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Is WP All Import not working as expected?

This process will solve pretty much any problem you』re having:

Make sure you are using the latest versions of WordPress, WP All Import and any add-ons and other plugins you have installed. You can get the latest versions of WP All Import and its add-ons in the customer portal.Eliminate other themes and plugins as the potential cause of a conflict. Deactivate all other active WordPress plugins and activate the WordPress default theme.Test out your import on our debugging server. If the import works on our debugging server, but not on yours, you know it』s a problem on your end – most likely with your server settings.Ask your host to check your server』s error log to see if something is stopping WP All Import from working properly. Often, artificial limits on script execution time or MySQL queries prevent WP All Import from finishing imports. Read our guide on terminated imports.

Common Issues

Drag and drop not working? Admin screens look strange? 

First, try clearing your browser cache or using a different web browser. If the problem persists, the issue is usually a theme or plugin conflict. Improperly coded WordPress themes and plugins may load their own JavaScript or CSS files on WP All Import's admin screens, potentially breaking them. See our guide on testing for theme and plugin conflicts: Plugin & Theme Conflicts.

Can』t get from Step 1 to Step 2, Step 2 to Step 3, etc?

Broken PHP session settings will prevent you from being able to move between the different steps of the import process. If you suspect this is the cause, you』ll need to contact your host.

Running in to a Security Check error?

Clear your browser cache or try using a different browser.

Trying to increase import speed?

Read our guide on slow imports.

Import isn』t finishing?

Read our guide on terminated imports.

Concerned your server isn』t properly configured?

If your imports complete successfully, your server is properly configured. If you』re not able to successfully complete an import, it may be that your server is missing necessary components.

We』ve put a lot of effort into getting WP All Import to function on as many different server configurations as possible, and generally speaking, if WordPress works, WP All Import will work.

WP All Import server requirements:

PHP 5.4 or greaterMySQL 5.5 or greatercURLlibxmlSimpleXMLxmlreaderxmlwriterZipArchive

These are all commonly found on servers provided by the vast majority of hosts.

For a list of web hosts that are confirmed to work great with WP All Import, see our recommended hosts page.

File uploads acting weird? Strange caching issues?

Issues with caching can be hard to diagnose. Often they will show themselves if you upload a new import file but WP All Import shows you an older, unrelated import file. There are other symptoms as well, but this is the most common one.

If you』re having a problem with WP All Import and use some form of server side caching, try your import on one of our testing servers. If you aren』t able to reproduce the problem on a testing server, the issue might be related to your caching configuration. We especially see these types of issues with users hosted by WP Engine and Pantheon, or when Varnish tries to cache admin pages.

If you are able to successfully run your import with caching disabled, work with your host to figure out how to configure their caching so that when WP All Import asks for a file or makes a SQL query, the correct result is returned instead of an incorrect, cached result.

Other strange behavior?

Broken WP All Import database tables can stop the import from working correctly.

Try restoring the database tables form a backup, or deleting the WP All Import database tables and reinstalling WP All Import (you will lose all of the data associated with your previous imports).Deactivate and reactivate WP All Import.Test on a fresh WordPress installation with a newly created MySQL database.

XML Files Can Have Any Character Encoding

XML files can be saved with any character encoding. That character encoding should be defined at the top of the XML file, per XML standards on specifying the character encoding of an XML document.

If special characters in your XML file aren』t appearing correctly in the posts created by WP All Import, it means that the encoding specified in your XML file is probably incorrect – maybe your XML file is claiming to be a UTF-8 when it really is a Windows-1252, or similar.

If you're sure that your XML file is valid, it's not using UTF-8 encoding, and WP All Import is still rejecting it, try adding this code snippet inside your child theme's functions.php file (or in a plugin like Code Snippets):

add_filter( 'is_xml_preprocess_enabled', 'wpai_is_xml_preprocess_enabled', 10, 1 );
function wpai_is_xml_preprocess_enabled( $is_enabled ) {
return false;
}

CSV Files Must Be UTF-8 Or UTF-8 Compatible

Since there is no way to specify the character encoding for a CSV file, WP All Import just assumes all uploaded CSV files are UTF-8, which is the standard character encoding for the web.

This works the vast majority of the time, but if you are importing a CSV file with special characters (things like umlauts, non-Latin characters, etc.) and those special characters aren』t appearing correctly in the posts created by WP All Import, try opening your CSV file in a text editor using the correct encoding, and then re-save it using UTF-8.

On a Mac, our favorite way to do this is using Sublime Text 2.

Sometimes an issue can be hard to diagnose because it』s being caused by another plugin or your theme. Follow these steps to test for a plugin or theme conflict:

Deactivate all plugins other than WP All Import, WP All Export, and any WP All Import/Export Add-Ons you are using. If you』re importing data into WooCommerce, ACF, or something similar you should leave that plugin active.Switch to a default, unmodified, WordPress theme. If you』re using an add-on to import into a theme, you can leave the theme active.Run your import/export and check the results. If the problem no longer occurs then we know that one of the deactivated plugins or your theme is the cause of the problem.

If there is a conflict, then slowly begin reactivating your old theme and plugins and running the import/export. When the problem returns, whatever you just activated is the cause of the problem.

If you find that deactivating all other plugins and switching to a default theme does not fix the issue, then there』s no conflict. If this is the case, submit a support request and we』ll help you track down the cause of the problem.

This could be happening for a number of reasons, but the troubleshooting process always started the same:

Contact your host and have them check your server』s error log. They will be able to see exactly why your server is rejecting your import file and they will know exactly how to fix it. There isn』t anything we can do to help until your host has checked the error log and we know exactly what the issue is.

Common Server Configuration Issues

Import files are usually rejected because the file you』re trying to upload exceeds your server』s hard limits on file size. Here are the most common hard limits that users encounter:

Maximum Upload File Size (PHP): This is set in php.ini with upload_max_filesize. It determines the maximum file size that your server will allow to be uploaded. This value must be larger than the size of the file you wish to upload to WP All Import.

Maximum Post Size (PHP): This is set in php.ini with post_max_size. It determines the maximum file size allowed to be used in PHP process. This should be set higher than upload_max_filesize.

Memory Limit (PHP): This is set in php.ini with memory_limit. It determines how much memory a script is able to allocate. This should be set higher than post_max_size.

"There's a problem with your import file."

This error is usually encountered when the import file is not valid. There are a number of common reasons that this may be the case:

No Import File: Open the URL in your web browser. It should either download or display a valid import file. If anything else happens then WP All Import will not be able to import the data.

Changed Import File: If the structure of the import file changes then WP All Import will no longer be able to find the data that it is supposed to import. You can either create a new import with the new file, or you can adjust the XPath setting in Import Settings ▸ Advanced Options, and then reconfigure your import in Manage Imports ▸ Edit Import.

Character Encoding: Sometimes the file in encoded in such a way that it may look valid but it』s really not. Other times, a file will declare that it is encoded in one way but really it』s encoded in a different way. Read more on our guide to character encoding.

Incorrect feed type detected: If you're downloading a feed via URL, and there's no file extension, it's possible that WP All Import will guess the incorrect file type. To fix it, you can add "#/" at the end of the URL, then put a fake file name with the real extension, e.g.: https://example.com/?action=getfeed&results=100#/feed.json

Does Not Pass Validation: There are pretty strict rules that XML, CSV, and JSON files must conform to in order for them to work. You can validate your data and URL using one of the following free online services:

XML: http://codebeautify.org/xmlvalidator

CSV: http://csvlint.io

JSON: http://jsonlint.com

While many hosts work well with WP All Import, if you are looking for a specific recommendation Liquid Web and Nexcess work exceptionally well with WP All Import and we've partnered with them to offer a discount for new users. To take advantage of this discount, use the coupon code WPALLIMPORT35 for 35% off your first 3mo when signing up.

Managed Hosting Plans

Nexcess offers two products that we recommend, one tuned for general purpose WordPress sites, and another specifically tuned for WooCommerce sites. Both plans start at $19/mo and work great with WP All Import.

Nexcess Managed WordPress Hosting

Nexcess Managed WooCommerce Hosting

VPS, Cloud, and Dedicated Servers

If you need more horsepower, flexibility, or control over your hosting environment, then you probably want to go with one of Liquid Web's hosting options. They have a variety of options to choose from, with VPS hosting starting at $39/mo, cloud hosting at $51/mo, and dedicated servers at $140/mo.

Liquid Web VPS Hosting

Liquid Web Cloud Hosting

Liquid Web Dedicated Servers

Which one is best for me?

If you aren't sure, the managed hosting options from Nexcess will probably serve your needs very well. If you have a large site or need more flexibility than a managed hosting plan can offer, then you should get in touch with Liquid Web to discuss their VPS, cloud, and dedicated hosting options.

Managed Hosting vs VPS Hosting

Managed Hosting: The hosting company has many sites from different customers all running on the same server inside the same operating system, competing for the same resources. Think of it like sharing a house with roommates. Everyone shares the same kitchen, living room, and bathroom. If the same person spends four hours a day showering or fills the refrigerator with their groceries, you』re going to have a problem. Like landlords, some shared hosts are better about mitigating these issues, but you are still sharing a bathroom with many other people.

VPS & Cloud Hosting: Sites from different customers are still running on the same server, but on separate operating systems, in virtual computers. Another piece of software called a hypervisor makes sure that each operating system always has the same amount of resources available to it. Think of it like living in an apartment complex. You still have a lot of neighbors technically living in the same building, but no matter how many people are taking a shower at the same time, yours is always available.

Dedicated Hosting: You are renting out an entire server and are not sharing it with anyone. This is overkill for the vast majority of sites, but if you need complete control over your hosting environment, then renting a dedicated server is a good option.

Imports & Server Resources

Imports require a lot of server resources, especially if you are importing a lot of data or have a large database. Hosting review sites cover speed, reliability, and customer service but rarely let you know which hosts will throttle your processing power or limit your SQL queries.

Some hosts will pack many customers into small, underpowered, servers. Sites that consume a lot of resources will eat up all of the available processing power, leaving none for you and your import. Alternatively, some hosts will proactively kill your import process to protect other people』s sites.

We』ve tested a lot of hosts and out of all of them, Liquid Web and Nexcess are the two we』ve had the best experiences with. Both are fast, reliable, have well-reviewed 24/7 customer support, and work great with WP All Import.