User Import Export Plugin for WordPress – User Guide

This documentation guides you on the setup and usage of the free User/Customer Import Export Plugin for WordPress.

To get started with the plugin you must have a CSV file. You can create one by exporting the Users/Customers to get the format of CSV or download the Sample User CSV.

The CSV Import file must be in UTF-8 format, if you need to know more about it read How to save CSV / Excel File as UTF-8 Encoded?

You can install the plugin either from the WordPress plugin directory or as a zip downloaded from the WordPress.org website. You can learn more about the installation procedure by reading the article How to Install a Free Plugin from WordPress.

To get started with the plugin you can navigate to WebToffee Import Export (Basic) tab from your WordPress dashboard.

The plugin is divided into five different tabs – Export, Import, History, Logs, and General Settings,. Each of which is explained in the following subsections.

From this window, you can export or download users/customers from your WordPress website/WooCommerce store. 

Choose user/Customer from the drop-down and click Select an Export Method.

Here you have three options available for export. Quick export, Pre-saved template, and New export.

The below sections will explain how each of the export is done.

Quick Export

With the Quick Export option, you can only export the basic/standard fields of the respective post type. You do not get to selectively filter the columns with this option.

Now you can either click the Export button to start the Export or go to the Advanced options/Batch export window to enable batch export of users.

Export in batches of – Here you can give the number of records that the server will process for every iteration within the configured timeout interval. If the export fails you can lower this number accordingly and try again. Defaulted to 0 records.

Once you complete the configurations click the Export button.

Pre-saved Template

Using a pre-saved template retains the previous filter criteria and other column specifications as per the chosen file and export data accordingly. You can also edit this file in the process and export it accordingly or export straightaway.

When this option is selected you will be able to choose a previously saved template from the Export template drop-down.

Once you select the template you can either edit its filters by clicking the Filter data button or go straight with Export.

Advanced Export

Advanced export will take you through the entire process of filtering/column selection/advanced options that may be required for your export. You can also save this file for future use.

Now go to the next step Filter data.

User Email – Her you can enter the emails of customers/users to export the data pertaining to them alone.

User roles – Choose or input user roles to export information pertaining to them alone.

Customer Registration – From Date – Choose a specific date to export the customer/user data (who registered) on and after the specified date.

Customer Registration – To Date – Choose a specific date to export customers/user data (who registered) up to the specified date.

Total number of users to export – Enter the total number of users/ customers you wish to export.

Skip first n users – Here you can specify the number of users you wish to skip from the beginning of export. If you entered the total number of users 500 in the above field and are skipping 10 you will be exporting users up to user ID 510 in total.

Sort columns – Sort exported data based on the selected columns in the order specified. It is defaulted to ascending order.

Sort by – It is defaulted to ascending but you can change it to descending as well. It is applicable to the above selected columns.

Proceed to the next step by clicking the button Map and Re-order export columns.

The default export column names can be seen in the above screen. You can edit these if required. If you have chosen a pre-saved template you can see the preferred names and choices that were last saved. You may also drag the columns accordingly to reorder them within the output file.

Now you may go to the Advanced options/batch export window.

Here you can give the number of records that the server will process for every iteration within the configured timeout interval. If the export fails you can lower this number accordingly and try again. It is defaulted to 0 records.

Now if you wish to save the configured settings for export, you can click the Save template button. It opens a popup to add a name for the template.

After naming the template click the Save button. Now the saved template will be visible on the previous templates list for you to choose from.

In this section you can import users/customers to your site.

You can start by selecting User/Customer as the post type. Now hit the Select import method button to proceed with the next step.

Here you can choose an import method, upload the CSV to be imported from your computer, and choose a delimiter (which is selected comma by default).

Let’s go through each of the import methods.

Quick Import

Quick import only imports the fields from the input file that conforms to the specific column headers as required by the plugin. You do not get to selectively filter the columns with this option. Use this option primarily when your input file was exported using the same plugin.

After selecting Quick Import as the import method, you can either start the Import or go to Advanced Options/Batch import to import users in batches.

If the user exists in the store – If the CSV contains matching users you can either skip them or update the user data.

Retain user passwords – Here you can select ‘Yes’ if you wish to retain user passwords as per the input record.

Import in batches of – Here you can specify the number of records that the server will process for every iteration within the configured timeout interval. If the import fails you can lower this number accordingly and try again. It’s defaulted to 100 records.

Now you can click Import to finish with the import of users/customers. Once the import is completed you will be displayed a pop-up showing import status which contains the number of successful imports and failed imports (if any).

Or you can view a detailed log from the History section by clicking on the link.

Pre-saved Template

By choosing to import with this method, you will be able to use a pre-saved template and retain the previous filter criteria and other column specifications as per the chosen file and import data accordingly. You can also edit this file in the process and import it accordingly or import straightaway.

New Import

A new import will take you through the entire process of filtering/column selection/advanced options that may be required for your import. You can also save this file as a template for future use.

Once you choose New Import as the import method, your next step will be to Map and reorder import columns.

Here you can map the standard columns with your CSV column names.

Columns are mapped automatically only if a matching header name is found in the input file. If not the value is left blank. If your input file header does not have exact names or if you need to edit the existing mapping you can simply click on the respective value fields corresponding to each row. Furthermore, you can also assign expressions based on the existing input file columns.

Now you can proceed to the next step which is for configuring batch import. Click the Advanced options/batch import button.

If the user exists in the store – If the input file contains existing users in the store, you can either choose ‘Skip’ to retain the users in the store as is or ‘Update’ the existing users.

Retain user passwords – You can choose ‘Yes’ if you wish to retain user passwords as per the input record. ‘No’ will encrypt the password, use this option particularly while using a plain text (unencrypted) password.

Import in batches of – Here you can specify the number of records that the server will process for every iteration within the configured timeout interval. If the import fails you can lower this number accordingly and try again. It’s defaulted to 100 records.

Now you can click the Save template button if you wish to save the configured import settings for future use.

Click the Import button to finish the import process.

History

Here you can view a list of the runs and the status corresponding to every import/export with options to re-run, view detailed log or delete entry.

Here you have different filters available to sort the list. You can sort it by the action type (ie; all/export/import), status ( all/finished), date ( ascending/descending), and by the maximum records to be included in a page.

Logs

It lists developer logs mostly required for debugging purposes. Options to view detailed logs are available along with the delete and download options (that can be shared with the support team in case of issues).

General Settings

The general settings window is further divided into General and Help Guide tabs.

General

In this section, you will be able to configure certain settings that apply to all the features of the plugin.

Enable history auto delete – The history section within the plugin keeps the history of all the import and export processes. You can enable auto-delete of history by choosing ‘Yes’.

Maximum entries – Here you can specify the maximum records to retain in history. It will limit the number of records with the status ‘Finished’ to the number you have specified. E.g if you input a count of 50 the system will retain only the most recent 50 number of records with the status ‘Finished’. All other records of any other status e.g In Progress (that may be active as a part of the cron operation) will not be impacted by this count.

Default Export method – Here you can choose a default export method for export from the three given options. Quick export is chosen by default.

Default Export batch count – Here you can give the default count for the records to be exported in a batch.

Save Import log – Here you can choose ‘Yes’ to save the import log as a text file and to make it available in the history section. If not you can choose ‘No’.

Default Import method – Choose an import method from three options Quick import, Pre-saved template, and new import.

Default import batch count – Provide the default count for the records to be imported in a batch. 100 is given by default.

Once you are done with configurations click Update Settings.

Help Guide

Here you can find the links to the documentation and support of the plugin.