Select Import fields decides which of your MLS fields become data on your properties, what each one is called on the front end, and where it is stored. It is the second tab of MLS Import Settings, and it saves as you work rather than on a button.
The list is built from your own MLS, not from a fixed list. Two MLSs on the same server can show different fields here.
Before you start
The screen only renders once two things are true: your MLSImport account is connected and your MLS connection test has passed. Until then it shows a warning instead of the table. If it says We need to gather some information about your MLS. Please Stand By!, the connection worked and the field catalogue is still being collected. Reload after a minute.
What a row means
Each row is one field from your MLS feed. It has seven columns.
- Field is the RESO field name as your MLS publishes it, with its description underneath when the MLS supplies one. This name is not editable.
- Import it? decides whether the value is fetched and saved at all. Everything else on the row is ignored while this is off.
- Front End Label is the wording visitors see instead of the raw field name. Leave it empty and the field name is used.
- Hidden from Public? keeps the value out of the theme’s public details list. It is still imported and still stored, so you can read it in wp-admin.
- Property Detail Field (post meta) writes the value into a meta key you name, which is how you feed an existing theme field.
- Category sends the value to a taxonomy instead of a meta field, so it can drive a dropdown, an archive page or a filter.
- Actions moves the row up, down, to the top or to the bottom.
The first time you open the tab, MLSImport ticks Import it? for every field it already has a standard mapping for, which is around 650 RESO Data Dictionary fields. In practice that means most of what your feed publishes starts switched on, and the ones left off are your board’s own proprietary fields, which have no standard mapping to inherit. Fields the standard maps to a taxonomy also arrive with their Category pre-filled.
That default is generous rather than minimal, so it is worth reviewing before your first large import. Switch to Selected Only, read what is on, and turn off what your property page will never show.
How saving works
There is no save button. Each change is written on its own about half a second after you make it, one request at a time, and a failed write is retried before it gives up. On a first visit you see a progress bar reading Initializing field data while the whole catalogue is stored in blocks of fifty. Let that finish before you start clicking.
A change here never reaches properties you have already imported. The plugin writes fields at import time, so after changing selections, labels or mappings you have to run the import task again for those listings to pick the change up.
Finding a field in a list of hundreds
Most feeds carry between 300 and 900 fields, so use the controls above the table rather than scrolling.
- The Search box matches on the field name as you type.
- The status dropdown switches between All Fields, Selected Only and Not Selected. Selected Only is the fastest way to review what you have turned on.
- The sort dropdown reorders by field name, by label, by detail field, by category, or by which rows are selected.
- The four bulk buttons switch every visible row on or off for the import column or for the hidden column.
The counts above the table read N fields total and N marked for import, and they update as you work.
What the order controls
The arrows in Actions set the order the fields are written to the property, and the theme reads that order when it builds its own details or features list. Moving a row to the top is how you get the fields that matter most to appear first on the property page.
Order applies only to fields with no explicit mapping. A field pointed at a specific meta key or a taxonomy goes where you sent it, so its position in the list has no effect.
Turning on hundreds of fields costs you on every import and every hourly update, because each one is another row written per listing. Start with what your property page actually shows, then add fields when you find one missing.
Frequently asked questions
A field I need is not in the list at all. Why?
The list is generated from your MLS’s own published field catalogue, so a field missing here is a field your MLS does not expose on your feed. Ask your MLS whether it is available on your data licence, since some fields are released only to specific approved uses.
Does the same field selection apply to every import task?
Yes. Field selection is one setting for the whole site, while filters are per import task. Every task on the site imports the same fields.
Can I import a field but keep it out of search engines and visitors?
Tick Hidden from Public? for it. The value is imported and stored on the property, and the theme does not print it in its public details list. Confidential MLS data such as showing instructions or lockbox codes must be handled this way, or left unimported.
I changed a label and the old wording is still on my properties. What now?
The label is stored with the property when it is imported, so existing properties keep the wording they were imported with. Run the import task again and they update.
Related
- Understanding RESO fields
- Search fields not populating as expected
- Attribution fields and courtesy of text
- Controlling which listings are imported
Send us the field name you are trying to display and we will tell you exactly which columns to fill in.