import images once

Hi @peefy,

How can i avoid that existing images are downloaded again? The image link contains the full URL, not only the image filename.

If the images are in the content, you can disable the ‘Scan through post content and import images wrapped in tags’ option in the Images section to keep from downloading them.

If you’re trying to import them in the ‘Images’ section to use as featured images and in the gallery, then WordPress/WooCommerce requires them to be downloaded and saved in the Media Library.

How can i avoid that existing images are duplicated?

You can enable the ‘Search through the Media Library for existing images before importing new images’ and ‘Keep images currently in Media Library’ options in the ‘Images’ section of the import: https://d.pr/i/Af9WGU.

Hi @peefy

Is it mandatory that the images are saved in the media library?

Yes, unless you use a plugin that enables external images for WordPress/WooCommerce. For example: https://wordpress.org/plugins/featured-image-from-url/.

but what is the difference if i import them under /wp-content/uploads/wpallimport/files/ ?

Images in that folder only exist on your server, they’re not valid WordPress images yet. When you upload an image to WordPress, it’s stored in the WordPress uploads folder and other data that WordPress requires is created (an attachment post, attachment metadata, etc).

So I am not sure if i need to select “match image by url” or “match image by filename”? What is the functional difference of these two options?

This controls how WP All Import searches for existing images, based on the data you’re importing. If your images all have unique filenames, you can match by filename. Example:

https://example.com/image1.jpg
https://example.com/image2.jpg
https://example.com/image3.jpg

If your images have unique URLs but non-unique filenames, you need to match by URL. Example:

https://example.com/folder1/image.jpg
https://example.com/folder2/image.jpg
https://example.com/folder3/image.jpg