Astra fix
Astra Starter Templates Import Failed or Stuck? What to Do Next
A Starter Templates import is not one action. It is a queue: required plugins, Customizer settings, content, site options, widgets and then images fetched in the background. The step where it stopped tells you what is already on your site and what never arrived.
- [1/6] Required plugins installed and activated
- [2/6] Customizer settings imported
- [3/6] Importing XML content: 41 of 118 items
- POST /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php 504 (Gateway Timeout)
- [4/6] Site options: not started
- [5/6] Widgets: not started
What you are seeing
- The progress bar sits on one step for many minutes
- A notice says the site does not meet the import requirements
- Pages arrived, but their pictures are missing or load from another address
- Colors and fonts changed and the demo pages never appeared
- A premium template refuses to import at all
Why it happens on Astra
Most common first.
- 1
The server gave up during the content step
Content arrives as one large XML file, and the importer has to create every page, menu item and attachment it describes. On modest hosting the request runs past the server's time or memory allowance and is cut off without a word. The browser goes on showing a progress bar for a job that ended minutes ago.
- 2
The site failed the importer's own requirements
Before it begins, Starter Templates checks the server for what it needs, including PHP's XMLReader extension, outbound connections and write access to the uploads folder. A host with XMLReader switched off cannot read the content file at all. The requirements notice names the missing piece, and most hosts will enable it on request.
- 3
The site cannot reach the template library
Layouts, settings files and images are downloaded from Brainstorm Force's library servers at the moment of import. A firewall, a security plugin that filters outbound requests or a locked-down host blocks those downloads. The import then fails early or completes with pages full of empty image frames.
- 4
The background image pass never ran
Not every image is copied during the visible import. A background process downloads them afterward and rewrites the addresses in your pages, and it depends on the site being able to call itself and on WordPress's scheduler. Where either is disabled, the pages keep pointing at pictures on the demo server.
- 5
A premium template without an active license
Templates marked Premium import only when the Premium Starter Templates plugin is installed and licensed. With a lapsed or missing license the library still displays them, which is how people come to wait on a template that was never going to arrive.
How to fix it, in order
Least invasive first. Stop at the step that fixes it.
- 1
Stop and take stock before retrying
Do not start a second import yet. If the site is live, take a backup or restore the one from before the attempt. Then open Pages, Media and Plugins and note what the first run created. A repeat import on top of a partial one doubles pages and menus, and the cleanup grows with each try.
- 2
Read the requirements notice and fix what it names
Go to Appearance, Starter Templates and proceed as far as the requirements check. If it flags XMLReader or file permissions, ask the host to enable the extension or correct the folder. Tools, Site Health, Info, Server lists the PHP version and limits worth quoting in the ticket.
- 3
Clear the way for the downloads
Switch off maintenance or coming-soon mode and pause security and firewall plugins for the duration. If the host filters outbound connections, ask them to allow requests to the Starter Templates library. Turn everything back on afterward.
- 4
Re-run with cleanup on and fewer parts
On the import screen, open the advanced options. Tick the choice to delete the previously imported site so the first attempt's pages and images are removed, and untick parts that already succeeded. If the full site keeps failing, import individual pages from the template instead. Each one is a far smaller job.
- 5
Let the image pass finish
After a successful run, leave the site alone for a while and then open several pages. If images still load from the demo address, confirm that nothing has disabled WP-Cron and that Tools, Site Health reports no loopback or scheduled event failures.
- 6
Use the command line when the browser cannot hold on
Where the host provides SSH and WP-CLI, the Starter Templates plugin can run an import from the command line, which is not at the mercy of a browser request timing out. It is the dependable route for large templates on slow servers, and the point where many owners hand the job over.
Keep it from coming back
- Import onto an empty staging site, never over live content
- Read the requirements screen before choosing a template, not after
- Import single pages when you only need a layout or two
- Confirm the license is active before picking a premium template
The permanent fix
A faster Next.js build, with a CMS made for your business
One failed import is a hosting limit or a blocked download, and it gets fixed. If the plan is to import a demo, swap the words and call it a website, weigh what you are left with: someone else's layout, a plugin list chosen by the template and a server that struggled to install it. A Next.js build starts from your content, ships as static pages and gives you a custom CMS for editing, so there is no importer, no demo to clean out and nothing for the host to time out on.
| On Astra today | On Next.js with a custom CMS | |
|---|---|---|
| What you keep updated | WordPress, the theme, its builder and every bundled plugin, all in step | Nothing on a schedule. There is no theme or plugin stack to fall out of step |
| How a page is served | Built from the database on each visit, through the theme and its builder | Built ahead of time and served as finished files from servers near the visitor |
| How you edit it | A general-purpose builder with every option the theme ships | A CMS built around what your business actually changes: services, prices, photos, posts |
| What can break it | An update to any one of those parts, or a license that lapses | A change someone makes on purpose, tested before it goes live |
Your content, your addresses and your rankings come with you: every page is moved, every old address is redirected, and you get a login to an editor that only shows what you need. A repair is still the right call for many sites, and we will say so when it is.
Want this fixed on your Astra site?
Tell us what you are seeing. We look at the site, tell you plainly what is wrong and what it takes, and quote a fixed price before any work starts.
Which of these sounds like you? (pick any)
Frequently asked
Usually a few minutes on reasonable hosting. Plugins and settings go quickly, and the content step takes longest. If one step has shown no movement for ten minutes, the request behind it has almost certainly ended, and more waiting will not revive it.
Probably, yes. Customizer settings are applied early, so colors, fonts and header layout may already be the template's. Plugins the template needs may be installed and active. Your own pages are not deleted by an import, though a new menu or home page assignment can make it look that way.
The importer brings pages in first and copies the pictures across afterward in a background task. Until that task finishes, image addresses point at the demo server. If they never change, the task is not running, which is a scheduler or loopback problem on your host and not a fault in the template.
A whole-site import suits a brand-new, empty install. On a site with real content, single pages are safer: they add a layout without replacing your Customizer settings, menus or home page. They are also small enough to succeed on hosting where the full import stalls.
Keep reading
- ServiceFixing WordPress PluginsOne bad plugin can take your whole site down. We fix plugin conflicts, fatal errors, and security holes fast — and build custom plugins when the off-the-shelf ones fall short.
- ServiceWebsite Hosting & Maintenance PlansThe watching after launch: managed hosting, tested updates, backups that restore, security and uptime monitoring, and small edits done within a day, month to month.
- ServiceBest WordPress DesignA WordPress site that looks the part and does the work. Custom design, fast pages, and a layout built to turn visitors into customers.