WPML Export and Import: worth it for structured multilingual migrations

WPML Export and Import is a connector, not a standalone importer. Its job is to tell WPML which language each imported row belongs to and which rows are translations of one another. The actual data movement still comes from WP All Import, the native WooCommerce CSV Importer, the standard WordPress importer, or a custom CSV/XML script.

That distinction makes the plugin genuinely useful for large multilingual sites. A WooCommerce catalogue, real-estate feed, event database, supplier catalogue, or custom post type can be imported in bulk without manually creating every language relationship. With the right export, translated products remain connected to their source products, and categories, attributes, and variations can follow the relevant language structure.

The strongest use case is a WPML site receiving structured data from somewhere else. The official workflow supports WP All Import Pro and WP All Export Pro, WooCommerce’s importer, WordPress’s importer, and custom pipelines. Scheduled imports can also trigger the WPML processing step automatically, and developers can run it from WP-CLI with the command wp wpml import process. That makes it more suitable for recurring catalogue or feed synchronisation than a basic migration-only plugin.

Where it is genuinely strong

• It preserves translation relationships instead of importing every language version as an unrelated post or product.
• It supports multilingual WooCommerce data, including translated custom attribute labels for variable products.
• It can work with custom CSV or XML feeds rather than requiring one specific data source.
• It is included with WPML Multilingual CMS and Agency, so existing WPML customers do not need a separate add-on purchase.

Where it becomes frustrating

The setup is more technical than the marketplace description suggests. For a custom file, every row needs three language fields: _wpml_import_translation_group, _wpml_import_language_code, and _wpml_import_source_language_code. Those fields must be mapped correctly as custom fields or term meta. Taxonomies generally need to be imported before posts or products, and all target languages must already exist in WPML.

There is also a two-stage process. First, the import plugin brings in the content; then you open WPML’s Export and Import screen and run the wiring step. Before that happens, imported content can sit in the default language and remain in Draft status. Unsupported import plugins may require manual publishing afterward. A support-forum migration thread also shows a less obvious limitation: importing redesigned pages does not automatically connect them to existing translations when the page IDs change.

How it compares

Compared with WP All Import and WP All Export, WPML Export and Import is narrower but adds the multilingual relationship layer those tools do not provide on their own. Compared with the native WooCommerce CSV Importer, it is more capable for translated catalogues but requires more preparation. Compared with the old WPML All Import workflow, this is the current replacement; WPML says the legacy plugin is no longer supported or recommended. If you are not already committed to WPML, simpler multilingual tools such as Polylang or TranslatePress may be easier for smaller sites, though they do not make this exact WPML migration workflow relevant.

Verdict: use it when multilingual data migration is a recurring operational problem. Skip it for ordinary imports, small sites, or workflows where you want the importer to discover and connect translations without carefully prepared metadata.