How to update your imports with the importer add-on

Sometimes you need to update your import script or you want to customise a part of content area of your import. When the importer add on is enabled it will skip your previously imported entries and you will not see the new edited content or additional fields you have added to your import template.

Images take time to import and following these steps should help you quickly update your imports especially with large imports, follow this guide to update your imports and save yourself from re-importing images.

What you need to do is deactivate the importer add on, however its important to follow the correct procedure especially if you have already configured your cron jobs to automatically import on a regular schedule.

Step 1 : Update all your imports

Run your imports from Dashboard > All Import > Run Import for each of the import jobs you are going to modify. This is the most important step. 

Step 2 : Disable your WP All Import cron jobs

In WP All Import Settings there is a spot for a secret key, this is the easiest way to deactivate all your cron jobs from a single spot, just modify your secret key and add DISABLED- to it which you can later remove. No need to log into the server and edit all your cron jobs, whew.

Step 3 : Disable the advanced record skipping

Next you need to disable the WP All Import Add-On for EPL from Dashboard > Easy Property Listings > Extensions > WP All Import Add-On

NOTE: Once the Importer Add On extension is set to Disabled, WP All Import will operate as normal.

Step 4 : Make your change to your import template

Make the changes to your import template as required

Step 5: Incremental Importing Days Back

When using incremental importing your FeedSync source user will have &days_back=7 or some value. You will need to change this to say 9999 so that all records will be processed and updated. Once yo

Step 6: Select what you want to update and untick images

Images take time to import and with the importer add-on disabled ensure you disable image updating so you can quickly update the information you want to update. 

Now that WP All Import is operating at default you can adjust what you want to update. We recommend disabling Images and Attachements. Even leaving all other settings ticked, your import will process them very quickly.

Modify your import jobs Import Settings and  Choose which data to update unselecting Images and Attachments to speed up your imports.

Step 7: Run your import updates and check that your new info is imported

Now you can check that your previously imported listings are now updated with your new info.

Step 8: Incremental Importing Revert the Days Back

You can now revert your &days_back=9999 back to 7

Step 9: Revert your changes and remove DISABLED- from your secret key

Once you are happy with your updates, set your import to Update All Data and set the WP All Import Add-On Extension to Enabled. Manually run your import and make sure everything is working correctly. If all is good, remove the DISABLED- from your secret key.

NOTE : Make your changes and revert to automated quickly 

When modifying scripts and disabling cron jobs, its important to make it quick because listings from your feed may be updated by real estate agents while you are making changes to it. Act quick.

If you end up with a few listings missing data or images, they can quickly be restored.  The easiest way to correct these is to delete them from WordPress and remove them from the trash. On the next import manually or via cron they will be imported with all the details.