The Your WordPress Theme dropdown on the connection screen decides where imported listings are written. It has five entries: Standalone (any theme), WpResidence, Houzez, Real Homes, and Wpestate.
You pick one and save. Nothing else on your site changes what this setting does, and the plugin does not choose it for you.
What each choice does
- WpResidence, Houzez, Real Homes, Wpestate. Listings are written as that theme’s own property posts, into that theme’s post type, meta keys, and taxonomies. Everything the theme does with properties then works with imported listings too.
- Standalone (any theme). The plugin registers its own property post type, its own taxonomies, its own templates, and its own search. Your theme keeps supplying the header, the footer, and the rest of the site.
Pick the entry that matches the theme you actually have active. If your theme is not one of the four, Standalone is the option that applies to you.
Saving it matters more than picking it
The dropdown opens showing Standalone (any theme), because it is the first item in the list. That display is not a saved value.
Until you save a choice, the plugin has no theme configured, and imported data has nowhere defined to land. So open the dropdown, select the entry you want even if it is the one already showing, and save the screen.
After saving, load the connection screen again and confirm the dropdown still shows your choice. A saved value survives the reload. An unsaved one falls back to showing the first entry, which is the quickest way to tell the two apart.
Choosing when you have a supported theme
If you run one of the four supported themes, use it. You paid for its property templates, its search, its map, and its agent pages, and the adapter exists so that imported listings use all of it.
Standalone remains available to you, but it means the plugin’s property pages rather than your theme’s, which is rarely what someone with a real estate theme wants.
Changing the setting later
The dropdown is on the MLS/RESO Api Options tab of MLS Import Settings, the same screen the wizard uses, so it can be changed at any time.
What does not carry over is the listings. Each mode imports into its own post type, so listings imported under one mode stay in that mode’s structure and are not converted. Switching after a large import means the new mode starts empty and you re-import into it.
Decide before the first real import, not after the test import. Changing your mind after five test listings costs nothing. Changing it after 5,000 means importing them all again.
Frequently asked questions
The requirements check warned that my theme is not compatible. Does that block Standalone?
No. That check only compares your active theme against the four themes with adapters, and it has no knowledge of your theme mode choice. If you are running Standalone, the warning does not apply to you and nothing on your site is affected by it.
Does the dropdown detect my theme automatically?
No. It is a plain selection you make and save. The wizard’s welcome screen does detect your active theme, but only to display it in the requirements table. It does not fill in this setting.
I run WP Residence but selected Standalone. What happens?
Listings import into the plugin’s own property post type instead of the theme’s, so your WP Residence property pages, search, and map stay empty while the plugin’s own pages fill up. Change the dropdown to WpResidence, save, and import again.
Can I run both modes at once?
The setting holds one value, so imports go to one structure at a time. If you switch, the listings already imported under the previous mode remain in the database under their old post type until you delete them.
Related
- Why a compatible theme or Standalone mode is needed
- The Setup Wizard, step by step
- Your first test import
- What MLSImport is and how it works
Tell us your theme name in a support ticket if you are unsure which entry to pick, and we will confirm it.