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Theme Demo Import

By themely

Site Administration & Utilities / Site Migration & Cloning

Theme Demo Import Review - In-Depth Analysis

Easily import demo content, widgets, and settings for your WordPress theme. Designed for theme authors to streamline the demo import process.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

6.87/10

User Rating

3/5 (based on 4+ reviews)

Active Installations

5,000+

Update Frequency

Below Average It is calculated using the weighted average of same category plugins.

Security Score

5 / 10 (Medium Risk) It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.

What It Does

This plugin allows you to quickly import demo content, widgets, and settings for your new theme. It provides a basic layout to help you build your website and speeds up the development process.

A page will be created in APPEARANCE > Import Demo Content for easy access.

If your theme does not have predefined import files, you will see three file upload inputs. The first is required for uploading a demo content XML file, which is essential for the actual demo import.

The second input is optional and allows you to upload a WIE or JSON file for widget imports, which can be created using the Widget Importer & Exporter plugin.

The third input is also optional and is for importing customizer settings. You can select a DAT file generated from the Customizer Export/Import plugin. Note that the customizer settings will only be imported if the export file was created from the same theme.

This plugin is based on the 'One Click Demo Import' plugin and the improved WP Import 2.0 plugin. It is distributed under the terms of the GNU GPL.

Comparing to Alternatives

Theme Demo Import is a straightforward demo content importer for WordPress themes, competing with several similar plugins in the market.

Top alternatives

Strengths

Simple and easy to use with minimal setup.
Works flawlessly with certain themes as tested by developers.
No unnecessary features, focused on demo import functionality.

Weaknesses

Compatibility issues with some themes and page builders like Elementor.
Lack of advanced import options or customization.
No pro version to offer enhanced features or support.
Potential for site crashes due to coding conflicts.

User Sentiment Analysis

User feedback highlights both the plugin's ease of use and some critical issues encountered during use.

Positive highlights

"Works flawlessly" - themely
"Simple and perfect. It does what it says drama free." - wowthemesnet

Common complaints

Site crashes immediately after installation due to fatal errors.
Elementor page layouts break after import, with JSON code appearing in text widgets.
Compatibility problems with certain WordPress setups.

Weaknesses

Errors related to PHP magic methods and function redeclarations.
Poor handling of complex page builder content during import.

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Users looking for a basic, no-frills demo content importer for themes that are known to be compatible with this plugin.

Not ideal for

Users relying heavily on page builders like Elementor or those needing robust import features and strong compatibility across diverse themes.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version provides basic demo import functionality sufficient for simple theme setups without advanced customization.

Final Verdict

Theme Demo Import offers a simple and effective solution for importing demo content with minimal fuss, especially when used with compatible themes.

However, users should be cautious due to reported compatibility issues and lack of advanced features, making it less suitable for complex sites or those using page builders like Elementor.

Other Notable Features

Here are a few other notable features of this free Theme Demo Import plugin.

demo import

theme demo

content import

FAQ

You will find the import page in wp-admin -> Appearance -> Import Demo Content.

This question is for theme authors. To predefine demo imports, you just have to add the following code structure, with your own values to your theme (using the theme-demo-import/import_files filter):

function TDI_import_files() {     return array(         array(             'import_file_name'           => 'Demo Import 1',             'import_file_url'            => 'http://www.your_domain.com/tdi/demo-content.xml',             'import_widget_file_url'     => 'http://www.your_domain.com/tdi/widgets.json',             'import_customizer_file_url' => 'http://www.your_domain.com/tdi/customizer.dat',             'import_preview_image_url'   => 'http://www.your_domain.com/tdi/preview_import_image1.jpg',             'import_notice'              => __( 'After you import this demo, you will have to setup the slider separately.', 'your-textdomain' ),         ),         array(             'import_file_name'           => 'Demo Import 2',             'import_file_url'            => 'http://www.your_domain.com/tdi/demo-content2.xml',             'import_widget_file_url'     => 'http://www.your_domain.com/tdi/widgets2.json',             'import_customizer_file_url' => 'http://www.your_domain.com/tdi/customizer2.dat',             'import_preview_image_url'   => 'http://www.your_domain.com/tdi/preview_import_image2.jpg',             'import_notice'              => __( 'A special note for this import.', 'your-textdomain' ),         ),     ); } add_filter( 'theme-demo-import/import_files', 'TDI_import_files' );

You can set content import, widgets, and customizer import files. You can also define a preview image, which will be used only when multiple demo imports are defined, so that the user will see the difference between imports.

You can do that, with the theme-demo-import/after_import action hook. The code would look something like this:

function TDI_after_import_setup() {     // Assign menus to their locations.     $main_menu = get_term_by( 'name', 'Top Menu', 'nav_menu' );      set_theme_mod( 'nav_menu_locations', array(             'primary-menu' => $main_menu->term_id,         )     );      // Assign front page and posts page (blog page).     $front_page_id = get_page_by_title( 'Home' );     $blog_page_id  = get_page_by_title( 'Blog' );      update_option( 'show_on_front', 'page' );     update_option( 'page_on_front', $front_page_id->ID );     update_option( 'page_for_posts', $blog_page_id->ID );  } add_action( 'theme-demo-import/after_import', 'TDI_after_import_setup' );

You have to use the same filter as in above example, but with a slightly different array keys: local_*. The values have to be absolute paths (not URLs) to your import files. To use local import files, that reside in your theme folder, please use the below code. Note: make sure your import files are readable!

function TDI_import_files() {     return array(         array(             'import_file_name'             => 'Demo Import 1',             'local_import_file'            => trailingslashit( get_template_directory() ) . 'tdi/demo-content.xml',             'local_import_widget_file'     => trailingslashit( get_template_directory() ) . 'tdi/widgets.json',             'local_import_customizer_file' => trailingslashit( get_template_directory() ) . 'tdi/customizer.dat',             'import_preview_image_url'     => 'http://www.your_domain.com/tdi/preview_import_image1.jpg',             'import_notice'                => __( 'After you import this demo, you will have to setup the slider separately.', 'your-textdomain' ),         ),         array(             'import_file_name'             => 'Demo Import 2',             'local_import_file'            => trailingslashit( get_template_directory() ) . 'tdi/demo-content2.xml',             'local_import_widget_file'     => trailingslashit( get_template_directory() ) . 'tdi/widgets2.json',             'local_import_customizer_file' => trailingslashit( get_template_directory() ) . 'tdi/customizer2.dat',             'import_preview_image_url'     => 'http://www.your_domain.com/tdi/preview_import_image2.jpg',             'import_notice'                => __( 'A special note for this import.', 'your-textdomain' ),         ),     ); } add_filter( 'theme-demo-import/import_files', 'TDI_import_files' );

This question might be asked by a theme author wanting to implement different after import setups for multiple predefined demo imports. Lets say we have predefined two demo imports with the following names: ‘Demo Import 1’ and ‘Demo Import 2’, the code for after import setup would be (using the theme-demo-import/after_import filter):

function TDI_after_import( $selected_import ) {     echo "This will be displayed on all after imports!";      if ( 'Demo Import 1' === $selected_import['import_file_name'] ) {         echo "This will be displayed only on after import if user selects Demo Import 1";          // Set logo in customizer         set_theme_mod( 'logo_img', get_template_directory_uri() . '/assets/images/logo1.png' );     }     elseif ( 'Demo Import 2' === $selected_import['import_file_name'] ) {         echo "This will be displayed only on after import if user selects Demo Import 2";          // Set logo in customizer         set_theme_mod( 'logo_img', get_template_directory_uri() . '/assets/images/logo2.png' );     } } add_action( 'theme-demo-import/after_import', 'TDI_after_import' );

Of course you can, use the theme-demo-import/before_widgets_import action. You can also target different predefined demo imports like in the example above. Here is a simple example code of the theme-demo-import/before_widgets_import action:

function TDI_before_widgets_import( $selected_import ) {     echo "Add your code here that will be executed before the widgets get imported!"; } add_action( 'theme-demo-import/before_widgets_import', 'TDI_before_widgets_import' );

You can change the plugin intro text by using the theme-demo-import/plugin_intro_text filter:

function TDI_plugin_intro_text( $default_text ) {     $default_text .= '<div class="TDI__intro-text">This is a custom text added to this plugin intro text.</div>';      return $default_text; } add_filter( 'theme-demo-import/plugin_intro_text', 'TDI_plugin_intro_text' );

To add some text in a separate “box”, you should wrap your text in a div with a class of ‘TDI__intro-text’, like in the code example above.

This will greatly improve the time needed to import the content (images), but only the original sized images will be imported. You can disable it with a filter, so just add this code to your theme function.php file:

add_filter( 'theme-demo-import/regenerate_thumbnails_in_content_import', '__return_false' );

As a theme author you do not like the location of the “Import Demo Content” plugin page in Appearance -> Import Demo Content? You can change that with the filter below. Apart from the location, you can also change the title or the page/menu and some other parameters as well.

function TDI_plugin_page_setup( $default_settings ) {     $default_settings['parent_slug'] = 'themes.php';     $default_settings['page_title']  = esc_html__( 'Theme Demo Import' , 'theme-demo-import' );     $default_settings['menu_title']  = esc_html__( 'Import Demo Content' , 'theme-demo-import' );     $default_settings['capability']  = 'import';     $default_settings['menu_slug']   = 'theme-demo-import';      return $default_settings; } add_filter( 'theme-demo-import/plugin_page_setup', 'TDI_plugin_page_setup' );