WordPress – Schedule Automatic Imports from Google Sheets

In this guide, we will show you how to schedule automatic imports of WordPress content from Google Sheets, using WP Sheet Editor – Google Sheets Sync service.

This service allows you to integrate your WordPress website with your Google Sheets account to export and import content between WordPress and Google Sheets, using any WP Sheet Editor spreadsheet.

Here’s a list of some things you can do with the automatic import feature:

• Import WordPress posts and pages
• Create and update WooCommerce products and variation
• Import WooCommerce coupons
• Create and update WooCommerce memberships and members
• Create and update WooCommerce subscriptions
• Import WordPress users and customers
• Import donation forms
• Create and update events, attendees, organizers, and venues
• Create and update online courses, lessons, quizzes, students, and instructors
• Import membership plans and members
• Import SEO titles, descriptions, and keywords
• Create and update content for custom post types added by other plugins
• Create and update custom fields added by plugins like Advanced Custom Fields (ACF), PODS, and others
• And a lot more!

Importing WordPress content from Google Sheets automatically can be a productivity booster.

Note: This tutorial assumes you have installed and set up both the Automations add-on (read guide) and the Google Sheets Sync helper plugin (read guide) on your WordPress website, which you received when you signed up to the Google Sheets Sync service; and that you’re using any of the WP Sheet Editor spreadsheets.

It is important to note that our Google Sheets feature can only read files that were created by our app for security and privacy reasons. So the best way to start is to export one row from WordPress using our app, and add your data to the Google Sheet that was created by our app. And this export file also serves as an example so you can see the required columns and format. After this, our import feature will recognize the Google Sheet and you’ll be able to import it.

Here’s a sample Google Sheet containing a few posts:

Import WordPress content from Google Sheets immediately

With our Google Sheets Sync service, you can import WordPress content directly from Google Sheets. You don’t need to download a CSV to your computer because you can directly find the Google Sheet file you want to import, and WP Sheet Editor will directly pull the data from that Google Sheet.

The first import we want to show you is the immediate import from Google Sheets to WordPress.

This is not a scheduled import, so we will run it manually. But you can see how to schedule imports in the other sections of this tutorial.

Let’s start by opening the Import tool.

Once you open the Import tool, you need to configure it by selecting these values:

• Source: Google Sheets
• Google Sheet file: Search for the Google Sheet you want to import using this field.
• Click on Next.

Now you can select Import all the columns or you can Select individual columns to import.

If you don’t want to import specific columns, select the Select individual columns to import option and then select Ignore this column in every column you want to omit from the import.

Now let’s configure how the information will be imported from Google Sheets to WordPress:

• Do you want to update or create items: In this field, you have these options:
  • Create new items and update existing items
  • Import all rows as new
  • Only create new items, ignore existing items
  • Update existing items, ignore new items
• If you select any of the options to update existing content, you will need to match the content in the Google Sheet with the content in WordPress by using a specific field. In this case, we’ll select the ID field.
• Click on Next.

Now you’ll see a preview. If everything is OK, click on The preview is fine, start import.

Schedule one-time imports from Google Sheets

A great way to automate your WordPress content with Google Sheets is to schedule automatic imports from Google Sheets.

Let’s see how to schedule imports from Google Sheets to WordPress. The first import we will do is a one-time import.

For this, we will need to select the Google Sheets file we are going to import, and then select a date and time we want the import to run.

Let’s start by opening the Import tool.

Now we need to configure the following values to schedule this one-time import:

• Tick the Run this in the future checkbox.
• Select the date and time: Use the date and time picker to select the date and time you want the import to run.
• Notify this email address when the process finishes: Enter an email address here to receive an email when the import is complete.
• Select the Run once option.
• Name: You can add a name for this import.
• Source: Google Sheets
• Google Sheet file: Search for the Google Sheet you want to import using this field.
• Click on Next.

Now you can select Import all the columns or you can Select individual columns to import.

If you don’t want to import specific columns, select the Select individual columns to import option and then select Ignore this column in every column you want to omit from the import.

Now let’s configure how the information will be imported from Google Sheets to WordPress:

• Do you want to update or create items: In this field, you have these options:
  • Create new items and update existing items
  • Import all rows as new
  • Only create new items, ignore existing items
  • Update existing items, ignore new items
• If you select any of the options to update existing content, you will need to match the content in the Google Sheet with the content in WordPress by using a specific field. In this case, we’ll select the ID field.
• Click on Next.

Now you’ll see a preview. If everything is OK, click on The preview is fine, start import to schedule the import.

You’ll see a link to view the scheduled import in the Scheduled imports pop-up.

Schedule real-time imports from Google Sheets

Let’s see how to schedule a real-time import from Google Sheets to WordPress.

This means that you will import all the information the first time, and then WP Sheet Editor will automatically detect when you make any changes in Google Sheets and apply those changes in your WordPress site.

Let’s start by opening the Import tool.

Now we need to configure the following values to schedule this real-time import:

• Tick the Run this in the future checkbox.
• Select the date and time: Use the date and time picker to select the date and time you want the import to run.
• Notify this email address when the process finishes: Enter an email address here to receive an email when the import is complete.
• Select the Run once option.
• Name: You can add a name for this import.
• Source: Google Sheets
• Google Sheet file: Search for the Google Sheet you want to import using this field.
• Tick the Monitor and import changes made on Google Sheets checkbox.
• Click on Next.

Now you can select Import all the columns or you can Select individual columns to import.

If you don’t want to import specific columns, select the Select individual columns to import option and then select Ignore this column in every column you want to omit from the import.

Now let’s configure how the information will be imported from Google Sheets to WordPress:

• Do you want to update or create items: In this field, you have these options:
  • Create new items and update existing items
  • Import all rows as new
  • Only create new items, ignore existing items
  • Update existing items, ignore new items
• If you select any of the options to update existing content, you will need to match the content in the Google Sheet with the content in WordPress by using a specific field. In this case, we’ll select the ID field.
• Click on Next.

Now you’ll see a preview. If everything is OK, click on The preview is fine, start import to schedule the import.

You’ll see a link to view the scheduled import in the Scheduled imports pop-up.

Schedule recurring imports from Google Sheets

Let’s see how to schedule recurring imports from Google Sheets to WordPress. This means that the import will run every X minutes, hours, days, weeks or months.

This is a good option if you want to use the same Google Sheet to import changes periodically. For example, you can apply changes to your WordPress content in Google Sheets during the day, and the changes will be imported every night at the selected time. However, this will process all the rows from Google Sheets every time. If you only want to import the modified rows from Google Sheets in the future, the real time import is your best option.

Start by opening the Import tool.

Now we need to configure the following values to schedule this recurring import:

• Tick the Run this in the future checkbox.
• Select the date and time: Use the date and time picker to select the date and time you want the import to run.
• Notify this email address when the process finishes: Enter an email address here to receive an email when the import is complete.
• Select the Run in recurring intervals option.
• Run every: Enter the number, and then select any of these time units:
  • Minute(s)
  • Hour(s)
  • Day(s)
  • Week(s)
  • Month(s)
• Name: You can add a name for this import.
• Source: Google Sheets
• Google Sheet file: Search for the Google Sheet you want to import using this field.
• Click on Next.

Now you can select Import all the columns or you can Select individual columns to import.

If you don’t want to import specific columns, select the Select individual columns to import option and then select Ignore this column in every column you want to omit from the import.

Now let’s configure how the information will be imported from Google Sheets to WordPress:

• Do you want to update or create items: In this field, you have these options:
  • Create new items and update existing items
  • Import all rows as new
  • Only create new items, ignore existing items
  • Update existing items, ignore new items
• If you select any of the options to update existing content, you will need to match the content in the Google Sheet with the content in WordPress by using a specific field. In this case, we’ll select the ID field.
• Click on Next.

Now you’ll see a preview. If everything is OK, click on The preview is fine, start import to schedule the import.

You’ll see a link to view the scheduled import in the Scheduled imports pop-up.

Understand the scheduled jobs popup

To understand the scheduled jobs popup, you can click here.

Advanced settings

We have prepared a guide where you can understand the advanced settings of the Google Sheets Sync helper plugin.

You can click here to read it.

In this tutorial, we have shown you how to schedule automatic imports from Google Sheets to WordPress, using our Google Sheets Sync service.

You can create immediate imports, and you can also schedule one-time imports, real-time imports, and recurring imports.