Why are attempts to save an XML file of my site failing, again?
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Three attempts to save an XML file for my site failed this afternoon, between 4:03 PM and 4:15 PM, PDT. I’ve had this problem before. For about two years I’d been unable to save an XML, but became able to do so in May this year after (acting on a WP support suggestion) reducing the blog’s size. By eliminating unused and duplicate images as well as a number of duplicate posts, I lowered the “spaced used” percentage from 43% to 39%. It might have gone as low as 38%, and it’s probably grown a bit since May. If the failure is due to the size of the site, then perhaps reducing it again will help. Can WP support help me with this issue? Is the size of the site the cause of the failure?
For WordPress Staff:
The following draft page contains a screenshot of the error message received after the second of the three failures to download an XML file this afternoon. The other two attempts aborted without an error message appearing:http://songbook1.wordpress.com/?page_id=116017&preview=true
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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I can’t tell from the error message in your draft what the problem is, but it looks like a browser timeout issue. Exporting in smaller chunks will probably work for you. Try exporting one year at a time.
I have seen timeouts occur for other sites in the past if they have tens and thousands of comments or if they have thousands of categories or tags. In those cases, exporting in smaller chunks should work, and I think that should work for you too.
Another benefit of exporting in smaller chunks is that you won’t have to re-export the older posts/pages in the future and you should be able to just export the latest month each time you make a backup. So if you make regular backups, then exporting shouldn’t be much trouble at all in the future if you do it one month at a time.
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I can’t tell from the error message in your draft what the problem is, but it looks like a browser timeout issue.
It timed out every time I tried over about a two year period, until this Spring when I reduced the size by about 5 or 10% (forget). The site is is nearly the same size it was in May 2013 (39% space used) when I last successfully attempted to save the entire site’s XML file as a unit.
Exporting in smaller chunks will probably work for you. Try exporting one year at a time.
I could try small bits, though it’s more work. An XML for the entire site was save in May this year when the site was approximately the same size as it is now, 1,197.66MB space used (39%). What do you mean by one year at a time? Are there options on the export page for limiting by year?
Another benefit of exporting in smaller chunks is that you won’t have to re-export the older posts/pages in the future and you should be able to just export the latest month each time you make a backup.
Do appreciate the suggestion, but this is not really a valid option for me, because my posts and pages (especially on Songbook, but also on other sites) are frequently modified. I routinely edit and revise pages and posts all over the site, regardless of the year created.
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Yes, there are options on the export page to limit by date in months. Select Posts, Pages, or Feedback to see extra options appear.
If you are consistently changing past posts, then you need to export in chunks by year each time. It might work but just take a few extra steps, so I would still recommend trying it out.
I created and export for you *before* removing size-{sizename} classes from the songbook1.wordpress.com blog. I will email it to you separately.
The error shown in the screenshot you uploaded earlier was simply a browser timeout, so there’s not anything in that message that can help us. My best advice based on what I know so far would be to close down all other programs and browser tabs and windows and then try again or try exporting in smaller chunks. If you’re still having trouble after that, I can try to document any info you have about it that may be helpful and then report it to our developers to review at a later date the next time they review the export process.
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My best advice based on what I know so far would be to close down all other programs and browser tabs and windows and then try again or try exporting in smaller chunks.
Might have been a browser issue on the recent attempts. I’ll try again.
If you are consistently changing past posts, then you need to export in chunks by year each time. It might work but just take a few extra steps, so I would still recommend trying it out.
Seems very impractical. I might edit or revise 20 pages and/or posts in a day. One of the points I’ve made above is that I could export the entire blog previously when it was the same size, so it follows that I should be able to do it now. I’ll try to reduce it to 38% and see what happens.
I always accumulate images that are published but not displayed, and others which are unattached for various reasons.
I repeatedly run into issues like the following when trying to eliminate unused images from the media files:
- I often edit images and in my rush leave earlier edits in the page or post. This can and has resulted in several edits of a single image on a page/post. Creating duplicates of posts as pages or vice versa for a few years complicated the matter. I’ve sometimes had ten or even twenty versions of a single image in the media files to sort through.
- I’ve often used the top post whimsically, adding and subtracting videos and images to its principal content (a site index) from time to time. Have accumulated 100, 200 or more images, almost all unattached on a single post in this manner. More than once I deleted the top post only to find that all of the images remained as unattached. Now you’ve got to hunt for them to eliminate them.
- Some of the unattached images need to be re-attached, having been orphaned when I deleted many posts leaving only the (attachment-less) page duplicates back in Spring. I’ve ended up with many 404 errors numerous times for the same reason and should have known learned my lesson by now. It’s not easy to find the image out of 70 or so pages of unattached images which needs to be attached to page X.
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