Connecting an existing (legacy) community

Built a community on the classic ESTAGE platform? Import the project into Genesis and keep it — members, content, and all.

If you already run a community on the classic ESTAGE platform, don't create a new one — you'd be starting from zero. Import the legacy project into Genesis instead: the existing community stays exactly as it is, and Genesis builds around it.

You start the import from your Genesis dashboard, with Import → Legacy Estage.

Before you start

• Sign in to Genesis with the same ESTAGE account that owns the legacy project — a project belonging to another account is rejected.
• Have the Legacy project ID ready: the numeric ID shown in the classic platform's URL when the project is open.
• The imported project counts toward your plan's project limit, so you need a free project slot.

What importing does

Importing creates a Genesis project linked to your existing ESTAGE project — same project identity upstream, same community, same members, same content. Genesis doesn't copy or recreate anything; it adopts what's there.

You get the full Genesis experience on top: the AI builder for the website, publishing, custom domains — while the community keeps running untouched.

How to import

1. On your Genesis dashboard, click Import → Legacy Estage ("Attach an existing Estage project by id"). The modal is "Import Legacy Project (Community, CRM, etc)".
2. Enter the Legacy project ID — the numeric ID of the project (you can see it in the classic platform's URL when the project is open).
3. Under Starter content, keep Blank or pick one of your Genesis projects to copy starter site files from — useful if you've already built a site style you want to begin with.
4. Click Import.

Genesis verifies the project is yours (you must be signed in with the same ESTAGE account), then the imported project appears at the top of your dashboard and opens.

The imported project keeps the same ID as the legacy one — that's what keeps the existing community and CRM attached.

After importing

• Settings → Overview shows the Community card as On with the Open community ↗ link — no "Add community" needed; it found the existing one.
• Build the site with the AI as usual and publish.
• Put the community on your own domain — see Community on your domain — e.g. move it from its legacy address to community.mysite.com.

Things worth knowing

• Don't click "Add community" on an imported project — the community already exists; the module reflects it.
• Members and their content are untouched by the import — nothing to announce, no migration window.
• The legacy front-end site is not migrated. The community, CRM and other hub modules come along; the website is rebuilt in Genesis.
• A project ID that Genesis already tracks can't be imported twice — open it from the dashboard instead.
• Typed the wrong ID? You're no longer stuck with it — the project can be re-bound to the correct ESTAGE project, files, pages, chat history and settings included.