How to Import Any CSV, XML, or Excel File into WordPress

The first step to creating a WordPress import is to upload your import file via All Import › New Import. You can choose to upload the file from your computer, paste in a URL to the file, or choose an existing file that you've already used with WP All Import.

Next, choose either New Items or Existing Items. If you are importing data from your file into posts that are already on your site, select Existing Items. Otherwise, select New Items.

Finally, you need to decide what you want to import. You can import Posts, Pages, Taxonomies, Users, or custom post types added by other themes and plugins like WooCommerce Products.

Step 2: Review the Import File

WP All Import will process your file and prepare it for import. If you uploaded a CSV, check that the correct delimiter was used. When you upload an XML file, check that the correct node is selected.

If you only want to import some of the records in your import file, you can add filters under Manage Filtering Options.

Click Continue to Step 3 to carry on with your WordPress import.

Step 3: Map the Incoming Data Elements to the Correct WordPress Fields

Every column or element from your import file will be displayed on the right. On the left, you have your import. WP All Import will create posts using the import template you create here. Simply drag your WordPress import data from right to left. You can fill in as many or as few of the fields as you like depending on your needs.

Step 4: Choose the WordPress Data to Update

Here you can tell WP All Import how to handle each specific piece of data. For example, you can have it only add new images to posts, or just update the stock and price for your products.

You can also configure this import to run on a schedule and other advanced options.

Click Continue at the end to run your WordPress import.

Step 5: Confirm & Run the Import

Now it's time to run your import. You will see an Import Summary section where you can review all import settings and a description of what will happen. To run the import, click on Confirm & Run Import.

Once the import is complete, you'll see an Import Complete! message.

WordPress Import – Advanced Topics

Add Filtering Options to Control WordPress Import

You can import WordPress data granularly using WP All Import with its visual built-in filtering options. This is done in Step 2 when reviewing the WordPress data to import, or in the Edit Template page when modifying an import. Here's what to do:

1. Click on Manage Filtering Options
2. Select the Element to filter from
3. Select what Rule to use
4. Assign a Value to match using the selected rule
5. Click on Add Rule
6. Click on Apply Filters To XPath

You can learn more about filtering here: Filtering with XPath.

Modify Filtering Options on Existing WordPress Import

Modifying the filter for an already existing import is done in the same way that you created the filter:

1. Go to All Import › Manage Imports and locate the import to edit.
2. Click on Edit Template.
3. Under Manage Filtering Options, modify the existing filter.
4. Once you modify or add your new rules, click on Apply Filters To XPath.
5. That's it! You can save the import template, and the new filter will be applied.

Saving or Using a Saved Import Template

WP All Import provides full control over the WordPress import process. This means that there's also a way to save the existing import template and settings to apply to a different/new/future import process. To save an import template, do the following:

1. While in Step 3 (as shown in this guide above), scroll all the way down and click to enable the Save settings as a template option.
2. Input a name as the Template name.

That's it! The template will be saved once you continue to the next step or save/update the template.

To load a saved template, do the following:

1. When in Step 3, scroll all the way down and locate the template section.
2. Select the desired import template from the Load Template drop-down list.
3. Once selected, the page will reload and apply all import mappings and settings.

You can manage saved import templates via All Import › Settings › Import/Export Templates.

Scheduling an Import to Run Automatically

You can schedule your WordPress import using WP All Import and its built-in options. Here's what you can do:

• Use manual cron jobs: these can be configured via your web server and allow total manual control to run the import in a schedule. See Manual Scheduling.
• Use Automatic Scheduling Service: this is an optional and paid service that comes built-in with WP All Import. It allows you to configure automatic imports directly from within its interface. See Automatic Scheduling.

Duplicate an Import Process

While we don't have a dedicated option to do this, the closest thing to duplicating the whole import is to visit the Settings page for the import, then download the Import Bundle from the Configure Advanced Settings section:

You can then upload that bundle in a new import. You will still need to set filtering rules in Step 2 (if you desire to filter records), but the rest of the fields are populated for you.