Encoding issues after migration usually happen when file encodings, database collations, or application connection settings do not match the expected character set.
Common symptoms
- Special characters display as symbols or question marks
- Only database content is corrupted
- New content saves correctly but old content looks wrong
Troubleshooting steps
- Confirm the application's expected character set, usually UTF-8 or UTF-8 MB4 for modern CMS platforms.
- Review database, tables, and connection settings for mismatched collations or character sets.
- Check whether the issue exists in the source data or was introduced during export and import.
- Ensure templates and HTTP headers declare the correct charset.
- Avoid repeated conversion attempts until you confirm the current data state, since incorrect reconversion can worsen corruption.
Additional notes
- Encoding problems can exist at multiple layers simultaneously.
- Seeing the issue only on imported legacy content often indicates the source export already had mismatched settings.
When to contact support
Contact support if you need help determining whether the corruption occurred during export, import, or rendering.