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Import any XML or CSV File (Free WP All Import Compatibility)

Bring an existing vehicle inventory into Vehica from an XML or CSV file with the free WP All Import plugin: map the title, custom fields, taxonomies and gallery images, then connect Parent > Child terms once the records are in.

3 minute read

If you wish to import listings from your XML or CSV file, you can use the free version of the WP All Import Plugin.

This article shows how it works. Please consider that each XML / CSV file can be a little different.

Upload your file and choose what to import

  1. 1 Install WP All Import

    Install the free WP All Import plugin. You can find it here: https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-all-import/

  2. 2 Open the plugin

    Open All Import in the WordPress admin menu.

    WordPress admin sidebar with an arrow pointing to the All Import entry at the bottom, below MC4WP
  3. 3 Click “Upload a file” WP All Import's Import XML / CSV screen with an arrow pointing to the Upload a file tile, next to Download a file and Use existing file
  4. 4 Select “Listings”

    Select Listings — if you already renamed it in Vehica Panel > Translate & Rename it can be displayed as e.g. “Vehicles” — and click Continue to Step 2.

    Upload complete for test.xml, with New Items selected and Vehicles chosen in the Create new dropdown above the Continue to Step 2 button
  5. 5 Select the elements to import

    Select only the elements you wish to import — usually they are named “car” / “listing” / “vehicle”.

    WP All Import announcing that 14 car elements will be imported, with arrows to the selected car element in the XML tree and to the Continue to Step 3 button

Map your file onto the listing fields

“Drag and drop” variables from the right column onto the field where you wish to import them.

Name and description

Start with the name and the description.

WP All Import's drag and drop screen with model and version values dropped into the Title field and an additional information value in the content editor, next to the XML element list on the right

Custom fields, e.g. price

Copy fields such as Price.

The Custom Fields, Text Fields, Number Fields, Price, Location, Embed panel with an XML value dropped into the price field, and the Year, Mileage, Engine Size and VIN fields below it still empty

Taxonomies

Drag and drop “Taxonomies” such as “Body Type” or “Condition”.

Parent > Child relations come later
Please do not worry about the Parent > Child relation now, e.g. Make (BMW) > Model (X7) — you will activate it at the end.
The Taxonomies, Categories, Tags panel with Body Type expanded, “Set item to just one Body Type” selected and an XML value dropped into its field

Import the gallery images

“Drag and drop” the gallery image URLs.

Firstly, to make it easier, extend the area where you will add the links.

The Gallery (Vehica Field) panel with “Download images hosted elsewhere” selected and an arrow pointing at the resize handle in the bottom-right corner of the image URL box

The original vehicle XML we use has up to 50 images. The best option is to import only the “full images”, because thumbnails are created automatically during the import. Usually the image paths look similar to the screen below (the numbers 1-50 in the URLs refer to the first, second, third… 50th image in the gallery).

The enlarged image URL box filled with a long list of gallery image placeholders dragged from the XML element list on the right

You can find more information about importing images here:

Run the import

  1. 1 Continue to Step 4 An arrow pointing to the blue Continue to Step 4 button, next to Back to Step 2
  2. 2 Click “Auto-detect” Step 4 of WP All Import with a model and version value in the Unique Identifier field and an arrow pointing to the Auto-detect button
  3. 3 Process one record per iteration

    Please make sure the “In each iteration, process 1 record” option is selected.

    Configure Advanced Settings with an arrow pointing to Import Speed Optimisation, where each iteration processes 1 record
  4. 4 Click “Continue” An arrow pointing to the blue Continue button at the bottom of Configure Advanced Settings
  5. 5 Click “Continue & Run Import” The “Your file is all set up!” confirmation screen with the import summary and an arrow pointing to the green Confirm & Run Import button
  6. 6 Wait The Import in Progress screen with the bar at 72 percent, 11 of 14 records processed after four minutes
  7. 7 Done The Import Complete screen confirming that all 14 records from test.xml were processed and 14 new records created

Connect Parent > Child relations

If you have some Parent > Child relation, e.g. Make (BMW) > Model (X7), please click the Connect button in Vehica Panel > Advanced. It is described in more detail in Connect Terms (Parent/Child).

Vehica Panel > Advanced with arrows leading from the Advanced tab to the Connect button in the Connect Terms (Parent/Child) section

Visit your inventory page to check if the import was done correctly.

If the import does not finish

If there is any problem, it is probably related to the fact that the server is stopping the import process. Please check this article to fix it: https://www.wpallimport.com/documentation/troubleshooting/terminated-imports/

Images not importing?
If your images are not importing as expected, the cause is almost always that the URLs you specified don’t actually point to valid images.

Keep reading

Parent Field – how to build relation Make > Model e.g. BMW > M4 Bulk Add Terms (Makes, Models, Cities etc)

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