If a demo import fails, in most cases the server does not meet the recommended values. Start with the server requirements and the pre-import checks.
The import is where this shows up because it is the heaviest operation in a site's life. It downloads media, creates hundreds of entries, writes to the database in long runs and generates thumbnails. Anything that is merely a little slow in normal use hits a ceiling here.
The upload size limit needs a separate mention, because it decides whether the demo images can arrive at all. A small limit does not make the import slower. It means some media will not arrive.
Read your theme's own documentation before you troubleshoot anything.
Most failed imports come down to a server limit, a missing PHP extension, or a documented preparation step that was skipped. The theme's documentation lists what has to be in place before you press the button, and this page assumes you have done it. Working through it first is usually faster than reading the rest of this article.
#Use the importer that came with the theme, and nothing else
Our demo packages are built for our importer and are not a standard WordPress export. Only the import module that ships with the theme, or with the free companion plugin, can unpack one.
That rules out the WordPress importer under ToolsImport, one click demo import plugins, and any other general purpose importer. They do not fail loudly. They produce a site that looks roughly right and is missing menus, theme settings, widget assignments and most of the media, and the damage is spread widely enough that starting from a clean install is faster than repairing it.
An import run through a third party plugin is outside what support can help with.
We can answer for the importer we wrote. We cannot answer for what another plugin did to your database, and we are not responsible for the result, as our Support Policy sets out. If a demo was brought in that way, the answer is a clean install and a fresh import, and a ticket will say so.
#If you are unsure about your server
Do not gamble on a full run. Split it in two:
Import content only, without media
A light operation that succeeds almost anywhere and gives you a working site structure.
Add the media afterwards
Run the import again with media selected.
Running the import twice does not duplicate your site.
The importer is built for repeat runs and recognizes what it already created, so a second pass continues from what is there instead of making a second copy of everything.
#Typical failures
- The import stops partway
Almost always a timeout or memory. Raise
max_execution_timeandmemory_limitand run it again. Repeating is safe.- Content arrived, images did not
The upload limit, not enough memory for image processing, or
gdandimagickmissing from the server. Diagnostics shows the last one.- Images are there but have no previews, or are cropped wrongly
The sizes did not finish generating. Regenerate thumbnails, which is a normal thing to do after a large import.
- The site does not look like the demo
Usually the menus and the front page have not been assigned. That is a step after the import, not a failure.
- The import will not start at all
Look at connectivity first. The demo is downloaded from our server, so it needs outbound HTTPS allowed and a working certificate. A premium demo also needs the Pro plugin and an active license; a free demo installs with the free companion plugin and no license.
Servers in Russia and Belarus are blocked at our infrastructure level, permanently.
Demo import, license activation and updates never complete on that hosting, and there is no setting or exception that changes it.
#Before trying again
Switch off caching, including the object cache, for the duration of the import. Managed hosts often have their own cache that also needs to be paused.
Switch off security plugins and firewalls that throttle series of similar requests. To them, an import looks like an attack.
Then reduce the load per pass. The Settings section of the Demo Import screen has an Import behavior card with two fields for exactly this: Batch size, meaning how many items are processed per request, which defaults to 20, and PHP time limit (seconds), which gives each import step more time where the server allows it (0 keeps your server's default). On tight hosting, lowering the batch size to 5 or 10 makes the import take longer and stops it breaking.
The reason this helps: the import runs in steps, not in one request. Content first, then media, then rewriting links, then settings. The step that breaks is almost always media, because it is the heaviest.
The pre-flight check warns about media larger than your upload limit, and those files are skipped.
It reports how many files, the largest size and the limit itself. That is where "the images disappeared" after an apparently successful import comes from, so read it instead of clicking past.
Run Diagnostics before the retry. It shows which limit is short.
#If you still need to open a ticket
Work through this page and the two it links first. Almost every demo import failure we see is the server, the environment, or a documented step that was skipped, which is why these pages go into this much detail.
A ticket describing a problem that one of these articles already answers comes back with a link to the article, because there is nothing else to add. Sending the same question repeatedly after that gets a warning in the support thread. The answer is already written down, and our Support Policy sets out the same rule formally.
When you do write, attach the Diagnostics report and name the step the import stopped at. Those two things are usually enough to answer the ticket in one reply.
#Common questions
Can I run the import a third time?
Yes. Duplicate avoidance does not wear out, so a third or fourth pass behaves the same as the second.
Should I delete the partial import first?
No. Running it again continues from what exists, and deleting everything to start over is more work for the same result.
I already imported with a different plugin. Can it be salvaged?
Sometimes, and it is rarely worth the time. A general purpose importer leaves menus unassigned, theme settings absent and media half downloaded. Tracking down which of the three broke a given page takes longer than a clean install and a proper import. If the site has no real content on it yet, start over.
My host will not raise the limits
Import content without media first, then add media in small passes with a low batch size. If even that fails, the hosting plan is the problem, not the import.
Is a partially imported site safe to use?
Yes. It looks incomplete until the rest arrives, and starting the same demo again picks up where the interrupted run stopped.
It fails at the same step twice
Note which step, because each one points somewhere different. Media stopping is a limits problem, content stopping is usually memory, and not starting at all is connectivity or licensing.
Attach the Diagnostics report to your ticket and say which step it was.
#Still stuck
Open a support ticket and say what you tried and where it stopped. Your product, your domain, a screenshot and the exact message you saw are usually enough to settle it in one reply.
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