[Closed] wpml all import help

Hi,

Connecting original products and their translations with SKU might not work. We state the following in our guide:

https://wpml.org/documentation/related-projects/wpml-all-import-plugin-website-import-with-wpml/importing-multiple-languages-with-wp-all-import-and-wpml/#add-a-unique-identifier-to-your-spreadsheets

https://wpml.org/documentation/related-projects/wpml-all-import-plugin-website-import-with-wpml/importing-multiple-languages-with-wp-all-import-and-wpml/#add-a-unique-identifier-to-your-spreadsheets

You must use the unique identifier that was used in the original German import.

Please only answer the following question; I already asked and didn't get your answer.

Are the German and Italian products connected on your site, meaning are they a translation of each other?

Regards,
Itamar.

Hi,

Thanks for the detailed explanation. Now I understand that you are trying to import new products to your site and that those are products in Italian that need to be translations of the products in German. What was the cause of my misunderstanding (and maybe also your misunderstanding) was the following you wrote in your first post:

Because when I set it to only update existing product data, with the product id as unique key, it just skips everything:

In this case, what I wrote in my reply on JANUARY 7, 2024, is the valid answer. You can see my reply here.

https://wpml.org/forums/topic/wpml-all-import-help/#post-15157640

For your convenience, I'll explain this again here. WPML generally controls the other languages on a site, not the default language. In your case, the other languages are English and Italian. Regarding WP All Import, our bridge plugin aims to connect imports of posts, pages, and products in other languages to posts, pages, and products in the default language. That's WPML All Import, our bridge plugin's main and sole purpose. The settings for the connection between the default language posts, pages, and products will be found in the "WPML All Import" section of the WP All Import plugin in the import process. All the other settings are settings from the WP All Import plugin. Please see the attached screenshot wpml-wp-all-import-set-parent-import-posts.png. The Unique Identifier field is the crucial point in making things work. In other words, if the Unique Identifier field is not implemented, as we explain, the imported posts, pages, and products will not be connected to the posts, pages, and products in the default language.

You asked: "So I can't use the SKU? It is unique"

No, you can not use the SKU as the Unique Identifier. In your CSV files, you must create a Unique Identifier column. This column must be present in the German and Italian CSV files. Otherwise, the connection will not be established. So, suppose in the past, when you imported the products in German into your site, you didn't intend to connect them to other languages. In that case, you must do the import process from the beginning, starting by importing the German CSV and then the Italian CSV. Therefore, you will need to implement it in the following way.

1. Export the German products with the WP All Export plugin.

2. Delete the German products from your site. (Also, permanently delete the products from the trash section.)

3. Edit the German CSV file and add a Unique Identifier column.

4. Prepare an Italian CSV file with a Unique Identifier column.

5. Import the German CSV file.

6. Import the Italian CSV file.

All this is according to our guide (I already sent you) here.

https://wpml.org/documentation/related-projects/wpml-all-import-plugin-website-import-with-wpml/importing-multiple-languages-with-wp-all-import-and-wpml/

Important note! The Unique Identifier value is something you determine. It is not the ID of the products, nor is it the SKU. It can simply be numbers starting at one and up: 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on. So, for example, if you have a product in German named "Grünes T-Shirt" and the Unique Identifier of this product is 1, then its Italian translation "Maglietta Verde" must also have a Unique Identifier value of 1.

An alternative to the above process is not to use WP All Import and to translate the German products with WPML directly on your site. This is what we explain in this section of our guide.

https://wpml.org/documentation/related-projects/wpml-all-import-plugin-website-import-with-wpml/#importing-content-in-one-language

I hope that things are more straightforward for you now.

Regards,
Itamar.

Hi,

You asked: "As an alternative, would it be an option to simply upload the italian products as italian and not just as a translation? Is there anything against this?"

I spent considerable time testing this and also consulted one of our developers. You may have a few ways to achieve this.

A. You would need to follow our WPML All Import guide in the section Importing Content in One Language.

https://wpml.org/documentation/related-projects/wpml-all-import-plugin-website-import-with-wpml/#importing-content-in-one-language

It says there:

To import content in one language (your site’s default language), you only need to follow a few simple steps:

The test I made on my testing site worked when I selected another language and not the default one. Please see the attached screenshot. However, we can't know all the implications of this process. It also might depend on your CSV file and the options you select in the import process. (Options that are not related to WPML All Import.)

B. Don't use WPML All Import at all (deactivate it.) The products will be imported into the default language of your site. Then you can change their language to Italian. You can do it by using the "Language of this product" option. Please see the attached screenshot lang-of-this-page.jpg (The screenshot shows an example from a page, not a product.)

C. Use our newly released plugin - WPML Export and Import.
https://wpml.org/documentation/related-projects/wpml-export-and-import/
If you want to go with this option, please let me know if you have further questions.

Regards,
Itamar.