Troubleshooting Guide

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, WP All Export, 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 the problem is 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 into 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.

Function Editor or Functions File Blank After a While?

If you're using WP Engine, they do not allow PHP code to be executed from the /wp-content/uploads/ folder, meaning that your Function Editor will be blanked out after a while. You can solve this by saving code in your theme's child functions.php file.

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 the 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 greater
MySQL 5.5 or greater
cURL
libxml
SimpleXML
xmlreader
xmlwriter
ZipArchive

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 from 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.