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WPCSV Express

Fast WP-CLI importer for WordPress. It creates posts from a CSV file, then downloads thumbnail URLs as featured images.

by WPCSV Express · github.com/ripon4/wpcsv

★ 0stars

Install

Download source zip No release zip yet

This is the repository archive. It installs, but the folder name will carry the branch suffix and updates will not flow.

Install straight from GitHub with WP-CLI:

wp plugin install https://github.com/ripon4/wpcsv/archive/refs/heads/main.zip
No built-in updater. New versions won't appear under Dashboard → Updates. Install new releases yourself, or let Git Updater track the repository.
Readme github.com/ripon4/wpcsv ↗

WPCSV by RipoN

WPCSV Express

Fast WP-CLI importer for WordPress. It creates posts from a CSV file, then downloads thumbnail URLs as featured images.

There are only two commands:

  1. wp csv-import posts — create posts
  2. wp csv-import thumbs — download featured images

Requirements

  • WordPress 5.8 or newer
  • PHP 7.4 or newer
  • WP-CLI installed on the server
  • curl enabled in PHP (used for parallel image downloads)

Install

  1. Copy wpcsv-express.php into:

    wp-content/mu-plugins/wpcsv-express.php

    Must-use plugins load automatically. You do not need to activate anything in wp-admin.

  2. Place your CSV in the WordPress root (the same folder as wp-config.php). The file must be named:

    posts.csv

    Typical path:

    /PathToWPRootFolder/public_html/posts.csv

CSV structure

Save the file as UTF-8. Use a header row. Column names are case-insensitive.

Column Required Description
Title Yes Post title
video_url No Video URL. Saved as post meta video_url. Also used to match existing posts
duration No Duration text. Saved as post meta duration
Categories No Comma-separated category names. Created if they do not exist
Model No Comma-separated names. Also accepts Models, Actor, Actors, or Actress
Series No Comma-separated series names
Thumbnail No Full image URL. Used by the thumbs command as the featured image
Tags No Comma-separated tags. Created if they do not exist

Example posts.csv

Title,duration,video_url,Categories,Model,Series,Thumbnail,Tags
Example One,12:34,https://cdn.example.com/one.mp4,"Drama, New","Jane Doe",Season One,https://cdn.example.com/one.jpg,"tag1, tag2"
Example Two,08:15,https://cdn.example.com/two.mp4,Comedy,John Smith,Season Two,https://cdn.example.com/two.jpg,featured

A copy of this layout is in posts.example.csv. Rename it to posts.csv and replace the sample rows.

Notes

  • Only Title is required. Empty title and empty video_url rows are skipped.
  • Multiple values in Categories, Model, Series, and Tags must be separated by commas.
  • If your theme registers a model (or actor) taxonomy, Model / Actor / Actress values are assigned there.
  • If your theme registers a series taxonomy, Series values are assigned there.
  • If those taxonomies are not registered, those columns are ignored. Categories and tags always apply.

Run

SSH into the server, then:

cd /PathToWPRootFolder/public_html

wp csv-import posts --dry-run
wp csv-import posts

wp csv-import thumbs --dry-run
wp csv-import thumbs

Always run --dry-run first. It prints counts and does not write to the database or download files.

What each command does

wp csv-import posts

  • Reads posts.csv from the WordPress root
  • Skips a row if the post already exists (matched by video_url, then by title)
  • Creates missing posts
  • Saves video_url and duration as post meta
  • Assigns categories, tags, model, and series
  • Spreads publish dates naturally: about 10–25 posts per day, going backward from today
  • Posts in the Uncut category are created as pending instead of published
  • Safe to run again. Existing posts are not duplicated

wp csv-import thumbs

  • Matches each CSV row to an existing post
  • Skips posts that already have a featured image
  • Downloads the Thumbnail URL into the Media Library
  • Sets it as the featured image
  • File name and image alt text use the post title
  • Safe to run again. Posts that already have an image are skipped

Run posts first, then thumbs.

Optional flags

Flag Commands Default Meaning
--csv=/full/path/file.csv both posts.csv in the WordPress root Use a different CSV path
--batch=500 posts 0 (all remaining) Create at most N new posts this run
--pending-category=Uncut posts Uncut Category that stays pending
--concurrency=8 thumbs 8 Parallel downloads (clamped 4–12)
--dry-run both off Count only

Examples:

wp csv-import posts --csv=/home/user/public_html/posts.csv
wp csv-import posts --batch=500
wp csv-import thumbs --concurrency=8

Matching rules

A CSV row matches an existing post when:

  1. video_url matches post meta video_url, or
  2. The title matches an existing post title (case-insensitive)

That is how both commands skip work that is already done.

License

GPL-2.0-or-later. See LICENSE.