WordPress.org

31. Scoop0901
    Member
    Posted 5 years ago #

    I have the same problem -- that I go to http://www.DomainNameHere.com/wp-admin/admin.php?import=wordpress, select the 5.35meg XML file to import to WP2.12. This is an xml file I exported from WordPress 2.1.2.

    After 45 seconds of working on the import, everything on the page, below "Import WordPress", disappears and there is no option to map fields or such, as others have told me **should** appear once the file is successfully imported.

    I've tried entirely **new** installs of WP2.1.2 each time I tried importing the file. I've created new MySQL databases to try the import. The wp-content and wp-content/uploads/ directories were manually chmod'd to 777. During install, they were automatically set to 755. Perhaps, if they need to be at 777, that's something that ought be looked at for future releases.

    Since March 12, when I exported the file, I've had **no** luck at getting the file to import, even after stopping in #wordpress to see if anyone had ideas.

    The issue is also discussed at http://wordpress.org/support/topic/97032, but it still is not resolved. Has ANYONE figured out how to fix the WordPress-to-WordPress import?

    The old database is gone, and this is not a test.

    When I attempt to do the import -- which doesn't import to the MySQL database -- as others have mentioned, the xml file does show up in the "uploads" tab in the WP's admin area -- renamed so that the extention (*.xml) is no longer an extension, rather a part of the name, such as FileNamexml.

    The problem remains: WP2.12 just isn't doing with the imported file what it should be doing, according to the documentation.

32. Krissy
    Member
    Posted 5 years ago #

    I'm having the same problems as you Scoop.

    I set the entire domain to read with 777 (which I know is REALLY bad for the server at the moment) then I have the WordPress-to-Wordpress plugin installed. It should just be a quick import and go...what could we possibly be doing wrong considering both wordpress.com and my self-hosted WordPress installation are based on almost the exact same script??

33. Scoop0901
    Member
    Posted 5 years ago #

    No idea, Krissy. I've talked with about 20 other people on various forums over the past three weeks who are having identical issues, so it doesn't seem to be us, but rather something in the export of WP -- or something in WP's import of exported WP content.

    I have gone to all sorts of lengths, including creating a NEW database for each install I attempted, just in case anything at all happened to the database during the attempt. I've downloaded a fresh package from the WordPress.org site many times, ensuring there wasn't an issue with any of the files I uploaded to the server. I've uploaded a fresh install of WP each time I attempted the import, and still the results are the same.

    Last night I tried five different times -- with five new databases and five fresh uploads and configurations of WordPress 2.12 -- to import the file. Each time I went in, configured the Options the same way they were configured on the original installation.

    The thing I am beginning to wonder about is if plugins that were installed at the time of the export may be playing an issue in this. That would be the only thing different right now on the server. I had plugins on the old installations that do not exist in the current installation. Other than that, everything is identical. The problem with that is I will never be able to figure out what was (or was not) installed at the time of export.

34. scheurbert
    Member
    Posted 5 years ago #

    I had a problem where it would display some pages with children, but with others wouldn't display the children, or even the parent page. I figured out a solution to it, however. For tech specs, I was using WordPress 2.1.0 on one server and importing to WordPress 2.1.3 on another server.

    The problem I found was that the post ID *after* a root parent post (as in, one post that has children and no parent), that was also set as the root parent's child, would stuff up showing any children for that root parent. For some reason that bung entry's parent would be set the parent id of its own ID number, i.e. if its ID is 21, the post_parent would be set to 21, therefore mucking up the display in the Dashboard. All the posts/pages are in the SQL db, just with some mung data in the post_parent fields.

    In MySQL I ran the query:

    UPDATE wp_posts SET post_parent = 0 WHERE post_parent = ID

    That reset the mung posts' parent value to 0 -- no parent. Looking in the Manage > Pages it displayed all the pages but each one under a root parent post, it was reset to 0, but the following children under that particular root parent were still present and accounted for.

    I'm not so good at explaining it but I hope some people garner some kind of assistance from my post.

    It would seem that it was a problem in the exporting of the 2.1.0. Whether the bug is still there or not in the newer edition, and why it occurs (because there were pages with children that imported fine), I do not know.

35. scheurbert
    Member
    Posted 5 years ago #

    Actually, I wasn't quite thorough with my evaluation of events. Seems the initial children's post_parent of the root parent were set to the first child's ID. Reading that sentence makes even my mind boggle so I will try to do an example.

    For example, post 20 is a parent. It has three children: 21, 22 and 23. After importing the XML into WordPress, post 21, 22 and 23's post_parent have been set to 21 (the first child of 20).

36. demoment
    Member
    Posted 5 years ago #

    Hi,
    I experience the same problem too. both my wordpress and own domain wordpress has the same version. export of the XML file to my computer is fine but when it comes to the import into my own domain blog, this message came out:

    Unable to create directory /home/demoment/public_html/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/04. Is its parent directory writable by the server?

    does that mean i need to check with my host company ?
    thanks a lot.

    chinnee

37. demoment
    Member
    Posted 5 years ago #

    Hi,
    I experience the same problem too. both my wordpress and own domain wordpress has the same version. export of the XML file to my computer is fine but when it comes to the import into my own domain blog, this message came out:

    Unable to create directory /home/demoment/public_html/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/04. Is its parent directory writable by the server?

    does that mean i need to check with my host company ?
    thanks a lot.

    chinnee

38. MichaelH
    Volunteer
    Posted 5 years ago #

    No, you just need to change the permissions to the folder. Likely you need to change wp-content and uploads to 777.

    See: Changing_File_Permissions

39. bdayne
    Member
    Posted 5 years ago #

    Same problem here. I've got a new install on subdirectory of a remote server, and I'm trying to import content from an existing blog on the root. I exported from the root install, saved, imported the file, and nothing happened. Not even an error message.

    I then installed the plugin obtained here: http://technosailor.com/wordpress-to-wordpress-import-v20-released/
    and tried the process again. Nothing. It looks like the import process is happening, but when it's done, there's nothing on the import page.

    I then changed the permissions mentioned above, and ran the import again, and still nothing. If there's a fix to this that would be great, but even a workaround would be helpful.

40. Scoop0901
    Member
    Posted 5 years ago #

    MichaelH:
    The permissions on both those directories you pointed out in your reply have been set to 777 since this issue began. That was one of the first things I checked.

41. ramblingmoo
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #

    I am having the same problem as demoment and bdayne. I exported from my WordPress.com blog to my hosted blog but nothing shows... the entire file was empty. This is so weird as when I exported to my PC it read 3.6MB but when I imported to my host there was nothing.

    I wrote to the support over at WordPress.com and they suggested I use Firefox. However, I can't have firefox on my machine as it conflict with some of my stuff.

    Can anyone explain what is the problem??? Seems like this problem is still very much unsolved....

42. ccoupe
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #

    If your version of wordpress is near current (one that can import wordpress, don't add that extra plugin.

    The reasons for failure are often one of these:
    File size limit on new blog
    Incorrect permissions on the wp-upload directory
    Memory size limit on new blog
    Wrong versions of php or mysql
    Incorrectly configured php

    Each of these have been answered many many times and they are not WordPress bugs. See the instructions for installing wordpress for the system requirements Some of those error give you feedback, some don't.

    If your PC has a 3.6MB file, then the export probably works. Look at it, it's just a text file. If it has the first post you made at the beginning and the last post at the end, then it's probably something wrong with you new host set up.

    There are other problems that could happen but you haven't told us enough to guess which of them might apply, if any.

43. LanceVance
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #

    Ok, i have a problem too. I have exported my posts from lancevance.wordpress.com to http://www.lancevance.org but now the authours of their comments aren't showed. But if i write a comment from there, author is shown, so i assume problem is in XML file? Oh, btw, if i look in the source code i see that the authour's name is commented; like that: <!--[CDATA[authors_name]]-->

44. Scoop0901
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #

    @ ramblingmoo and others having the problem:
    Yes, this is a serious problem. For some reason, many on this forum dismiss everything as "you're doing something wrong" and forget about it. Some go so far in dismissing everything, saying things such as, "Read the instructions." D'oh.

    Yes, it is an issue. the easiest -- and faster resolution I can suggest is for you to go through the actual exported file you have, strip out all the garbage WP puts in it during the export, keep the keywords, categories, original posting date, and the post/page content, and repost it using a local editor, such as Windows Live Writer, Dreamweaver, Nvu, BlogDesk, w.Bloggar (seems it is no longer being maintained, has a few issues on WinXP, is not compatible with WinVista), or similar products. That way, in case you have the issue ever again, you will have a local copy that you can simply open in the editor, upload, and voila!, the entire site is restored. Sure, it will take awhile, but don't rely on the WP export file. It seems it is still a beta -- despite what some say while beating their drums. Too many have had issues for it to be a "your problem" issue.

    I have about 60 percent of my site reposted. All of it could probably have been posted, but I've been busy with other things. Just be sure to keep a good backup of all content from your server, something I have WS_FTP download daily. That way you have the complete directory structure, as well as all files you attach, embed, or insert into posts or pages, with the structure already set for you.

45. Scoop0901
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #

    @ LanceVance:
    Simply strip out all that is not valid HTML/xHTML markup. There will be a lot of garbage to strip out that WP puts in the file. For its own use, it may be helpful. For your use, in reposting the content manually, either through the WP editor or by using a blog editor, such as Windows Live Writer, Dreamweaver, Nvu, BlogDesk, w.Bloggar (seems it is no longer being maintained, has a few issues on WinXP, is not compatible with WinVista), or similar products.

    After you strip out all the garbage -- basically, all you want to keep for each post or page is:

    1. post date and time
    2. post title
    3. post author (unless you are the only author)
    4. post content (with all coding)
    5. post tags
    6. post categories

    I think that's all you need, but after you strip out one of two, you will get the general format. It's easier to do after that. You will kick a 3.4meg file, for example, down to something around 80k or so. Most of the [CData |-->] stuff you are seeing is inflating the file. Had it imported correctly, it would have repopulated the database, which, obviously, you know. Since it didn't, all that stuff is now garbage.

    I can't emphasize -- and yes, I learned the hard way, and will no longer trust a WP backup, or even the other backups I make from inside WP -- as the sole backup protection. I use a local editor to post the actual posts or pages, which gives me a local copy of the actual file. That way, should anything ever happen on the server, I can create a new database, and in a few hours, at most, have all the old posts uploaded and no one will no anything happened.

46. ccoupe
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #

    Thats a lot of work to hand edit. It would be faster and a easier to fix the bug in the importer. Even easier, file bugreports and someone else will fix it. If the exporter from WP.com is putting in CDDATA sections and wp.org isn't expecting it, it's a bug. One of serveral I've seen.

    That won't fix php configuration limits at the new server though.

    Also, It's not html or xhtml, its XML (just not very good XML).

47. ccoupe
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #

    If someone is feeling lucky, here is a possible fix for the comment author CDATA problem.

    WARNING. I have not tested this. It won't fix a db with bad authors, just the import.

    At line 334 of wp-admin/import/wordpress.php add one line so that it looks like this

    $comment_author = $this->get_tag( $comment, 'wp:comment_author');
    $comment_author = str_replace(array ('<![CDATA[', ']]>'), '', $comment_author);

48. microkid
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #

    This might have to do with the import tool tripping over weird M$ Word characters, but I found out that increasing the PHP memory_limit solved this for me. Even though I didn't get an error, but just the page with the bottom half blank like several replies here describe, I tried it anyway.

    Add

    ini_set("memory_limit","24M");

    all the way at the top of

    /wp-admin/import/wordpress.php

    Right after <?php of course.

49. Root
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #

    I will just add my 2 cents based on my experience in some commercial contracts. The export / import from com/org is definitely borked. And (2) All this CDATA stuff is a mess.

50. chfriley
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #

    When I export an XML file from WP 2.2.1, and then go to import the categories are not handled properly.

    I believe the (one? - at least from what I can see, that is all) problem is that RSS is exported from WP 2.2.1 like this:

    ...
    <category><![CDATA[books]]></category>
    ...

    CDATA is also in other areas, obviously, but it is not handled exactly right as far as I can tell at least in category import:

    The relevant section of the import function looks like this:
    preg_match_all('|<category>(.*?)</category>|is', $post, $categories);

    which is fine for selecting the category section.

    The problem is regarding what happens next. When the import function hits a line like the one above:
    <category><![CDATA[books]]></category>

    It grabs all this <![CDATA[books]]>, but it doesn't strip out the markup so when it goes to check a match and insert it things don't work right.

    In the rss.php file, in the
    foreach ($categories as $category) { section, if you add the following line

    $category = str_replace(array('<![CDATA[', ']]>'), '', $wpdb->escape( trim($category) ));

    at the start of the loop, then the CDATA is stripped out of the section.

51. foxmulder87
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #

    Has someone found a solution for the problem? It is really really annoying!

52. pad
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #

    I have the same problem, it stops at about 140 posts when I have well over 2000!

53. commanderother
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #

    okay, i've read through all this, and the other support site referenced on the first page, and i'm still lost. i did an successful export from hosted wordpress, and the import via my new wordpress server seemed to go fine. however, none of the files exist. the database got updated fine, and the images were all uploaded, but clicking on any single post, archive, or category 404's. i'm not running the wordpress-to-wordpress plugin because the server versions don't seem to need it, as someone else already noted.

    if interested, compare the wordpress.com otherwhirled to otherwhirled.com ~ it looks like it's all there, but it isn't. looking via ftp, the files just don't exist, and permissions to the normal install folders appear to be adequate.

    your assistance is much appreciated.

54. Chris_K
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #

    The files won't exist -- they're in a database. You're not going to see your posts in a directory.

    Secondly, it sounds more like your problem is related to Permalinks. Check that link for more information and troubleshooting tips.

55. KerimFriedman
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #

    I'm having the same problem here. You can look at my RSS export file here:

    http://www.box.net/shared/r5q7ivrfve

    Textdrive wants us to migrate to their new Joyent servers, but since I have so much other crud in my MySQL database I need to move my homepage entries via WordPress export/import.

    I uprgraded my current install to 2.3 and installed a fresh copy of 2.3 on the new servers, but I'm getting 500 errors every time I try to import this file.

    Interestingly, it worked fine with another wordpress install I migrated, but not this one. No idea what could be causing the problem.

56. KerimFriedman
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #

    @chfriley Could you explain some more. Do you add this to the import file or to the export file? Did it solve the problem for you?

57. KerimFriedman
    Member
    Posted 4 years ago #

    I tried installing a clean install of WP on my laptop and running the import locally to see what happened. The result was that HTTP crashed. The Crash logs indicate that the following thread crashed: libphp4.so

    It seems to me that I've stumbled upon some kind of serious WP bug. Not sure how to go about reporting this to the WP folks.

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