One of the most important things to be aware of before using the Design Migrator is the way in which it manages web parts from each page to be migrated and the web part zones in which they are located.
When the Design Migrator runs, it compares the web part zone IDs on each page to be migrated against the web part zone IDs on the selected template page. This is done on a page-by-page basis to determine where each web part should be placed. If the web part zone IDs match, the web parts from that zone on the page to be migrated remain in the same web part zone when the migration is performed.
If the web part zone IDs do not match, the non-matching web part zone from the page to be migrated is not included in the migration; it will not exist on the page when the migration is complete. In addition, one of two things is done to the web parts in that zone, depending on the setting of the Exclude Orphaned Web Parts option on the Scan tab.
• If the Exclude Orphaned Web Parts option is selected, as is the default, any web parts in zones with IDs that do not match a zone ID in the template are removed from the page; these “orphaned” web parts are deleted.
• If the Exclude Orphaned Web Parts option is not selected, any web parts in zones with IDs that do not match a zone ID in the template are placed in the Bottom zone when the migration is complete.
If you migrate a site or page and do not see the results you expected when the migration is complete, it may be due to this treatment of the web parts.
Since many organizations do not keep close track of the names of their web part zone IDs, it cannot be assumed that you know all of the web part zone IDs in all of your sites. To help with this issue, the Design Migrator automatically generates a Zone Report on the Scan tab. The Zone Report compares the web part zones on your template page(s) to the zones on the page(s) to be migrated. Any differences are clearly noted for each page. The report is displayed on the tab, or it can be printed or saved, if you wish.
The simplest course of action to manage any web part zone ID issues is to reference the Zone Report to see where any issues may occur, then decide whether you want to go ahead and migrate those pages, or resolve any web part zone ID differences first. Either way, once you migrate your sites and pages, you can go back and check them to make sure you have the results you expect. If not, you can revert specific pages as necessary, resolve the web part zone IDs, and then re-migrate those pages.
NOTE: The Design Migrator supports connected web parts. This means that if you have an upgraded site with a Workplace View Advanced that is connected to a roll-up or active display, the connection will continue to work correctly after the site is migrated. However, it is important to make sure that the web part zone ID where the connected web parts are located matches the web part zone ID in your template site. If the IDs do not match, the connected web parts may be removed from the page, thereby breaking the connection.