{"id":2991564,"date":"2019-11-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-14T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wpallimport.com\/documentation\/import\/custom-fields\/serialized-fields\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T18:30:45","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T18:30:45","slug":"serialized-fields","status":"publish","type":"documentation","link":"https:\/\/www.wpallimport.com\/documentation\/serialized-fields\/","title":{"rendered":"Serialized Fields"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you aren\u2019t a developer and don\u2019t know what serialization is, this article will probably be over your head. Developers, read on\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Serialize Fields via Our Interface<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In very rare cases, some themes store multiple data points in a single field. Themes shouldn\u2019t do this. It\u2019s not nice, and the practice is generally frowned upon, but it still happens. These fields are often called serialized fields. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To add a serialized custom field, input the custom field name, then click on Field Options...<\/strong> and Serialized<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Add<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then click on Click to specify<\/strong> to define what's imported. This feature generates an array with the key => value pairs you specify and then returns the serialize<\/a>()\u2019d value of the array.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Specify<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Once defined, click on Save<\/strong>. If you already have a custom field with these values filled in, you can use the Auto-Detect<\/strong> feature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Serialize Fields Using PHP Code<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You can use either the serialization feature in WP All Import to import the key and value pairs, or a custom PHP function<\/a> to return the value in the proper format needed by your theme or plugin. As an example, here's a custom function that returns the same array as shown in the example above:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

function my_serialize($url, $thumbnail) {\n    $array_var = array(\n        'url' => $url,\n        'thumbnail' => $thumbnail\n    );\n    return serialize($array_var);\n}\n\/\/Usage: [my_serialize({url[1]},{thumbnail[1]})]<\/code><\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Used like so:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"Example<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n        
Import Any CSV, XML, or Excel to WordPress<\/h3>\n