Title: [Plugin: CSV Importer] Overwrite posts Last modified: August 20, 2016 --- # [Plugin: CSV Importer] Overwrite posts * Resolved [fkjason](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fkjason/) * (@fkjason) * [13 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-csv-importer-overwrite-posts/) * Hi! Is there a way to use this plugin to overwrite posts? I need to mass update taxonomies and descriptions from existing posts but, if I use this plugin, it duplicates them * example * myweb.com/post-slug * when I import another post with this slug, it generates: * myweb.com/post-slug-2 * [http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/csv-importer/](http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/csv-importer/) Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total) * [Joy](https://wordpress.org/support/users/joyously/) * (@joyously) * [13 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-csv-importer-overwrite-posts/#post-2893383) * Yes, see [this other thread](http://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-csv-importer-is-it-possible-also-to-update-posts-with-this-plugin) for more information. That thread is closed now, and I never put the details of the minor code changes needed. Starting with version 0.3.7 as a base, make 3 changes in csv_importer.php as follows: Before Line 277 add: * ``` if (!empty($new_post['ID'])) $id = wp_update_post($new_post); else ``` * at Line 254 add: `'ID' => convert_chars(trim($data['csv_post_id'])),` * at Line 40 add: `'csv_post_id' => null,` * Do it in that order, so the line numbers are right. * You can get a nice export file to work with using phpMyAdmin or try this [exporter](http://extend.thecartpress.com/ecommerce-plugins/csv-export/). * [pulsarcoder](https://wordpress.org/support/users/pulsarcoder/) * (@pulsarcoder) * [13 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-csv-importer-overwrite-posts/#post-2893385) * Hi, * I solved this issue in my project, * Solution: Just changed the create_post function in the csv-importer.php file, * ``` function create_post($data, $options) { extract($options); global $wpdb; //edited by guru $data = array_merge($this->defaults, $data); $type = $data['csv_post_type'] ? $data['csv_post_type'] : 'post'; $valid_type = (function_exists('post_type_exists') && post_type_exists($type)) || in_array($type, array('post', 'page')); if (!$valid_type) { $this->log['error']["type-{$type}"] = sprintf( 'Unknown post type "%s".', $type); } $new_post = array( 'post_title' => convert_chars($data['csv_post_title']), 'post_content' => wpautop(convert_chars($data['csv_post_post'])), 'post_status' => $opt_draft, 'post_type' => $type, 'post_date' => $this->parse_date($data['csv_post_date']), 'post_excerpt' => convert_chars($data['csv_post_excerpt']), 'post_name' => $data['csv_post_slug'], 'post_author' => $this->get_auth_id($data['csv_post_author']), 'tax_input' => $this->get_taxonomies($data), 'post_parent' => $data['csv_post_parent'], ); // edited by guru $new_post['ID'] = $wpdb->get_var( "SELECT ID FROM $wpdb->posts WHERE post_title = '" . $data['csv_post_title'] . "'" ); // ends // pages don't have tags or categories if ('page' !== $type) { $new_post['tags_input'] = $data['csv_post_tags']; // Setup categories before inserting - this should make insertion // faster, but I don't exactly remember why :) Most likely because // we don't assign default cat to post when csv_post_categories // is not empty. $cats = $this->create_or_get_categories($data, $opt_cat); $new_post['post_category'] = $cats['post']; } // create or update edited by guru! if(!empty($new_post['ID'])) { wp_update_post($new_post); } else { wp_insert_post($new_post); } // ends if ('page' !== $type && !$id) { // cleanup new categories on failure foreach ($cats['cleanup'] as $c) { wp_delete_term($c, 'category'); } } return $id; } ``` * _[Moderator Note: Please post code or markup snippets between backticks or use the code button. Or better still – use the [pastebin](http://wordpress.pastebin.com/). As it stands, your code may now have been permanently damaged/corrupted by the forum’s parser.]_ * just copy the above function create_post and replace the one in the csv-importer. php at line no 239 * [Joy](https://wordpress.org/support/users/joyously/) * (@joyously) * [13 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-csv-importer-overwrite-posts/#post-2893386) * [@pulsarcoder](https://wordpress.org/support/users/pulsarcoder/), your code is missing the assignment of the $id for the new post. No telling what else is wrong. Mine has been tested to work both with and without replacing the posts. * [pulsarcoder](https://wordpress.org/support/users/pulsarcoder/) * (@pulsarcoder) * [13 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-csv-importer-overwrite-posts/#post-2893387) * Hi * Thanks for your reply, please use the following code, $id is the return value of wp_update_post or wp_insert_post. * Actually in my project, i have so many posts also i have to update the post id in the excel as csv_post_id. instead i just changed the code to take the post title and find the id from the db. If exists the post is overwritten else inserted as new post. * please kindly post your feedback. * ``` function create_post($data, $options) { extract($options); global $wpdb; //edited by guru $data = array_merge($this->defaults, $data); $type = $data['csv_post_type'] ? $data['csv_post_type'] : 'post'; $valid_type = (function_exists('post_type_exists') && post_type_exists($type)) || in_array($type, array('post', 'page')); if (!$valid_type) { $this->log['error']["type-{$type}"] = sprintf( 'Unknown post type "%s".', $type); } $new_post = array( 'post_title' => convert_chars($data['csv_post_title']), 'post_content' => wpautop(convert_chars($data['csv_post_post'])), 'post_status' => $opt_draft, 'post_type' => $type, 'post_date' => $this->parse_date($data['csv_post_date']), 'post_excerpt' => convert_chars($data['csv_post_excerpt']), 'post_name' => $data['csv_post_slug'], 'post_author' => $this->get_auth_id($data['csv_post_author']), 'tax_input' => $this->get_taxonomies($data), 'post_parent' => $data['csv_post_parent'], ); // edited by guru $new_post['ID'] = $wpdb->get_var( "SELECT ID FROM $wpdb->posts WHERE post_title = '" . $data['csv_post_title'] . "'" ); // ends // pages don't have tags or categories if ('page' !== $type) { $new_post['tags_input'] = $data['csv_post_tags']; // Setup categories before inserting - this should make insertion // faster, but I don't exactly remember why :) Most likely because // we don't assign default cat to post when csv_post_categories // is not empty. $cats = $this->create_or_get_categories($data, $opt_cat); $new_post['post_category'] = $cats['post']; } // create or update edited by guru! if(!empty($new_post['ID'])) { $id = wp_update_post($new_post); } else { $id = wp_insert_post($new_post); } // ends if ('page' !== $type && !$id) { // cleanup new categories on failure foreach ($cats['cleanup'] as $c) { wp_delete_term($c, 'category'); } } return $id; } ``` * [bheadrick](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bheadrick/) * (@bheadrick) * [13 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-csv-importer-overwrite-posts/#post-2893399) * This looks great! I’ll add this to [my fork of the plugin](https://github.com/BHEADRICK/csv-importer)( pretty soon, I’ll release it as a separate plugin). * [surfrunner](https://wordpress.org/support/users/surfrunner/) * (@surfrunner) * [13 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-csv-importer-overwrite-posts/#post-2893400) * Hi Joy, thanks for the perfect instructions on adding those lines of code. Works great on overwriting a post. * One question for you. How could I ensure that the custom fields also get overwritten? When I use your code it adds a while new custom field with the updated values. * Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. * Cheers. * Jason * [Joy](https://wordpress.org/support/users/joyously/) * (@joyously) * [13 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-csv-importer-overwrite-posts/#post-2893401) * Ah surfrunner, you are correct that the custom fields were not taken into account for updates. Neither were comments. But WordPress has it covered. * Search the code for add_post_meta and change it to update_post_meta. That function will call add if it doesn’t exist. (this could be a problem if you have multiple custom fields with the same name, such as image attachments…I haven’t tried it) * For comments, search for wp_insert_comment and change it to wp_update_comment. There might be more filtering going on than before, using that. * [surfrunner](https://wordpress.org/support/users/surfrunner/) * (@surfrunner) * [13 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-csv-importer-overwrite-posts/#post-2893402) * Thanks Joy. * That update worked, the custom fields are overwritten versus copied (very cool). * It does not work when I try to use it with pages that have 12+ custom fields… I get an error on import claiming some fields may be empty. * Kind of weird that it works if I import just the basics but when the .csv gets a bit more complicated it will not import (not because there are multiple custom fields with the same name though, I removed those and still get the error). * But thanks! I’ll keep tweaking and get it to work somehow. I appreciate your quick response. Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total) The topic ‘[Plugin: CSV Importer] Overwrite posts’ is closed to new replies. * ![](https://ps.w.org/csv-importer/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev=3039593) * [CSV Importer](https://wordpress.org/plugins/csv-importer/) * [Frequently Asked Questions](https://wordpress.org/plugins/csv-importer/#faq) * [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/csv-importer/) * [Active Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/csv-importer/active/) * [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/csv-importer/unresolved/) * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/csv-importer/reviews/) * 8 replies * 5 participants * Last reply from: [surfrunner](https://wordpress.org/support/users/surfrunner/) * Last activity: [13 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-csv-importer-overwrite-posts/#post-2893402) * Status: resolved