Replace a string in all posts

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:bookmark: This guide explains how to replace a string in all posts within a Discourse instance.

:person_raising_hand: Required user level: System Administrator

:warning: Console Access Required

Want to replace a string in all the posts on a site? Let’s get started!

:warning: WARNING: We strongly recommend you take a full backup before proceeding, and make sure your string replacement is specific enough to affect only the places you want it to. If this string replacement goes wrong, every post on your site will look broken!

Access your site

Start by accessing your Discourse instance via SSH and entering the Docker container:

cd /var/discourse
./launcher enter app

Performing string replacements

Basic case-sensitive replacement

To replace a string, use the following command. Replace find with the string to locate and replace with the desired substitution:

rake 'posts:remap[find,replace]'

Example results:

find —> replace
Find —> Find
FIND —> FIND
finders keepers —> replaceers keepers
finding —> replaceing

This method can be useful for tasks such as replacing emojis:

rake 'posts:remap[:slightly_smiling:,:slight_smile:]'

The above command will replace all occurrences of :slightly_smiling: with :slight_smile:.

Case-insensitive replacement

For replacements that ignore case sensitivity use:

rake 'posts:remap[find,replace,string,true]'

Example results:

find —> replace
Find —> replace
FIND —> replace
finders keepers —> replaceers keepers
finding —> replaceing

Regex replacement

For advanced replacements with regex, format the command accordingly:

rake 'posts:remap[(?<!\\w)(?=\\w)find(?<=\\w)(?!\\w),replace,regex]'

Example results:

replace —> replace
Find —> Find
FIND —> FIND
finders keepers —> finders keepers
finding —> finding

Deleting words or strings

To completely remove a word or string, apply these commands:

Basic case-sensitive deletion

rake 'posts:delete_word[word-to-delete]'

Case-insensitive deletion

rake 'posts:delete_word[word-to-delete,string,true]'

Regex deletion

rake 'posts:delete_word[\\[color=#[0-9a-fA-F]{3,6}\\],regex]'

Last edited by @SaraDev 2024-11-14T00:39:05Z

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