Contents

Import / Export — Plugixa FAQ

Move FAQs in and out of the plugin in three formats: JSON, CSV, and styled PDF. Useful for migrating from other FAQ plugins, backing up content, syncing staging and production, or producing a printable knowledge base.

Export

From the admin

  1. Go to Plugixa FAQ → FAQs.
  2. Select the rows you want (or don’t select any to export all).
  3. Bulk actions → Export (JSON / CSV / PDF).

Formats

Format Use case
JSON Full fidelity — every field, every custom field, every translation link. Import it back for a loss-less restore.
CSV Spreadsheet-friendly — for bulk editing in Excel or Google Sheets, then re-importing.
PDF Human-readable — a print-ready document with your branding.

JSON structure

{
  "version": "1.0",
  "exported_at": "2026-04-17T10:30:00Z",
  "plugin_version": "1.0.5",
  "categories": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "name": "Shipping",
      "slug": "shipping",
      "description": "...",
      "color": "#4a90e2",
      "icon": "dashicons-cart",
      "translation_group": "abc-123...",
      "language_code": "en"
    }
  ],
  "faqs": [
    {
      "id": 42,
      "question": "How long does shipping take?",
      "answer": "<p>Typically 3-5 business days...</p>",
      "category_slug": "shipping",
      "status": "published",
      "menu_order": 0,
      "custom_fields": {
        "shipping_region": "global",
        "estimated_days": "3-5"
      },
      "translation_group": "def-456...",
      "language_code": "en"
    }
  ],
  "custom_field_definitions": [ ... ]
}

CSV columns

Default columns:

question, answer, category_slug, status, visibility, author_alias,
menu_order, language_code, translation_group

Plus one column per custom field: cf__{field_key}.

PDF export

A styled document with table of contents, categorized sections, and optionally a cover page.

Query parameters:

Parameter Values Default
ids CSV of FAQ IDs (all)
category_id Category ID (all)
title Cover page title “Frequently Asked Questions”
paper_size a4, letter, legal a4
orientation portrait, landscape portrait 
GET /wp-json/plugixa-faq/v1/faqs/export-pdf?paper_size=a4&title=My%20Help%20Center

PDF generation uses DomPDF (loaded via the plugin’s class-pdf-generator.php). Fonts are bundled — no system font dependency.

Import

From the admin

  1. Go to Plugixa FAQ → FAQs → Import.
  2. Upload a JSON or CSV file (drag-and-drop or file picker).
  3. Review the preview — you’ll see how many items will be created vs updated.
  4. Click Import.

Import behavior

  • New items — created with status = draft by default (override in the import dialog).
  • Existing items — matched by translation_group (JSON) or by exact question text (CSV). If a match exists, the row is updated.
  • Categories — auto-created if a slug in the file doesn’t exist.
  • Custom fields — values are set for existing field definitions; new keys create new definitions.
  • Translations — translation_group UUIDs are preserved so links survive the round-trip.

Conflict handling

Conflict Behavior
Duplicate slug Suffixed with -2, -3, etc.
Missing category Created.
Missing custom-field definition Created as text type (you can change it afterwards).
Invalid HTML in answer Stripped via wp_kses_post.

REST API

# Export JSON
GET /wp-json/plugixa-faq/v1/faqs/export?format=json

# Export CSV (specific category)
GET /wp-json/plugixa-faq/v1/faqs/export?format=csv&category_id=5

# Export PDF (specific FAQs, landscape letter)
GET /wp-json/plugixa-faq/v1/faqs/export-pdf?ids=1,5,12&paper_size=letter&orientation=landscape

# Import
POST /wp-json/plugixa-faq/v1/faqs/import
Content-Type: multipart/form-data
# field "file" containing the JSON/CSV

Migrating from other FAQ plugins

Source plugin Approach
Ultimate FAQ Export to CSV (or its native export), clean columns in a spreadsheet to match Plugixa’s, import CSV.
Easy Accordion Plugixa doesn’t have a direct import; extract to CSV manually.
Arconix FAQ Export as posts, then use the WordPress importer, then change post_type in the DB and reassign.
Custom post type WP-CLI: wp post list --post_type=faq --format=json → transform → POST to /faqs/import.

For all migrations, we recommend:

  1. Stage on a dev site first.
  2. Back up the DB before running a production import.
  3. Review a sample batch (20-50) before full import.

CLI (advanced)

If you have WP-CLI access:

# Export all FAQs to JSON
wp plugixa-faq export --format=json > faqs-backup.json

# Import
wp plugixa-faq import faqs-backup.json

CLI commands are registered under WP_CLI\CommandRegistry::register when the plugin boots in CLI context.

Hooks

Hook Type Purpose
plugixa_faq_export_data filter Modify the payload before serialization.
plugixa_faq_import_row filter Modify each row before insert/update.
plugixa_faq_before_import action Before the batch starts.
plugixa_faq_after_import action After the batch completes ($stats).
plugixa_faq_import_conflict filter Override conflict resolution per row.
plugixa_faq_pdf_generator_config filter Override DomPDF options (paper, fonts).

Troubleshooting

Import stopped midway

Large imports time out. Split into smaller batches (< 500 rows per file). The process resumes cleanly on the next run — no duplicates if translation_groups are present.

CSV with non-English characters mangles

Re-save the CSV as UTF-8 with BOM in Excel (or --encoding=utf-8 in LibreOffice). The importer assumes UTF-8.

PDF export returns 500

Most often a memory issue with large exports. In wp-config.php, raise WP_MAX_MEMORY_LIMIT to 512M. For truly large knowledge bases, export per-category as separate PDFs.

Quick Links

Plugin page Changelog