Import stuck on “done preparing blogs”

front end of the site is still accessible, but images aren’t loading properly, so looks like the import has done something, but definitely hasn’t completed.

@jon-fergus

Is it uploading or importing and what percent do you see or message on the page?
Can you login to the dashboard in a new browser window?

It’s importing an already uploaded file. It shows the spinning icon and says “done preparing blogs”.

I can’t access the dashboard from a new browser window.

This message is displayed the very beginning of the import process. Most of the files have not been imported if any.
What helps is to redo the import with an increased max_execution_time

What hosting provider and plan are you using?

So should I close the browser window to stop the import process?

I’m with Dreamhost. My max_execution_time is set to 100000. Never had any problem before with exporting or importing, including 2 days ago when I setup the staging site using this plugin.

Yes. Closing the window will stop the import.
You can also reach me via support at servmask.com and to look at this issue together.

I closed the browser window. But I’m still not able to access my wp dashboard. It says “This page isn’t working
https://www.universaltheosophy.com is currently unable to handle this request.
HTTP ERROR 500”

What I usually do is to first clean the database, then reinstall WordPress and attempt the import again.

Before you do that could you edit your wp-config.php and change WP_DEBUG to TRUE.
Save the file and refresh the dashboard page. Do you see an error message? What does it say?

Debug gives the following errors:

Notice: Undefined variable: text_domain in /universaltheosophy.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-category-posts-list/wp-category-post-list.php on line 56

Deprecated: Methods with the same name as their class will not be constructors in a future version of PHP; WP_Category_Post_List_itg has a deprecated constructor in /universaltheosophy.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-category-posts-list/includes/wp_cpl_widget.php on line 10

Warning: require_once(/universaltheosophy.com/wp-content/themes/goodnews5/framework/addons/addons.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /universaltheosophy.com/wp-content/themes/goodnews5/framework/main.php on line 76

Fatal error: require_once(): Failed opening required ‘/universaltheosophy.com/wp-content/themes/goodnews5/framework/addons/addons.php’ (include_path=’.:’) in /universaltheosophy.com/wp-content/themes/goodnews5/framework/main.php on line 76

• This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by Jon Fergus.

Awesome. Lets rename goodnews5 theme folder to goodnews5-back
Return wp_debug to false and refresh the page. It should load now?

Ok, I’m able to access the dashboard again.

Should I try the import again?

No. Do not import again, you will reach the same problem. Is the theme proprietary? Any chance that it might not be allowing you to run it on more than 1 website?
To get a successful migrarion, export the site again but this time use advanced options and exclude the theme. Import the file and the install the theme.

It might also be a different PHP version between source and destination websites.

Ok. I’ll try that.

PHP version is the same.

The theme is proprietary, but I’ve never had a problem with migrating from staging before.

I’ll try what you recommended now.

Ok, I went ahead and imported from a previous backup (not from the staging site, but from the main site before I had worked on the staging copy). It imported fine and restored the site to where it was.

I’ll experiment with what you recommended later, after checking with the theme creators. Thanks for the help.

Sure. Keep me posted. I am glad I was able to help.