Force the WordPress importer to update existing posts instead of skipping them

wordpress-import-update.php

<?php

/**
 * When using the WordPress Importer, update existing 
 * posts instead of skipping them. Updates content according
 * to the import file even if the existing post was updated
 * more recently.
 * 
 * To use, drop this file into your /mu-plugins/ folder or
 * copy this code into your functions.php file.
 */

class WPImporterUpdate {

	protected $existing_post;

	function __construct() {
		add_filter( 'wp_import_existing_post', [ $this, 'wp_import_existing_post' ], 10, 2 );
		add_filter( 'wp_import_post_data_processed', [ $this, 'wp_import_post_data_processed' ], 10, 2 );
	}

	function wp_import_existing_post( $post_id, $post ) {
		if ( $this->existing_post = $post_id ) {
			error_log('old post id found: '. $post_id); // log old post id
			if ( get_post_type( $post_id ) == 'attachment' ) { // check if this is attachment
    				error_log("but " . $post_id . " is an attachement, so ignoring"); // log attachement ignoring
    				$post_id = $post_id; // if attachment ignore, set post_id to real id
			} else {
				global $wpdb;
				$wpdb->delete( 'wp_postmeta', array( 'post_id' => $post_id ) ); //delete existing meta (assumes import contains all meta needed for post)
				$post_id = 0; // force the post to be imported
			}
		} else {
			error_log('new post created.'); // log new post created
		}
		return $post_id;
	}

	function wp_import_post_data_processed( $postdata, $post ) {
		if ( $this->existing_post ) {
			// update the existing post
			$postdata['ID'] = $this->existing_post;
		}
		return $postdata;
	}

}
new WPImporterUpdate;

@ssuess thanks for this code its really helpful 🥇

@ssuess Thanks for the code, it is what I needed. I do have one issue. When I run the import it changes all paragraph tags to break tags and puts the contents into one paragraph tag.

I'm wondering if this will update attached post or media?? I guess I will find out. My situation is unique because I'm using a custom post type... Now that I think of it I believe this will work. Thanks my MLS listing updates I have to run everyday are a million times faster now (I was deleting them then re-importing!)

@ssuess Thanks for the gist!
Line 27 seems to have a bug, it doesn't do anything.
Also, it wasn't working for me until I realized you hardcoded the $wpdb->prefix on line 30. It should be dynamic.

It was exactly what I needed, though!

Comments get duplicated.

Many many thanks for this - saved me much work!

Many many thanks for this - saved me much work!

Don't think it will solve everything, if you want something accurate you have to make changes still.

Many many thanks for this - saved me much work!

Don't think it will solve everything, if you want something accurate you have to make changes still.

For my limited use case, it was perfect.

Thanks a lot, @ssuess
What is the reason to do this?
$post_id = $post_id;

This tweak takes care of the duplicate comment issues..

function wp_import_existing_post( $post_id, $post ) {
if ( $this->existing_post = $post_id ) {
// log old post id
error_log('old post id found: '. $post_id);
// check if this is attachment
if ( get_post_type( $post_id ) == 'attachment' ) {
// log attachment ignoring
error_log("but " . $post_id . " is an attachment, so ignoring");
// if attachment ignore, set post_id to real id
$post_id = $post_id;
} else {
// delete existing meta (assumes import contains all meta needed for post)
global $wpdb;
$wpdb->delete( 'wp_postmeta', array( 'post_id' => $post_id ) );
// delete existing comments (assumes import contains all comments needed for post)
$comments = get_comments(array('post_id' => $post_id));
foreach($comments as $comment) {
// format comments
wp_delete_comment($comment->comment_ID, true);
}
// force the post to be imported
$post_id = 0;
}
} else {
// log new post created
error_log('new post created.');
}
return $post_id;
}
function wp_import_post_data_processed( $postdata, $post ) {
if ( $this->existing_post ) {
// update the existing post
$postdata['ID'] = $this->existing_post;
}
return $postdata;
}
}
new WPImporterUpdate;