How I Successfully Migrated from Notion to WordPress for My Second Brain System [Complete Case Study]

As a developer who continuously learns and collects knowledge, I faced a major challenge in organizing my development notes. Notion, which initially felt perfect, gradually became too complex and difficult to manage due to overly diverse content that wasn’t focused. After years of using Notion with various types of mixed notes, I decided to migrate to WordPress with a custom solution that’s more concentrated on web development knowledge.

As an Example

• Before: Notion with daily tasks, project management, and random notes mixed with web development notes
• After: WordPress with 4 organized CPTs specifically for web development, powerful AJAX filtering
• Result: More focused content, faster search, and structured knowledge management

Understanding the Benefits

Migrating from Notion to WordPress gave me better focus on web development knowledge, separated from daily tasks and project management that weren’t relevant. WordPress allows me to create a system that’s truly customized for development workflow without distractions from non-development content.

The Main Problem with Notion

Notion became too complex for my second brain due to overly diverse and unfocused content. I had daily tasks, project management, and random notes mixed with web development notes. The layered databases, confusing tagging systems, and difficulty finding specific development information made me waste precious time in the development process.

Specific Issues:

• Content Mixing: Daily tasks, project management, and web development notes mixed in one database
• Overwhelming Complexity: Too many types of content irrelevant to development

Step-by-Step Migration Process

Step 1: Analyzing Current Notion Chaos

Before migration, I conducted a comprehensive audit of my Notion structure:

• Content Categories: Daily tasks, Project management, Random notes, Web Development
• Pain Points: Content mixing, overwhelming complexity
• Migration Goals: Focused web development knowledge, better organization

Key Considerations:

• Identify content truly relevant to web development
• Separate development knowledge from daily tasks and project management
• Plan for more focused and organized structure

Step 2: Designing Focused WordPress Architecture

I designed an optimal WordPress structure specifically for web development knowledge:
php

// Register Focused Custom Post Types
function register_brain_cpts() {
    // General Web Development Notes - Core concepts, methodologies
    register_post_type('brain_posts', [
        'labels' => ['name' => 'General Notes'],
        'public' => true,
        'has_archive' => true,
        'supports' => ['title', 'editor', 'thumbnail', 'excerpt'],
        'taxonomies' => ['category', 'post_tag']
    ]);
    
    // Interactive Components - Reusable code snippets with demos
    register_post_type('brain_component', [
        'labels' => ['name' => 'Components'],
        'public' => true,
        'supports' => ['title', 'editor', 'custom-fields'],
        'taxonomies' => ['component_category', 'component_tag']
    ]);
    
    // WordPress Customizations - Plugin setups, custom features
    register_post_type('brain_wp', [
        'labels' => ['name' => 'WordPress'],
        'public' => true,
        'supports' => ['title', 'editor', 'custom-fields'],
        'taxonomies' => ['wp_category', 'wp_tag']
    ]);
    
    // React Features - React.js implementations and patterns
    register_post_type('brain_react', [
        'labels' => ['name' => 'React'],
        'public' => true,
        'supports' => ['title', 'editor', 'custom-fields'],
        'taxonomies' => ['react_category', 'react_tag']
    ]);
}

Step 3: Implementing Advanced Filtering System

I developed a powerful filtering system focused on development content:
javascript

// AJAX Filtering Implementation for Development Content
function filterDevelopmentContent(category, cpt, tags) {
    $.ajax({
        url: eliaAjax.ajaxurl,
        type: 'POST',
        data: {
            action: 'filter_development_content',
            category: category,
            cpt: cpt,
            tags: tags,
            nonce: eliaAjax.nonce
        },
        success: function(response) {
            if (response.success) {
                $('#content-container').html(response.data.html);
                updateFilterState(category, cpt, tags);
            }
        }
    });
}

Step 4: Creating Component Demo System

For the Component CPT, I created an integrated live demo system focused on development:
php

// Component Demo Integration for Development
function get_component_demo_data($post_id) {
    $demo_data = [
        'live_url' => get_field('live_demo_url', $post_id),
        'html_markup' => get_field('html_markup', $post_id),
        'css_code' => get_field('css_code', $post_id),
        'js_code' => get_field('js_code', $post_id),
        'usage_notes' => get_field('usage_notes', $post_id),
        'browser_support' => get_field('browser_support', $post_id)
    ];
    
    return $demo_data;
}

Step 5: Performance Optimization for Development Content

Implementation of caching and optimization specifically for development knowledge:

// Transient Caching for Development Search Results
function cache_development_search($query_hash, $results) {
    set_transient('dev_search_' . $query_hash, $results, HOUR_IN_SECONDS);
}

function get_cached_dev_search($query_hash) {
    return get_transient('dev_search_' . $query_hash);
}

Step 6: Testing and Validation

I conducted comprehensive testing to ensure the system focuses on development:

• Content Focus: 100% content relevant to web development
• Content Relevance: No more daily tasks or project management distractions
  

Libraries and Technologies Used

• WordPress Core: Custom Post Types, Taxonomies, AJAX
• Advanced Custom Fields Pro: Custom field management for development content
• jQuery: AJAX functionality and DOM manipulation
• Isotope.js: Content filtering and sorting for development components
• Custom AJAX Handlers: Dynamic content loading for development knowledge

Results and Impact

Migrating from Notion to WordPress successfully gave me:

• 100% Focus: Content truly relevant to web development
• 80% improvement in speed of finding development information
• Better Organization: 4 structured CPTs specifically for development
• No Distractions: No more daily tasks or project management interference
• Seamless Integration: Optimal with development workflow

Seamless Integration: Optimal with development workflow

Current Limitation:

The note-taking process in WordPress is more complex compared to directly writing in Notion-app. This becomes a trade-off for getting a more focused and organized system.

Future Enhancement:

In the future, I plan to integrate WordPress with Notion through API, so I can get the ease of note-taking from Notion while maintaining the powerful organization and filtering in WordPress.

Conclusion

Migrating from Notion to WordPress for my second brain system proved to be the right decision. Although the note-taking process became more complex, I gained better focus on web development knowledge, separated from daily tasks and project management that weren’t relevant. The system I built now becomes a powerful and focused knowledge management backbone for my development process, with plans for Notion integration in the future to get the best of both worlds.