Converting previously saved pages to other file formats - Lootyhoof/mozarchiver GitHub Wiki

You probably already have some web pages saved among your local files. These pages are often stored as file / folder pairs (like Page.html and Page_files), and you may want to convert them to a web archive format for easier maintenance as a single file.

You may also want to convert saved pages from one web archive format to another, for example from MHTML to MAFF to save disk space, or from MAFF to MHTML to achieve compatibility with Internet Explorer.

Converting single pages

Converting a single page that was previously saved locally is easy. Just open the page in the browser and re-save it in another file format. The MozArchiver extension handles the details of the conversion process, and preserves the information about the original source, if available.

When converting a web page that is not stored in an archive, the following information is preserved:

• The date and time of the original save operation is obtained from the local file's last modification time.
• The original location may be available if the page was saved with Internet Explorer. If the page was saved using Pale Moon/Basilisk or SeaMonkey, the original location is not available, and the local file address will be stored in the archive instead.

When converting a web archive to another archive format, all the information that is supported by the destination file format is preserved.

Converting multiple pages

If you have many saved pages that you want to convert to another file format, you can use the Saved Pages Conversion Wizard. You can start the wizard using the Tools » MozArchiver » Convert Saved Pages menu item. If the MozArchiver sub-menu is hidden, you must first enable it from the interface options.

Important considerations: The wizard allows you to convert all the pages located in one folder, optionally including all its sub-folders. The wizard automates the manual tasks of opening each page and saving them using another file format. When using the conversion wizard, the following information must be considered:

• The wizard operates on multiple files, but the results for each file are equivalent to converting a single page by opening and saving it manually. The information about the original location is preserved, and the faithfulness of the resulting converted pages depends on the destination file formats and the current options.

• If you want to convert from MHTML to another file format, like MAFF, and you have installed the UnMHT extension, you must disable it for the duration of the conversion process.

• The wizard only operates on one page for each file. If you want to convert from a multi-page MAFF archive to another file format, you should extract the archive first, using an ordinary ZIP utility. If you want, you can then convert the resulting complete web pages to MHTML using the conversion wizard.

• If you are converting from a web archive format, ensure you have enough free space in your temporary folder, since the archives are normally extracted to the temporary folder before conversion. If you need to convert many pages and don't have enough free space, you may want to convert only some of them at a time, and restart the browser between each conversion batch.

• In some cases, the automatic conversion of complex web pages may fail. These pages may need manual conversion.

Selecting which files to convert

First select the source and destination file formats. Then select the folder in which the source files are located. You can decide to look in sub-folders of the selected folder, or you can convert only the files that are placed directly inside the selected folder.

The selected source format determines how the wizard will look for source files. The MAFF and MHTML web archive formats are recognized by their extension, respectively .maff and either .mht or .mhtml. Complete web pages are recognized because they have an associated support folder, for example Page.html and Page_files, but also Page (without extension) and Page_files. Web pages saved as single files, without support folders, are recognized by their extension only.

If you are using your browser in a language other than English, the recognition of additional support folder suffixes will be enabled. For example, if you are using your browser in French, a support folder named Page_fichiers is recognized, in addition to the English Page_files.

If you previously saved pages using a browser in a different language than the current one, the support folder names may not be recognized correctly, and you might have to adjust the list of recognized suffixes in the internal configuration settings.

The selected destination format determines how the wizard will assign the output file names. The extension in the source file name, if present, is always replaced with the correct extension for the destination file format. For MHTML, the internal configuration settings determine whether the .mht or .mhtml extension is used.

Then select the destination folder. You may want to place the converted files in a different folder from the original files; that option is particularly useful if you are converting from a read-only source, such as a CD-ROM or a DVD. The original folder structure is always preserved, so that if a source file is located in a sub-folder of the original folder, the converted file will be located in a sub-folder in the destination folder with the same name as the sub-folder in the original folder.

You may also choose to place the converted files in the same folder as the original files. Each converted file will be placed in the same folder as its original, with the same file name but with a different extension. In that case, after conversion you may want to move the originals manually, by selecting a folder that will be used as a bin for the original files that have been successfully converted.

If you are converting from the MAFF file format and use of the "jar:" protocol is enabled in the internal configuration settings, you will not be able to move the source files to another folder, since the browser will lock the files in place until it is closed. If you want to move the source files when converting from MAFF to another format, you should disable the use of the "jar:" protocol for the duration of the conversion process.

The conversion wizard will never delete or overwrite the source files. Since in unusual cases the converted pages may not be entirely faithful to the original, you should always keep a backup of your source files, even after a successful conversion.

Finally, the source folder is scanned to locate the original files. Depending on how many files are present in the source, this operation may require some time. If you are working with large folder trees, you may want to repeat the wizard multiple times, converting one sub-folder at a time.

Before the actual conversion begins, you have the option of fine-tuning your selection. You can also verify that the source files have been identified correctly. In addition to the source file name, support folder name, and sub-folder in the list of files, you may display other columns like the full source, destination, and bin paths.

If for any reason the destination file or support folder is already present, or if a file or support folder is already present in the folder where the source file would be moved after conversion, the source file name will appear in the list, but the selection checkbox will be disabled. This often indicates that the source file was converted successfully during a previous run of the wizard.

Completing the conversion

After you have selected the files to be converted, click the Finish button to start the conversion process. Depending on the number of files, this process may require some time.

You can cancel the conversion at any time by closing the wizard or by using the Back button. Canceling the operation may require some time.

When the operation is finished, you can see the count of how many files have been successfully converted and how many conversions failed. The icon near each file name indicates its current status: not selected, already converted, waiting for conversion, currently converting, conversion failed, or conversion succeeded.

Detailed information about the reasons for conversion failures is available in the Error Console, accessible from the Tools » Error Console menu item.

If you are satisfied with the results, click the Finish button to close the window. You may also use the Back button to retry the conversion process with the same or different settings.