Advanced Import: One-Click Demo Import for WordPress

Description

Import Data or Demo Content which is exported by Advanced Export

Advanced Import is the ultimate solution for WordPress theme and plugin developers who want to provide a seamless demo import experience for their users. With a simple one-click interface, it allows users to import demo content, widgets, customizer settings, and even Gutenberg block data effortlessly.

Key Features

  • One-Click Demo Import: Easily import all demo content with a single click.
  • Customizer Settings Import: Retain your theme’s look and feel by importing customizer settings.
  • Widget Data Import: Quickly set up widgets to match your demo layout.
  • Gutenberg Blocks Import: Import block-based content for modern themes.
  • Media Files Import: Seamlessly upload and integrate demo media.
  • Developer-Friendly Hooks: Extend or customize the import process with available actions and filters.

Why Use Advanced Import?

Whether you’re a theme developer offering demo content or a user setting up a site, Advanced Import makes the process hassle-free. It saves time, reduces manual setup effort, and ensures consistency between demo and live sites.

Features for Theme Author

  • Code/Plugin example available
  • Support for the premium version or premium plugin of the free theme
  • Install separate dependent plugin/s for each demo starter package of the theme
  • Categorized available demo import starter package to type and categories
  • Search filter keywords for demo starter packages
  • Sufficient hooks to customize the plugin design and functionality
  • Add demo URL
  • Add pro URL
  • Better experience for the user

Dashboard Location

Theme Demo Import Screen

Dashboard -> Appearance -> Demo Import

Zip File Import Screen

Dashboard -> Tool -> Advanced Import

Screenshots

  • Import Main Screen
  • Import Start Popup Message
  • Import Complete Popup Message
  • Import Via File
  • The frontend of CosmosWP after Import
  • The frontend of Opus Blog after Import

Installation

There are two ways to install any Advanced Import Plugin:-
1. Upload zip file from Dashboard->Plugin->Add New «upload plugin».
2. Extract Advanced Import and place it in the «/wp-content/plugins/» directory.
– Activate the plugin through the «Plugins» menu in WordPress.

FAQ

Is Advanced Import a free plugin?

Yes, it is a free plugin.

Why my demo zip file is not importing?

Please make sure it is exported using the Advanced Export plugin

I have activated the plugin. Where is the «Demo Import»?

Login to your WordPress dashboard, go to Appearance -> Demo Import.
You can also find Import zip options on the WordPress dashboard -> Tools -> Advanced Import.

Do I need to check to include media while Export?

If you are providing starter content- NO, but if you are migrating site – Yes. As long as the exported site is live on the internet it is not necessary but if you are migrating the site from local to live you should check it.
Technically, if you check to include media, the zip files content media files. Huge media files may cause other issues. Generally not recommended to check but you can check media as your requirements.

I am a theme author, how can I use this plugin for my theme?

First of all, you need to Export your theme demo data from your live demo site using Advanced Export plugin.
Export the zip file, it should contain 3 files content.json, options.json and widgets.json.
If you are submitting a theme on WordPress dot org, you are not allowed to include Demo files ( XML, JSON, ZIP), You have to create a separate plugin for your theme/company. We would like to highly recommend creating a single plugin for your all themes. For other platforms, you may add code to your theme.
Code Example :

function prefix_demo_import_lists(){
   $demo_lists = array(
      'demo1' =>array(
         'title' => __( 'Title 1', 'text-domain' ),/*Title*/
         'is_pro' => false,/*Is Premium*/
         'type' => 'gutentor',/*Optional eg gutentor, elementor or other page builders or type*/
         'author' => __( 'Gutentor', 'text-domain' ),/*Author Name*/
         'keywords' => array( 'medical', 'multipurpose' ),/*Search keyword*/
         'categories' => array( 'medical','multipurpose' ),/*Categories*/
            'template_url' => array(
                'content' => 'full-url-path/content.json',/*Full URL Path to content.json*/
                'options' => 'full-url-path/master/options.json',/*Full URL Path to options.json*/
                'widgets' => 'full-url-path/widgets.json'/*Full URL Path to widgets.json*/
            ),
         'screenshot_url' => 'full-url-path/screenshot.png?ver=1.6',/*Full URL Path to demo screenshot image*/
         'demo_url' => 'https://www.demo.cosmoswp.com/',/*Full URL Path to Live Demo*/
         /* Recommended plugin for this demo */
         'plugins' => array(
            array(
               'name'      => __( 'Gutentor', 'text-domain' ),
               'slug'      => 'gutentor',
            ),
             array(
                'name'      => __( 'your plugin name', 'text-domain' ),
                'slug'      => 'plugin-slug',
                'source'      => 'https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/advanced-import.1.4.1.zip', //full url with zip, your theme url, or any site link with zip will work
            ),
         )
      ),
        'demo2' =>array(
            'title' => __( 'Title 2', 'text-domain' ),/*Title*/
            'is_pro' => false,/*Is Premium*/
            'type' => 'gutentor',/*Optional eg gutentor, elementor or other page builders or type*/
            'author' => __( 'Gutentor', 'text-domain' ),/*Author Name*/
            'keywords' => array( 'about-block', 'about 3' ),/*Search keyword*/
            'categories' => array( 'contact','multipurpose','woocommerce' ),/*Categories*/
            'template_url' => array(
                'content' => 'full-url-path/content.json',/*Full URL Path to content.json*/
                'options' => 'full-url-path/master/options.json',/*Full URL Path to options.json*/
                'widgets' => 'full-url-path/widgets.json'/*Full URL Path to widgets.json*/
            ),
            'screenshot_url' => 'full-url-path/screenshot.png?ver=1.6',/*Full URL Path to demo screenshot image*/
            'demo_url' => 'https://www.demo.cosmoswp.com/',/*Full URL Path to Live Demo*/
            /* Recommended plugin for this demo */
            'plugins' => array(
                array(
                    'name'      => __( 'Gutentor', 'text-domain' ),
                    'slug'      => 'gutentor',
                ),
                array(
                    'name'      => __( 'Contact Form 7', 'text-domain' ),
                    'slug'      => 'contact-form-7',
                    'main_file' => 'wp-contact-form-7.php',/*the main plugin file of contact form 7 is different from plugin slug */
                ),
            )
        ),
        'demo3' =>array(
            'title' => __( 'Title 1', 'text-domain' ),/*Title*/
            'is_pro' => true,/*Is Premium : Support Premium Version*/
            'pro_url' => 'https://www.cosmoswp.com/pricing/',/*Premium version/Pricing Url*/
            'type' => 'gutentor',/*Optional eg gutentor, elementor or other page builders or type*/
            'author' => __( 'Gutentor', 'text-domain' ),/*Author Name*/
            'keywords' => array( 'woocommerce', 'shop' ),/*Search keyword*/
            'categories' => array( 'woocommerce','multipurpose' ),/*Categories*/
            'template_url' => array(/* Optional for premium theme, you can add your own logic by hook*/
                'content' => 'full-url-path/content.json',/*Full URL Path to content.json*/
                'options' => 'full-url-path/master/options.json',/*Full URL Path to options.json*/
                'widgets' => 'full-url-path/widgets.json'/*Full URL Path to widgets.json*/
            ),
            'screenshot_url' => 'full-url-path/screenshot.png?ver=1.6',/*Full URL Path to demo screenshot image*/
            'demo_url' => 'https://www.demo.cosmoswp.com/',/*Full URL Path to Live Demo*/
            /* Recommended plugin for this demo */
            'plugins' => array(
                array(
                    'name'      => __( 'Gutentor', 'text-domain' ),
                    'slug'      => 'gutentor',
                ),
            )
        ),
        /*and so on ............................*/
   );
   return $demo_lists;
}
add_filter('advanced_import_demo_lists','prefix_demo_import_lists');

Do I need to assign «Front page», «Posts page» and «Menu Locations» after the importer is done or do they automatically assign?

You don’t need to assign them manually, they will be automatically assigned. The theme author also doesn’t have to write additional code for it.

I am a theme author and I would like to customize it for my theme, Can you list hooks available on theme Advanced Import plugin?

Here is an important list of filter hooks:

  • advanced_import_is_template_available
  • advanced_import_template_import_button
  • advanced_import_welcome_message
  • advanced_import_demo_lists
  • advanced_import_is_pro_active
  • advanced_import_post_data
  • advanced_import_replace_post_ids
  • advanced_import_replace_term_ids
  • advanced_import_new_options
  • advanced_import_sidebars_widgets
  • advanced_import_complete_message
  • advanced_import_update_option_[‘option-name’]
  • advanced_import_update_value_[‘option-name’]
  • advanced_import_menu_hook_suffix
  • advanced_import_replace_content_string

Here is an important list of action hooks:

  • advanced_import_before_demo_import_screen
  • advanced_import_after_demo_import_screen
  • advanced_import_before_plugin_screen
  • advanced_import_after_plugin_screen
  • advanced_import_before_content_screen
  • advanced_import_after_content_screen
  • advanced_import_before_complete_screen
  • advanced_import_after_complete_screen

I would like to develop a companion/starter sites/toolset plugin for my theme/company, Do you have any starter plugins?

We don’t have any starter plugin but we have developed a plugins for Acme Themes. The plugin name is Acme Demo Setup, you can download and view the code of the plugin and develop one for yourself.

Are there any themes using these plugins?

Yes, many themes are using this plugin, for example, you can look on CosmosWP Theme

Reviews

22 de junio de 2020 1 reply
We used this plugin as a parent plugin for our theme importer plugin and this works great with it. We tried with our elementor based theme as well and it worked as we wanted.
4 de mayo de 2020
As a theme developer, I am using this plugin, it is a fantastic plugin, it makes the theme more user friendly and the user can easily import demo content. The most important point for me is it supports the premium version of the theme too. Thanks for developing a very useful plugin for developers.
Read all 6 reviews

Contributors & Developers

“Advanced Import: One-Click Demo Import for WordPress” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.

Contributors

“Advanced Import: One-Click Demo Import for WordPress” has been translated into 5 locales. Thank you to the translators for their contributions.

Translate “Advanced Import: One-Click Demo Import for WordPress” into your language.

Interested in development?

Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.

Changelog

1.4.5 – 2025-01-14

  • Added: Introduced support for Blocks Navigation feature.
  • Added: Implemented a new filter hook advanced_import_replace_content_string.
  • Updated: Enhanced plugin tagline title for clearer comprehension.

1.4.4 – 2024-11-12

  • Added: Tested with the latest WordPress
  • Added: Inbuilt support for PatternsWP themes

1.4.3 – 2024-08-24

  • Added: Plugin link to Import.

1.4.2 – 2024-08-16

  • Added: Developers can now enable plugin installation from a URL by including theme source in the demo list array. This is ideal for plugins hosted outside of WordPress.org. Important: If a recommended plugin is already available on WordPress.org, there’s no need to use the «source» option.

        'plugins' => array(
            array(
                'name'      => __( 'your plugin name', 'text-domain' ),
                'slug'      => 'plugin-slug',
                'source'      => 'https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/advanced-import.1.4.1.zip', //full url with zip, your theme url, or any site link with zip will work
            ),
    

             )

1.4.1 – 2024-04-07

  • Updated : Test with WordPress latest version

1.4.0 – 2023-04-06

  • Added: New hook advanced_import_force_proceed
  • Updated : Tested up WordPress 6.2
  • Fixed : isJson

1.3.9 – 2022-11-23

  • Added : Missing check_admin_referer in one place
  • Updated: Uses proper sanitization and escaping functions in some places

1.3.8 – 2022-11-11

  • Updated : Tested up WordPress 6.1
  • Fixed : Minor changes

1.3.7 – 2022-05-26

  • Added : Cron job
  • Updated : Tested up WordPress 6
  • Fixed : Elementor imports in some cases

1.3.6 – 2022-04-27

  • Updated : Reset plugin via ajax
  • Updated : Elementor imports in some cases

1.3.5 – 2022-02-04

  • Added : Plugin Errors Details
  • Updated : Latest version test
  • Fixed : Reset errors with some plugins

1.3.4 – 2022-01-04

1.3.3 – 2021-06-15

  • Added : Plugin info user consent
  • Added : 4 new hooks: advanced_import_update_option_[‘option-name’], advanced_import_update_value_[‘option-name’] , advanced_import_menu_hook_suffix and advanced_import_current_url
  • Updated : Error handling and Error Message
  • Updated : recommendedPlugins check if isset
  • Fixed : Reset Message

1.3.2 – 2021-04-22

  • Updated : Latest version test

1.3.1 – 2021-01-27

  • Added : Filter list tab active design
  • Updated : is_pro check more strictly

1.3.0 – 2021-01-26

  • Added : All, Free and Pro Tab
  • Updated : Tested up to 5.6 WordPress
  • Updated : PHPCS
  • Updated : Some minor design
  • Updated : Minor changes
  • Fixed : File Type Check

1.2.5 – 2020-11-11

  • Updated : Hook attributes, control each demo import.
    Now developer can provide user template kit separately. View Example : CosmosWP Template kits
  • Updated : PHPCS
  • Updated : Some minor design
  • Updated : Minor changes

1.2.4 – 2020-06-22

  • Updated : API Url

1.2.3 – 2020-06-22

  • Added : Shortcode support
  • Added : Meta post id support
  • Added : Gutentor import support
  • Added : Elementor import support
  • Added : Post type array order
  • Added : Default Post and Page move to trash

1.2.2 – 2020-04-06

  • Updated : Contributors
  • Fixed : Some Design Issue

1.2.1 – 2020-03-16

  • Fixed : Premium demo support

1.2.0 – 2020-03-12

  • Added : Premium demo support
  • Added : Readme documentation
  • Added : Extra layer of security
  • Updated : Example File

1.0.8 – 2020-02-19

  • Fixed : Secure reset function

1.0.7 – 2020-01-05

  • Fixed : Script loading when SCRIPT_DEBUG on

1.0.6 – 2019-12-02

  • Fixed : Author check fixed for CosmosWP

1.0.5 – 2019-11-25

  • Added : Supports for CosmosWP and Acme Themes
  • Fixed : Isotope loading issue
  • Fixed : Author info design issue

1.0.4 – 2019-11-10

  • Added : WooCommerce pages import issues

1.0.3 – 2019-10-24

  • Added : Some Hooks

1.0.2 – 2019-09-29

  • Updated : Some Information
  • Fixed : Multisite warning

1.0.1 – 2019-09-26

  • Fixed : Tools => Advanced Import
  • Fixed : Minor Changes

1.0.0

  • Initial release.