Resolve import errors
Imports fail in a small number of recognizable ways. This page maps each symptom to its cause and its fix.
Messages the screen can show
| Message | Meaning | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No valid data to process / No valid data received | The table was empty, or no row had a title | Paste again into the first cell; check the title column is not blank |
| Unsupported post type | That menu type has no bulk table | Tasting menus and set menus are edited individually |
| Invalid category selected / Invalid category taxonomy | The chosen category no longer exists | Reload the screen and choose again |
| You do not have permission to perform this action | The account cannot edit posts | Use an account with the right role |
| You do not have permission to assign this category | The account cannot assign categories | Ask an administrator to run the import |
Nothing happened when I pasted
- Paste into the first cell of the table.
- Copy from the spreadsheet itself, not from a rendered web table or a PDF.
- Copy the data rows only, without the heading row.
The values are in the wrong columns
Columns map by position, not by heading text. Reorder the spreadsheet columns to match the table on screen and paste again.
If you already saved, the damage is a set of items with prices in the wrong fields. Fix it by re-importing the same titles with the columns in the correct order — matched rows are updated in place.
Duplicates were created
Titles did not match exactly. Common causes: a trailing space, different capitalization, a curly apostrophe, a differently encoded accent, or a vintage added to a wine name.
To recover:
- Identify the duplicates on All items — sorting the fresh export by title makes them obvious.
- Delete the unwanted copies, remembering that deletion is permanent.
- Rebuild the import sheet from an export so the titles are exact.
- Re-import.
An item called "Dish name" appeared
The heading row was pasted. Delete that item and paste the data rows only.
Prices show a currency symbol twice
The value carries a symbol from the spreadsheet and the PDF generator adds a prefix. Decide which one you want:
- clear the symbol from the data by re-importing plain values;
- or clear the PDF prefix.
A price did not change
Empty cells are skipped by design. If the cell was blank, nothing was applied. If it had a value and the item still shows the old price:
- Confirm the row actually matched — the counts would show it as updated, not created.
- Confirm you are looking at the right price format.
- Check the public page signed out and reload, in case a cache is serving an old copy.
Everything landed in the wrong section
The batch's category applies to every row it touches, matched rows included. Re-import the affected titles with the correct category selected and empty price cells, which moves them without changing anything else.
The order of the menu is scrambled
Expected: newly created items are appended, and matched items are moved to the end. Re-order the affected sections on All items after the import, not before.
The import was slow or seemed stuck
Large batches take time and the screen reports the elapsed seconds. Work in smaller batches — one category at a time — which are faster to save and possible to review.
When in doubt, compare exports
The fastest diagnosis for any import result is a fresh export compared against the "before" file. Differences you did not intend are obvious in a spreadsheet.
If you did not take a "before" export, take one now — it becomes the baseline for the next operation. See A safe bulk update workflow.