A demo import is the heaviest thing your site will do. It downloads media, creates hundreds of entries and writes to the database in long runs. Nearly every failed import traces back to one of the checks on this page.
#Back up first
A full backup of the database and the files, before the import, before any settings reset, and before moving settings between sites.
Your host's backup, a backup plugin or a manual database export all work. What matters is that it exists and lives somewhere other than the same server.
There is no undo for a demo import.
The backup is the undo. Nothing in the admin reverses a run, and a partial import leaves content behind that has to be removed by hand.
#Check the server
The server requirements page carries the exact values. In order of how often each one is the culprit:
max_execution_timeat 60 seconds or unlimitedmemory_limitat 128Mupload_max_filesizeandpost_max_sizeat 16M or moremax_input_varsat 3000PHP 8.1 or newer, with
curl,zip,gd,mbstringanddomavailableEnough free disk space for the demo media
Outbound HTTPS requests allowed
The theme's system information screen measures all of these for you, so this is a read rather than a research task.
#Check WordPress
- The theme is installed and activated
Installed alone is not enough. The import runs from the theme dashboard, which only exists once the theme is active.
- Required plugins are in place
A demo that uses an integration needs that integration installed, or the parts depending on it come in empty.
- Caching is off, or you can clear it
Page caches and object caches serve stale data during an import and make a successful run look like a failed one.
- Security plugins are not blocking the REST API
The import talks to your site over the REST API. A plugin that blocks it stops the run at the first step.
- Any previous importer is deactivated
Another demo import plugin left active competes for the same hooks.
#For premium demos
Two more things: the Pro plugin installed, and an active license. Without both, premium demos are visible in the list and cannot be started.
The free route has its own page and does not need either.
#On a site that already has content
On a site with real content, an import leaves you with two identities.
The importer adds its posts, pages and front page next to yours rather than replacing them. If you still want part of a demo, select only the data types you need, and importing pages individually is usually the better tool.
#Common questions
How much disk space do I need?
Enough for the demo's media library, which is the part with real size, since the theme and plugin files are small by comparison.
Do I have to deactivate all my plugins?
Not all of them: turn off caching, security plugins that touch the REST API and any other demo importer, and leave the plugins the demo actually needs in place.
My host says the limits cannot be raised
Then the import will probably not finish and no setting on our side changes that, which makes it a reason to change plan rather than a problem to work around.
Can I run the import on staging first?
Yes, and it is a good idea, since staging uses the free licence slot rather than a paid one and lets you see the result before your visitors do.
A check fails and I cannot fix it myself
Ask your host using the ready made message on the server requirements page, because an import attempted on a server that cannot complete it wastes the attempt and leaves a partial site behind for you to clean up.
#Still stuck
Open a support ticket with the System Info output before you start, and we will tell you whether the run will finish.
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