Demo import failed or stopped partway

A demo import is a long job: it installs plugins, downloads a package, writes database tables, unpacks uploads, then rewrites URLs. Anything that interrupts it leaves the site partly imported rather than untouched.

Start by knowing which of the two situations you are in.

It failed before writing anything. Missing plugins, a download that never started, a capability error. Nothing to clean up, fix the cause and retry.

It stopped partway. Some content is in, some is not. Do not simply retry: a second run on top of a half-finished one leaves duplicates. Restore your backup first, or start from a clean install.

Timeout partway through

The most common failure, and it looks like a page that hangs or a step that never advances.

Demo packages are large. A shared host with a 30-second execution limit will kill the request long before a database import finishes.

Raise the limits, in wp-config.php or through your host:

define( 'WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M' );
set_time_limit( 300 );

max_execution_time and max_input_time usually need raising at the PHP level, which most hosts expose in their control panel.

Better answer on a constrained host: run the import from WP-CLI instead, where PHP’s web timeout does not apply.

wp wbcom-demo install <demo-key>

wp wbcom-demo list gives you the key. The command is available from installer version 3.2.0.

Memory exhausted

An error naming an allowed memory size means PHP ran out of room. 256M is the floor for a demo import and community demos want more, because activating imported members touches every user row.

Raise WP_MEMORY_LIMIT as above. If it does not take, your host caps it above WordPress and only they can raise it.

A required plugin did not install

Each demo declares the plugins it needs. Free ones install automatically. The installer cannot install a commercial plugin it has no download for, so it reports those instead and expects you to supply them.

Check what a demo needs before you start:

wp wbcom-demo plugins <demo-key>

That is a dry run. Install the commercial pieces yourself, then import.

A blocked outbound connection produces the same symptom for free plugins too. The import needs to reach wordpress.org and wbcomdesigns.com, so a firewall or a security plugin filtering outbound requests will stall it.

The import finished but the site looks wrong

Links point at the demo domain. The URL search and replace did not complete. Restore and re-import rather than fixing links by hand.

Menus are empty. Menu locations are not assigned. Go to Appearance > Menus > Manage Locations and assign them.

Member or group pages 404. Rewrite rules are stale after the import. Go to Settings > Permalinks and select Save Changes. See member or group pages return 404.

Images are missing. The uploads step did not finish, usually a permissions problem on wp-content/uploads or a timeout on a large archive.

Colours are not the demo’s. The import brings settings, but if you had already set a palette your value wins. See how the colour system works.

Getting back to clean

The reliable route is a fresh start, not a repair:

1. Restore the database and files backup you took before importing.
2. If you have no backup, start from a clean WordPress install. Cleaning a half-imported site by hand takes longer than reinstalling and is easy to get wrong.
3. Raise the limits, or switch to WP-CLI.
4. Import again.

wp wbcom-demo status reports the active theme, whether an import is mid-flight, and whether each demo’s plugin stack is satisfied, which is the quickest way to see what state you are actually in.

Report it

Open a ticket with the demo name, the step it failed on, your System status from Reign Settings > Tools, and the last lines of wp-content/debug.log with WP_DEBUG_LOG enabled. See white screen after activating for turning that on.