BugWP logo BugWP
Back to Community
Home / Community / Plugin → Wordpress importer

Fixing Common WordPress Importer Errors: A Troubleshooting Guide

27 threads Sep 10, 2025 Plugin → Wordpress importer

Content

If you're migrating a WordPress site, the WordPress Importer plugin is an essential tool. However, users often encounter frustrating errors during the import process. This guide compiles the most common issues and their solutions, based on community reports and resolutions.

1. "Unable to create directory... Is its parent directory writable by the server?"

This is one of the most frequent errors. It means the web server's PHP process does not have the correct file permissions to create the necessary folders for your uploaded import file.

Why it happens: Incorrect file ownership or permissions on your wp-content/uploads/ directory.

How to fix it:

  • Use an FTP client or your hosting control panel's file manager to check the permissions on the wp-content/uploads/ folder. The parent directory must be writable.
  • The recommended permission setting is usually 755 for directories and 644 for files. Avoid using 777 as it is a significant security risk.
  • Sometimes, the issue is not the permissions but the file ownership. The user that the web server runs under (e.g., 'www-data', 'apache', 'nobody') must own or have write access to the directory. You may need to contact your hosting provider to correct this.

2. "The uploaded file could not be moved to..."

This error is closely related to the first. It occurs when the server can create the directory but cannot move the uploaded XML file into it.

Why it happens: The same permissions or ownership issues described above. In some cases, it can also be caused by the PHP safe_mode setting being enabled on the server, which restricts file operations.

How to fix it:

  • Apply the same permission and ownership fixes from the solution above.
  • If the problem persists, contact your host and ask if safe_mode is enabled. This deprecated setting can interfere with the importer's functionality.

3. "Missing a temporary folder"

This error is generated by PHP itself, not the WordPress Importer plugin.

Why it happens: The server's PHP configuration does not have a valid temporary directory (upload_tmp_dir) set for storing file uploads before processing them.

How to fix it:

  • This is a server-level configuration issue. You will need to contact your web hosting provider's support team and ask them to define a valid upload_tmp_dir in the server's PHP configuration.

4. "403 Forbidden" or "Access to this resource on the server is denied!"

Seeing a full 403 error page instead of a WordPress admin error message is a key sign.

Why it happens: This is typically a server-level security block. Your hosting provider's firewall or mod_security rules are likely interpreting the large XML import file as a potential threat and blocking the request.

How to fix it:

  • Contact your web host's support, explain you are trying to import a WordPress WXR file, and ask if a security rule is blocking the request. They can often whitelist the action for you.

5. FTP Credentials Prompt During Installation

You may be prompted for FTP credentials when trying to install or even activate the plugin.

Why it happens: This happens when the WordPress file system (the user under which PHP runs) does not have direct write access to the wp-content directory. WordPress falls back to asking for FTP details to gain access.

How to fix it:

  • Manual Installation: The most common workaround is to manually install the plugin. Download the .zip file, extract it, and upload the wordpress-importer folder to your wp-content/plugins/ directory using FTP or your host's file manager. You can then activate it from the 'Plugins' admin screen.
  • Fix File Ownership: For a permanent fix, you can change the ownership of your WordPress files to match the web server user (e.g., chown -R www-data:www-data /path/to/your/wp-admin/). Your host can assist with this.

6. "Destination folder already exists" or "No valid plugins were found" During Installation

These errors prevent the plugin from being installed automatically.

Why it happens: "Destination folder already exists" means a wordpress-importer folder is already present in your plugins directory, perhaps from a previous failed installation. "No valid plugins were found" can indicate a corrupted download or a server issue during unpacking.

How to fix it:

  • Use FTP or your file manager to navigate to wp-content/plugins/ and delete any existing wordpress-importer folder. Then try installing again from the admin panel.
  • If the problem continues, manually install the plugin as described in the previous solution.

By following these troubleshooting steps, you should be able to resolve the majority of issues preventing a successful import. If your specific error isn't listed here, carefully review the error message for clues about file permissions, paths, or server configuration, as these are the root cause of most import failures.

Related Support Threads Support