Import History and the activity log

Import History records one row for every property added, edited or deleted, with the import task and the run that did it. It answers the question support asks first: what actually happened to this listing, and which job did it.

Find it under MLS Import Settings, then Import History. The screen is limited to administrators.

What the screen shows

The table holds the last 30 days of activity, newest first, with these columns.

1. Date and Action, where the action is added, edited or deleted.
2. Listing, the property title as it was at the time, linked to the property.
3. MLS # and Status, the listing number and the status it carried.
4. Listing ID and ListingKey, the WordPress post ID and the MLS identifier.
5. Import Task, which task owned the property.
6. Source, which run did it: a manual import, the hourly cron, or reconciliation.

The Source column is the useful one when something disappears. A deleted row with a source of reconciliation was removed under your status rules rather than by a fault, either by the daily pass or by the delete tool on the Tools tab, which share the same removal routine. A block of them at one timestamp during the working day is someone using the tool.

The 24 hour banner

Across wp-admin, administrators see a dismissible MLSImport activity notice covering the last 24 hours. It shows how many properties were added, edited and deleted, then breaks that down across the five busiest import tasks, with a link through to the full 30 day history.

The counts are properties, not events. The same listing edited three times in a day counts once, so the banner reports how much of your inventory moved rather than how many database writes happened.

Dismissing it hides it for the rest of the day for that user. It returns tomorrow, and it is per user, so dismissing it does not hide it from your colleagues.

History is not the debug log

Two different records exist and they are often confused.

1. Import History is always on, stores one row per listing change, and is meant to be read by you. Rows older than 30 days are removed during the daily reconciliation run.
2. The log files are off by default and are meant for diagnosis. Turn them on under MLS Import Settings, Tools, and they write dated files into the plugin’s logs folder: import, cron and delete each get their own.

Use history for what happened to a listing. Use the log files when a run fails and you need the line where it stopped.

Frequently asked questions

Why is history empty on a site that is definitely importing?

Rows are written as properties change, so a site whose listings are all current and unchanged records nothing. Run an import and reload the screen. If a run adds properties and no rows appear, tell us, because that is not expected.

Can I keep more than 30 days?

Not from the settings. The daily job removes rows older than 30 days to keep the table small on sites processing thousands of listings. Export what you need before it ages out if you have a compliance reason to keep it.

A property vanished but there is no deleted row. What does that mean?

Something outside the plugin removed it: a bulk delete in the posts list, another plugin, or a database restore. Every deletion the plugin performs writes a row.

Does the history table slow the site down?

No. It is a single indexed table written only when a listing changes and read only when you open the screen. The banner summary is cached for fifteen minutes, so it does not query on every admin page load.

Related

1. How daily reconciliation works
2. Checking that auto update is running
3. Running a manual import and stopping one
4. Closed and off market listings

Send us the MLS number and we will read its history with you and explain what removed it.