WordPress Importer – Download and Import Attachments

Problem: Never really known how to Export/Import a WordPress XML file.

The test:

1. Fresh WP install.
2. Imported All content XML file. (from old site > Tools > Export > Choose what to export > All content)
3. Chose: Download and Import Attachments.

Result?
– ALL 595 Posts came in. Good.
– All 32 Pages came in. Good.
– Menus came in. Good.
– Image URL paths show up correctly in Posts/Pages, but NO images are in the Media Library.

Next: Upload all the images manually to /wp-content/images/

Result? All image paths are still correctly in place on Posts and Pages. BUT, still, no images in the Media Library.

Phase 2 (since the images didn’t make it into the Media Library)

Install plugin: Media from FTP (to register images with the Media Library). This works correctly: registers the images that I FTP uploaded to root/wp-content/images/ and sticks’em in the Media Library. However, the images remain Unattached to any Posts. (The image path in a Post still works, and displays an image properly. But the images are not attached to any Post via the Media Library).