Product Import Export Plugin For WooCommerce – Troubleshooting Guide

During import, when you try to add a product(by its ID), but, a product with the same ID is already available in your store.

Case 1: If the user is trying to update the product that is already present on the site with the same id :

Solution: The user can select Update for the option: If product exists in the store in step 4: Advanced Options/Batch Import/Scheduling.

Case 2: The user needs to add a new product, but the ID in the file is already taken by another product.

Solution: Change the Product ID in the import CSV file. Else, Skip adding the product.

During import, when you try to add a product(by its SKU), but a product with the same SKU is already available in your store.

Case 1: If the user is trying to update the product that is already present on the site with the same SKU.

Solution: The user can select Update for the option: If product exists in the store in step 4: Advanced Options/Batch Import/Scheduling.

Case 2: The user needs to add a new product, but another product already takes the SKU in the file.

Solution: Change the SKU in the import CSV file. Else, Skip adding the product.

During import, when you try to add a product (by its ID), the Product ID conflicts with an existing Post ID.
Example: You are trying to import a product with ID:1080, but if you have an order/coupon or any other post with ID:1080; then the product will not get imported with the ID: 1080.
The default WordPress system halts this operation.

Solution

The user needs to add the product using a new ID. Change the Product ID in the import CSV file. Else, Skip adding the product.

The product type is not specified in the required format in the input file.

Case 1: The product type is not specified in the required format in the input file.

Solution: In the input file, specify the correct values for the column, tax:product_type as simple, external, or grouped respectively

Case 2: When trying to import or export an invalid product type in the basic version.

Solution: The basic version supports the following product types: 

1. Simple products
2. External/Affiliate products
3. Grouped products

For any other product type, upgrade to premium

On importing/exporting product types that are not supported by the basic version.
Example: Import-export of variable products(a valid WooCommerce product type) is a premium feature.

Solution: The basic version supports the following product types: 

1. Simple products
2. External/Affiliate products
3. Grouped products

For any other product type, upgrade to premium.

During import, when you try to add a product(by its ID), but, a product with the same ID is already available in your store.

Case 1: If the user is trying to update the product that is already present on the site with the same id :

Solution: The user can select Update for the option: If product exists in the store in step 4: Advanced Options/Batch Import/Scheduling.

Case 2: The user needs to add a new product, but the ID in the file is already taken by another product.

Solution: Change the Product ID in the import CSV file. Else, Skip adding the product.

During import, when you try to add a product(by its SKU), but a product with the same SKU is already available in your store.

Case 1: If the user is trying to update the product that is already present on the site with the same SKU.

Solution: The user can select Update for the option: If product exists in the store in step 4: Advanced Options/Batch Import/Scheduling.

Case 2: User needs to add a new product, but another product already takes the SKU in the file.

Solution: Change the SKU in the import CSV file. Else, Skip adding the product.

During import, when you try to add a product(by its ID), but the Product ID conflicts with an existing Post ID.
Example: You are trying to import a product with ID:1080, but if you have an order/coupon or any other post with ID:1080; then the product will not get imported with the ID: 1080.
This operation is halted by the default WordPress system.

Solution

The user needs to add the product using a new ID. Change the Product ID in the import CSV file. Else, Skip adding the product.

For more details, refer: How to resolve ID conflict during import in WooCommerce.

The product type is not specified in the required format in the input file.

Case 1: The product type is not specified in the required format in the input file.

Solution: In the input file, specify the correct values for the column, tax:product_type as simple, external, or grouped respectively

Case 2: For Custom product type

Solution: This might’ve occurred because of the incorrect name of the custom product type. Here, the user can create a sample product with the custom product type and export this product to see the correct name of this product type and use this to import further.

For Custom product types like simple subscriptions, and variable subscriptions the value for tax:product_type will be different, Please refer to the below images.

This issue usually shows up when the import file is not properly UTF-8 encoded.  

Solution

Try importing again after saving the CSV file as UTF-8 encoded. For more info, refer to this article.4. Invalid input format for product type

The product type is not specified in the required format in the input file.

Solution

In the input file, specify the correct values for the column, tax:product_type as simple, external, or grouped respectively (only lowercase letters are allowed).

Server timeout can occur due to slow database speed or due to large number of images.

Solution

Navigate to WebToffee Import Export (Pro) > General Settings. Under Advanced options, increase the value of Maximum execution time to reduce the chances of export/import timeouts.

Entering any of these credentials wrongly can cause a failed FTP connection:

• FTP server host/IP
• FTP username
• FTP password
• FTP port number

Solution

To upload an FTP file without failure:

1. Double-check the FTP credentials before establishment.
2. Ensure the exact import path is entered.
3. This will avoid connection not successful scenarios and will upload the FTP file successfully.
4. You can also check the credential’s integrity in FTP client applications, such as: FileZilla. On a successful connection, the folder path will be listed under the Remote site.

Here, all your FTP credentials will be correct, but, the connection will be unsuccessful. This case arises due to restrictions or blocking made by the server-side hosting providers.

• In this case, the FTP connection will be unsuccessful in client applications like FileZilla.
• The blocking or restrictions are usually from hosting providers. The restrictions can occur due to the blacklisting of IP addresses or due to restrictions on country codes.

Solution

1. Reach out to the hosting provider and inquire about the cause of the restriction.
2. Also, activities such as whitelisting of IP can avoid this error and result in a successful FTP connection.

This error appears due to a disabled FTP extension and thus results in an unsuccessful FTP connection.

Solution

1. Ensure the FTP extension is enabled in the client servers.
2. If in a disabled state, contact the server-side hosting provider and request to enable the FTP module. This action will enable the FTP extension in the client-server and lead to a successful FTP connection.

During export, an FTP file upload failure case arises if the folder does not exist. For example, the user tries to upload a file to the target folder: test_one, But, the server does not have a folder in that name.

Solution

To solve this issue, create a folder in the FTP server and name it the desired name, here test_one. This will be found on the server with the name test_one with the path:/public_html/test_one.

This error appears after a successful FTP connection and can appear even when the target folder exists.

Solution

The error arises due to upload permissions.

1. Login to the FTP server.
2. Give the read and write permission.
3. Now, you have permission to upload files to the target location.

This error can appear due to an unsuccessful FTP connection. In this case, the credentials will be correct and no blocking/ restrictions will be there.

Solution

1. From WebToffee Import Export (Pro), navigate to General Settings > FTP Settings > Add profile.
2. Select Passive for the option Transfer mode.
3. Under Select Protocol, choose FTP.
4. Click on Save settings.

Following are some of the errors you may have encountered while importing products with images:

• Server request block (Error getting remote image)
• Duplicate entry in Media Library
• Multiple images not getting imported
• Image not getting imported

Solution

Refer to Common errors on importing WooCommerce product images.