The import/export ".episerverdata" packages have been around as far as I can remember - and even though they might seem a bit outdated, it's still one of the most common ways to move content around today. But it can be quite a hassle to work with. I recently was inspired to build a tool that will hopefully make life a bit easier when dealing with the packages across versions.
Introducing the Optimizely CMS Package Explorer: Your New Favorite .episerverdata Inspector
Have you ever received an .episerverdata file and thought: "What's actually inside this thing?"
Or perhaps you've tried to peek into an old .episerverpackage only to find yourself tangled in XML and frustration?
Well, now there's a better way.
🎉 Meet the Optimizely CMS Package Explorer
The Optimizely CMS Package Explorer is a new open-source tool for inspecting (and eventually editing) .episerverdata and .episerverpackage files — those ZIP-based archives used to export content from Optimizely (formerly Episerver) CMS.
✅ Explore it on GitHub: github.com/CodeArtDK/CodeArt.Optimizely.PackageExplorer
With this tool, you can upload a package and instantly browse its content types, pages, media, and more in a structured, user-friendly interface built with Blazor and MudBlazor.
A datagrid with sorting, filtering and quick search gives you an easy way to see if all the right content is included in the package.
🏗 Architecture at a Glance
The solution consists of three projects:
CodeArt.Optimizely.PackageExplorer.Core
A core class library that reads.episerverdatafiles and exposes models for content, media, tabs, visitor groups, etc.CodeArt.Optimizely.PackageExplorer.CLI
A console app for quick command-line inspection, testing, and automation.CodeArt.Optimizely.PackageExplorer(Blazor WebAssembly)
A sleek PWA frontend for uploading and visually exploring packages.
If you are concerned about data-safety, don't be. This tool is made as a web assembly, and it's running 100% in your browser - no data is leaving your machine. If you don't believe me, check the source yourself!
Of course each content item can be expanded and you can browse all the properties.
✅ Features Implemented So Far
- Parsing and displaying:
- Content types and property definitions
- Tabs and grouping metadata
- Raw content from
epix.xmlwith resolved type info
- Merging logic for connecting content items to their types
- File upload and PWA-ready Blazor UI
- Visual shell using MudBlazor with tabs, treeviews, and graphs
A treeview makes it easy to navigate the contents in the package.
And if you export content types, you can easily get an overview of what is included in the package.
🔮 What's Coming Next?
This is just the beginning. Here are some of the ideas I'm working on:
- Media: Showing images and other media in the package
- Improved support for showing content
- Editing: Modify package contents before re-packaging
- Comparing: Diff two packages to spot changes
- Exporting: Convert packages to JSON, CSV, Excel
- Migration: Support export/import for other CMS platforms and different formats
Whether you're an Optimizely developer, content architect, or site manager — this tool will make your life easier.
📦 Try it out or contribute at:
👉 github.com/CodeArtDK/CodeArt.Optimizely.PackageExplorer