers and search use it. |
| Pages hidden from the sidebar in GitBook | Imported and reachable by link, but not in the sidebar. | Keep them hidden or show them. See Hidden pages. |
| Page icons we couldn't match | Brand logos and single letters with no matching icon. | Pick an icon in the page settings or leave it blank. |
| Blocks converted approximately | GitBook blocks with no exact match. | Check that they read right. |
Rows with nothing in them aren't shown. To open the report again later, go to the guide's Settings and choose Open the import report under Imported from GitBook.
What comes across
#- Pages become drafts, each with a first version marked Imported in its history. Nothing is published.
- Sidebar groups and their order. GitBook's hidden pages stay hidden.
- Blocks: hints become callouts, and tabs, steps, cards and code blocks keep their shape.
- Images and files are copied into the guide and count towards its storage.
- Brand: the logo and accent colour, matched with a theme. Change it in Design.
- Old addresses: a GitBook address that changes gets a redirect to its new page, so links people saved keep working. The report's last step says how many.
The redirects from an import aren't listed in Settings › Redirects. Readers get them as soon as you publish, together with any redirects you add in Settings. If both have the same old address, the one in Settings wins.
If the import fails
#The screen says The import stopped and shows the reason. Nothing was published and your GitBook site wasn't changed. Choose Start again to try a new import. See Troubleshooting.