Kadence fix
Kadence Starter Template Import Failed or Stuck Partway?
The Kadence importer runs in your browser tab, one request after another: plugins, then pages and images, then widgets, Customizer settings and the final menu and home page assignments. When a request fails, the progress indicator simply stops. What remains is a site with some demo content and few of the settings that make it look like the demo.
What you are seeing
- The import screen spins on one stage and never completes
- Demo pages exist, dressed in default colors and fonts
- Images are placeholders or absent from the Media Library
- The menu is empty and the home page still lists your latest posts
- An error appears, then the screen offers to start over
Why it happens on Kadence
Most common first.
- 1
A request died during the content stage
Pages, posts and images come early and take longest, because each demo image is downloaded and saved to your Media Library along the way. On slow or tightly limited hosting one of those requests times out or runs short of memory. The importer cannot resume a request the server abandoned.
- 2
The design settings come last, so a stall leaves the site bare
Widgets, Customizer settings, menu locations and the home page assignment are applied toward the end of the run. An import that stops early leaves pages built from Kadence blocks sitting in the default palette and fonts, with no header menu. It looks ruined. It is mostly unfinished.
- 3
A required plugin did not install
Templates depend on Kadence Blocks and, depending on the design, on other plugins such as a form plugin or WooCommerce. If the host blocks plugin installation, or a file permission problem interrupts it, the content that follows refers to blocks the site cannot render.
- 4
The tab was closed or the session expired
Because the browser drives the import, navigating away, letting the laptop sleep or being logged out midway ends it. Nothing on the server carries on without the tab.
- 5
The template needs something the site lacks
Pro templates require an active Kadence license, and templates built for Elementor need Elementor installed. A child theme adds a quieter trap. Kadence saves Customizer settings against the active theme, so an import done on the parent appears to lose its design when the child is activated later.
How to fix it, in order
Least invasive first. Stop at the step that fixes it.
- 1
Decide between finishing and starting clean
If this is a new site with nothing of your own on it, starting clean is quicker. If real content was already there, restore the backup taken before the import, or copy the site to staging and continue there. Do not keep retrying on a live site.
- 2
Prepare the site for a clean run
Activate the Kadence theme, or the child theme you intend to keep. Update Kadence Blocks and the Starter Templates plugin, and pause security and caching plugins for the duration. Confirm the Kadence license is active if the template is marked Pro.
- 3
Re-import with previous data removed
Go to Appearance, Kadence, Starter Templates and choose the same template. Select the full site option and enable the setting that deletes previously imported posts and images, so the first attempt's leftovers are cleared. Keep the tab open and the computer awake until the completion screen appears.
- 4
If the full site stalls again, import in pieces
Use the single page option to bring in the pages you need one at a time. Each is a small request that slow hosting can complete. You then set the palette and fonts yourself under Customize, Colors & Fonts, which takes minutes and leaves you knowing where they live.
- 5
Finish the assignments by hand
Where content arrived and the last stage did not, assign the menu under Appearance, Menus, Manage Locations, choose the home page under Settings, Reading and check Appearance, Widgets for the footer. These are the jobs the importer performs at the end, and doing them manually is often faster than a third attempt.
- 6
Clear out what you will not use
Delete demo posts, unused demo pages and placeholder images. Remove any plugin the template installed that the business does not need, then switch security and caching back on.
Keep it from coming back
- Run full-site imports on a fresh install or a staging copy only
- Activate the child theme before importing, not after
- Keep the import tab in front until it reports completion
- Choose a template for its structure, since the rest gets replaced anyway
The permanent fix
A faster Next.js build, with a CMS made for your business
A starter template is a fast way to a respectable site, and for many businesses that is the right call. It becomes the wrong one when you are importing a second or third template hoping one will fit, because the business needs a design made for it. A Next.js build with a custom CMS begins with what you sell and who buys it, and there is no demo content to remove afterward.
| On Kadence 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 Kadence 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
Because the palette, fonts and header come from Customizer settings, and the importer applies those after the content. If it stopped before that stage, the pages are present but dressed in Kadence defaults. Completing the import, or setting colors and typography yourself, brings the design back.
A full site import does not delete pages you wrote, but it replaces Customizer settings, can change the home page and menu assignments and adds its own pages beside yours. The single page option adds one layout and leaves settings alone. On a site with real content, use single pages or work on a staging copy.
Yes. The browser sends each stage of the import and waits for the answer before sending the next. Close the tab, lose the connection or let the session expire and the sequence ends where it was. Plug the laptop in and leave the tab in front.
Kadence stores Customizer settings against whichever theme is active. Settings imported while the parent was active stay with the parent, and the child starts from defaults. Export the settings from the parent and import them into the child with the Customizer's Import/Export panel, or activate the child first and run the import again.
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