Title: Problem with WordPress Importer Last modified: August 21, 2017 --- # Problem with WordPress Importer * [jenvander](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jenvander/) * (@jenvander) * [8 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/problem-with-wordpress-importer-3/) * For PHP Info, see [http://marketingforresorts.com/phpinfo.php](http://marketingforresorts.com/phpinfo.php). * I’m attempting to load a 339KB dummy demo data XML file via the WordPress importer. The first demo file worked fine, but this one is giving me a 405 page after 3 minutes. The XML is valid (I ran it through a validator), and I’ve contacted the theme author and they cannot reproduce, so it must be something in my site’s configuration. After seeing the 405 page, I hit “back” on my browser, and see this error: * “File is empty. Please upload something more substantial. This error could also be caused by uploads being disabled in your php.ini or by post_max_size being defined as smaller than upload_max_filesize in php.ini.” * Unfortunately, none of those hints in the error message are true. In my php.ini, those two sizes are the same, and uploads are enabled. I’ve tried increasing those sizes but it doesn’t make a difference. I’ve increased some timeouts and that didn’t help yet either. Perhaps I haven’t increased the right numbers or increased them enough yet. * Any ideas on what I can try next? * The page I need help with: _[[log in](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwordpress.org%2Fsupport%2Ftopic%2Fproblem-with-wordpress-importer-3%2F%3Foutput_format%3Dmd&locale=en_US) to see the link]_ Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total) * Moderator [tobifjellner (Tor-Bjorn “Tobi” Fjellner)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/tobifjellner/) * (@tobifjellner) * [8 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/problem-with-wordpress-importer-3/#post-9425391) * max_execution_time 300 300 * EditAdd: It seems you hit the max execution time, which is 5 minutes. Whether the server would need more time to handle it or there’s something in the data that takes some extra loops to get sorted out. * Try some smaller files. - This reply was modified 8 years, 9 months ago by [tobifjellner (Tor-Bjorn “Tobi” Fjellner)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/tobifjellner/). * Thread Starter [jenvander](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jenvander/) * (@jenvander) * [8 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/problem-with-wordpress-importer-3/#post-9425427) * None of the files it’s downloading are larger than a handful of KB, and there only a few of them as it is. Also, why would the 5-minute timeout halt after 3 minutes? * Are there any logfiles that could shed some extra light? This site is hosted via hostgator and I have access to the cPanel. * Moderator [tobifjellner (Tor-Bjorn “Tobi” Fjellner)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/tobifjellner/) * (@tobifjellner) * [8 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/problem-with-wordpress-importer-3/#post-9425434) * It’s specific for various hosts what kind of logging may be available (and whether it’s possible to turn something on temporarily). Now that you mentioned your host, there’s a chance they’ll chime in. Otherwise, you should probably get in touch with their support. * Thread Starter [jenvander](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jenvander/) * (@jenvander) * [8 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/problem-with-wordpress-importer-3/#post-9434987) * Hi! I wonder if I can pick your brain again 🙂 * So, there is no hosting issue according to HostGator, and the theme developer sees no reason it cannot work with the hosting either. I have done a bit more detective work and found that the attachement_url directives in the XML aren’t working at all. In other words, not a single one downloads–it’s getting stuck on the very first one. It’s just timing out because it simply cannot download( or perhaps cannot upload to the WP site) the attachment at all. It’s a very small attachment (33KB), so this is not a resource limit issue. I downloaded it manually, so the URL is certainly reachable and responds instantly. * Could the importer be failing to access the storage and thus unable to upload the downloaded image to the WP site? This is a self-hosted site–are there some settings that I need to check? * Moderator [tobifjellner (Tor-Bjorn “Tobi” Fjellner)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/tobifjellner/) * (@tobifjellner) * [8 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/problem-with-wordpress-importer-3/#post-9435039) * Might be some issues with temp storage, but could also be as simple as a non- English character. Different computers may handle special letters, like letters with accents ocother diacritical marks. * Thread Starter [jenvander](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jenvander/) * (@jenvander) * [8 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/problem-with-wordpress-importer-3/#post-9435919) * I don’t think it’s special characters. This happens only with posts that have attachments. The attachments are never downloaded from the remote server. It just hangs on the attachment download and eventually times out. * Moderator [tobifjellner (Tor-Bjorn “Tobi” Fjellner)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/tobifjellner/) * (@tobifjellner) * [8 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/problem-with-wordpress-importer-3/#post-9436037) * You could try to see if setting WP_DEBUG_LOG would give you any useful hints. See [https://codex.wordpress.org/Debugging_in_WordPress](https://codex.wordpress.org/Debugging_in_WordPress) Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total) The topic ‘Problem with WordPress Importer’ is closed to new replies. ## Tags * [importer](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/importer/) * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/) * 7 replies * 2 participants * Last reply from: [tobifjellner (Tor-Bjorn “Tobi” Fjellner)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/tobifjellner/) * Last activity: [8 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/problem-with-wordpress-importer-3/#post-9436037) * Status: not resolved ## Topics ### Topics with no replies ### Non-support topics ### Resolved topics ### Unresolved topics ### All topics