Today we return with a basic but very useful tutorial for those who begin their journey with WordPress: how to import test or demo content to our newly created WordPress, using a premium or free template, on WordPress.org or WordPress.com
I am sure it has happened to you more than once, that after downloading and installing a premium theme, you find a single entry (the famous Hello World) and a sample page. With just this content it is very difficult to see the qualities and the design of a theme, and hence the fact we decide to use it or not.
In addition, many themes include in downloads different content pages demonstration, team members, portfolio elements… and many users are decided to use that theme because some of the demos showing convinced them. It makes no sense therefore not to import these demo content for not knowing how to do it, without having our WordPress 100% identical to the demo site. So let’s see the steps of how to install the test content.
Demo content in XML format
All demo files have an .xml extension. Look inside your downloading theme where this file is. A clue: many authors typically included it in a zip file called dummy-data or demo-data. If you found it, extract the contents and keep the .xml file.
If your theme brings no demo file, do not worry, you can use the demo content of the team that reviews the themes (this is the one that the authors of WordPress themes usually use to test their templates,) which is available in this listing: (Point 1 Download the test data)
Import test content in the Tools panel
The next step is to navigate within your WordPress Administration panel to the Tools> Import. Once there, you will find the various import options that does not allow WordPress, and among them, you will have the one we will use: “WordPress” (the same procedure to bring the contents of one blog to another.)
After clicking on the option to install WordPress content, two things can happen:
1. If you have already installed the WordPress Import plugin, go to the next step;
2. If you have not installed the plugin, do not worry, the system himself will ask you to install it. Once installed, return to this screen and continue to the next step. (If you cannot install it, find your solution in this article.)
Perfect, now you only have to download the .xml file so that WordPress can start the import process. Look here, if the file is very large you may find some problems if WordPress has limited the maximum weight of the file.
You just have to add the file you have stored on your computer and start the import. Then, WordPress will ask you for some options importer.
WordPress Options importer
Once the file is valid and before the import process starts, you can assign the imported content to existing authors. You can also import the authors who created that content, but this is something that does not really make much sense. Additionally you can also create new users and assign them these new contents. These authors will have their own page with its associated items, here you can see mine.
Last but not least: “Download and import file attachments” What does this mean? Images, audios, videos … in short all the multimedia content that is associated with these texts. Note that these items are not within the .xml file, so WordPress will have to download them from the source, and this is usually the step that most errors and headaches usually create. So cross your fingers if you activate this box!
A tip, when you import content through this tool you are NOT erasing the content that you have on the blog, so remember to remove the default entry “Hello World” and the sample page if you’re not using them.
Nothing else! Wait for the message all done (it may take several minutes) and you will have your demo content in WordPress imported and installed, ready to use. After that, check on the tab pages and post that everything is imported and ok.
I hope you have served this tutorial and that the contents are imported correctly. Now enjoy. Good luck with your website!
