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Theme Demo Import

By themely

Site Administration & Utilities / Site Migration & Cloning

Reviewed by Omar Dabbas

Trusted WordPress expert with 20+ years of experience evaluating plugins for the WP ecosystem.

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

6.82/10

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 offers basic demo import functionality but faces stiff competition from several well-established alternatives in the WordPress ecosystem.

Top alternatives

Strengths

Simple and straightforward to use as noted by users.
Works well with some themes as tested by themely.
No drama or complex setup required according to wowthemesnet.
Free to use without upsells or pro version.
Lightweight plugin with focused functionality.

Weaknesses

Known security vulnerabilities with medium severity.
Compatibility issues with Elementor causing layout problems.
Reported site crashes upon installation by some users.
Limited updates and fixes for critical bugs.

User Sentiment Analysis

User reviews are polarized with half giving 5 stars praising ease of use, while the other half report critical failures and crashes.

Positive highlights

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

Common complaints

Site crashes immediately after installation causing fatal errors.
Imported Elementor layouts break, showing raw JSON in text widgets.

Weaknesses

Plugin has unresolved security vulnerabilities.
Poor compatibility with some page builders like Elementor.
Stability issues leading to site crashes.
Lack of timely bug fixes and updates.

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Users seeking a simple, no-frills demo import tool for themes that do not rely heavily on page builders like Elementor.

Not ideal for

Users who require robust compatibility with Elementor or need a secure plugin with regular updates and strong stability should avoid this plugin.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version includes basic demo import functionality sufficient for simple theme setups.

Final Verdict

Theme Demo Import provides a straightforward demo import experience for users with simple needs and compatible themes. However, significant concerns exist regarding its security vulnerabilities and compatibility issues, especially with popular page builders like Elementor. These issues have led to site crashes and broken layouts for some users.

Given the availability of multiple alternative plugins with better security records and broader compatibility, users should carefully consider their requirements before choosing Theme Demo Import. Those prioritizing stability and security may find better value elsewhere, while users with basic import needs might find this plugin adequate if used cautiously.

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' );