HTML Page Importer

A WordPress plugin that allows you to import HTML files as pages. The plugin extracts content from specific HTML elements and creates WordPress pages with proper formatting.

Features

• Multiple File Import: Select and import multiple HTML files at once
• Smart Content Extraction:
  • Title from <h1> tag
  • Content from <div class="page-content"> with cleaned HTML
• Flexible Import Options:
  • Set page status (Draft, Published, Pending)
  • Assign page author
  • Set page category
• Clean HTML: Automatically removes inline styles, extra attributes (paraeid, paraid), and cleans up the content
• Import Tracking: Logs all imports with success/failure status
• User-Friendly Interface: Modern admin interface with progress tracking and detailed results

Installation

1. Copy the page-importer folder to /wp-content/plugins/ directory
2. Activate the plugin through the 'Plugins' menu in WordPress
3. Navigate to 'HTML Importer' in the WordPress admin menu

Usage

1. Navigate to the Plugin

   • Go to WordPress Admin → HTML Importer

2. Select HTML Files

   • Click "Select HTML Files" button
   • Choose one or more HTML files from your computer
   • Files must be in .html or .htm format

3. Configure Import Settings

   • Page Status: Choose Draft, Published, or Pending Review
   • Page Author: Select the author for imported pages
   • Page Category: Optionally assign a category

4. Import Files

   • Click "Import Files" button
   • Watch the progress bar as files are processed
   • Review the results showing successful and failed imports

5. Review Imported Pages

   • Successful imports show Edit and View links
   • Edit pages to make any final adjustments
   • Publish draft pages when ready

HTML File Requirements

Your HTML files should have the following structure:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Page Title</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>Page Title Here</h1>

    <div class="page-content">
        <p>Your content here...</p>
        <p>More content...</p>
    </div>

    <div><small>6th January 2026</small></div>
</body>
</html>

Required Elements

• <h1>: The first h1 tag will be used as the page title
• <div class="page-content">: Content within this div will be imported as page content
• <small>: The first small tag will be parsed as the page date (optional)

Content Cleaning

The plugin automatically:

• Removes style attributes
• Removes class attributes
• Removes custom attributes like paraeid and paraid
• Preserves semantic HTML tags (p, img, a, strong, em, etc.)
• Maintains image src and link href attributes

File Structure

page-importer/
├── html-page-importer.php          # Main plugin file
├── README.md                        # This file
├── assets/
│   ├── css/
│   │   └── admin-style.css         # Admin interface styles
│   └── js/
│       └── admin-script.js         # Admin interface JavaScript
└── includes/
    ├── class-admin-ui.php          # Admin interface
    ├── class-ajax-handler.php      # AJAX request handling
    ├── class-content-extractor.php # HTML parsing and extraction
    ├── class-importer.php          # Page creation logic
    └── class-logger.php            # Import logging

Technical Details

Content Extraction

The plugin uses PHP's DOMDocument and DOMXPath to parse HTML:

• Safely handles malformed HTML
• Extracts content from specific elements
• Cleans and sanitizes HTML before importing

Date Parsing

Dates are parsed using PHP's DateTime class:

• Handles various date formats
• Removes ordinal suffixes (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.)
• Stores in WordPress standard format (Y-m-d H:i:s)
• Falls back to current date if parsing fails

Import Logging

All imports are logged in the database:

• Track successful and failed imports
• Store original filename
• Record user who performed the import
• View import history and statistics

Troubleshooting

"No title found in HTML file"

• Ensure your HTML file contains an <h1> tag
• Check that the h1 tag is not empty

"No content found in HTML file"

• Verify your HTML has a <div class="page-content"> element
• Check that the div contains content

"File validation failed"

• Ensure file is .html or .htm format
• Check file size is under 10MB
• Verify file is not corrupted

Images not displaying

• Relative image URLs may need to be updated
• Consider using absolute URLs for images
• Or upload images to WordPress media library separately

Support

For issues or questions:

1. Check that your HTML files meet the required structure
2. Review the import results for specific error messages
3. Check WordPress error logs for detailed information

Changelog

Version 1.0.0

• Initial release
• Multiple file import support
• Content extraction from h1, div.page-content, and small tags
• HTML cleaning and sanitization
• Import logging and statistics
• Modern admin interface

License

GPL v2 or later

Credits

Developed for Diocese of Manchester Based on the Ultimate Content Importer structure