MLSImport installs like any other WordPress plugin. Search for it in Plugins → Add New, install it, activate it, and WordPress takes you straight into the Setup Wizard. Installing costs nothing and needs no key. Connecting it to your MLS is the part that needs an account.
This page covers the install itself, what appears in your admin afterwards, and what activation does and does not touch.
Before you install
- WordPress 5.2 or higher. Anything current is well past this.
- PHP 7.4 or higher. Your host lists this under PHP version in the hosting panel.
- A theme MLSImport can write into, or the intention to use Standalone mode. You choose this during setup, not before.
You do not need your MLS credentials in hand to install. You need them to finish setup, so it is worth starting that request early if you have not already.
Installing from the WordPress plugin directory
- In your WordPress admin, open Plugins → Add New.
- Search for
MLSImport. The listing is called MLSImport: IDX Plugin & MLS Plugin for Real Estate Listings, published by mlsimport. - Click Install Now, wait for it to finish, then click Activate.
WordPress downloads the plugin from wordpress.org, so there is no file to handle and no upload step.
Installing from a zip file
If your host blocks direct installs, or you were sent a specific build, install the zip by hand.
- Open Plugins → Add New and click Upload Plugin at the top of the page.
- Choose the zip file and click Install Now.
- Click Activate Plugin when the upload finishes.
Install the version from the WordPress directory unless support asked you to use a specific zip. The directory copy updates itself through the normal WordPress update screen, and a hand-uploaded zip does not.
What happens when you activate
Activation sends you to the MLS Import Setup Wizard on your next admin page load. That redirect happens once. Closing the wizard does not lose anything, because it saves your progress as you go and you can reopen it at any time.
Activation also adds these to your admin menu.
- MLS Import Settings. The main screen, holding the credential, field selection, and tools tabs.
- Import History. A submenu under it, recording what past import runs did.
- Setup Wizard. Another submenu under it, which reopens the wizard.
- Import Tasks. Its own menu entry. Each task is one saved set of import filters.
Nothing is imported, deleted, or changed on your site at activation. No listings arrive until you finish the connection and run an import.
Updating and deactivating
Updates arrive through Dashboard → Updates and the Plugins screen like any other plugin. Your credentials, field selections, and import tasks are stored in your database and survive updates.
Deactivating stops imports and syncing, and hides the plugin’s screens. Listings that have already been imported are ordinary posts in your database, so they stay where they are. What stops is the plugin keeping them current.
Install and connect on a staging copy first if you have one, then repeat the setup on the live site. Setup is a handful of screens, and it is faster to redo it than to unpick a live site full of listings imported with the wrong filters.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a licence key or activation code?
No. There is no key field anywhere in the plugin. You connect with your mlsimport.com account username and password, entered during setup, and the plugin checks your subscription through that account.
The plugin activated but I do not see an MLS Import menu.
The menu appears only for users with the administrator role, and it sits directly below Import Tasks in the sidebar. If you are an administrator and still cannot see it, another plugin is likely hiding menu items, or the activation did not complete. Deactivate and reactivate to check.
Can I install it on more than one WordPress site?
The plugin itself is free to install anywhere. What each site needs is a valid connection, which means an mlsimport.com account and MLS credentials that permit that site. Ask support before setting up a second site on the same account.
Will activating change my existing property listings?
No. Activation registers menus and schedules the sync jobs, nothing more. Properties you entered by hand are untouched, and they stay untouched afterwards too, because imported listings are tracked separately from ones you created yourself.
Related
- The Setup Wizard, step by step
- Requirements before you buy
- Creating your MLSImport account and what username means
- What MLSImport is and how it works
If the install fails or the menu never appears, send us the error your site showed and we will tell you what is blocking it.