Downloadable Product export / import

Hi @riaann,

It is senseless just to have the normal product information that you get with a simple or variable product, but not the actual file that needs to be downloaded as well.

When you export a product marked as “Downloadable” using the default WooCommerce exporter it creates a CSV file that has the URL of the downloadable file on it which normally is the absolute path.

If the downloadable file is kept in the original server where it was uploaded it will continue being available, unless you want to move it to another server. In that case, you’d want to move the file to the new server and there are quick ways to do it (FTP, Command line tools, third-party file sync software).

I’m not really sure what’s your purpose is here and how you would attach a file to a record in the CSV.

Hi @mirko P

When you import products from a csv file, the product images listed in the “Images” column of the csv file are being fetched and copied over to the server, meaning that there is an actual png / jpg file now in the uploads folder. The downloadable files listed in the “Download 1 URL” of the csv file are not being fetched. You need to go into your Cpanel and copy those files onto an external drive, and then copy it into the new domain. I suppose that is not a big deal with 10 – 20 products, but with more than 1000 it is.

This gets complicated and a tedious task especially when the site(s) in question is a multi-vendor site, and with WordPress dumping everything in the uploads folder /year /month the task becomes even more difficult to locate the correct file that needs to be copied over to the new domain.

You are talking about (FTP, Command line tools, third-party file sync software).

Please point me towards a tool that will help me import (migrate) a specific vendors products (all downloadable files) that is listed under the Download 1 URL of the csv file that was created during the export process, from Domain A to Domain B.

Hi @riaann,

I understand what you mean, but I don’t think there is a built-in way to bulk export selected files associated with downloadable products within the WordPress Media Library from one host to another host.

Using FTP or any migration tool can be fine if you only have a few selected files to move, but it is not feasible if you have a lot of files scattered here and there.

However, you can check if the most known plugins that advertise Media Library files migration have add-ons for what you’re wanting to do. Else, you could consult a developer or an expert in Codeable and see if there is a way to achieve that programmatically.

Since you have a multi-vendor site selling digital products, it would be a good idea to keep downloadable files separate from other media files using cloud storage, and this would be an easier way to manage them.

Hi there,

We’ve not heard back from you in a while so I’ll go ahead and mark this thread as resolved. Hopefully, you were able to find a way forward with the issue.

Please feel free to create a new thread if you have further questions.

Thanks.