Guide · Pages import

Web pages

Web pages are identified by name, which BigCommerce keeps unique — so a spreadsheet can address a page without knowing its id, and a file exported from one store imports into another.

1. Page types

Type	Description	Extra fields
`page`	Standard HTML content page.	Nothing else needed
`contact_form`	Built-in contact form page.	`Contact Fields`, `Contact Email`
`link`	Navigation entry that sends visitors somewhere else.	`Link URL` is required
`raw`	Raw HTML with no storefront wrapper.	`Body` is required

These four are the only types BigCommerce accepts on a write. Friendly spellings are understood — "Contact Form", contact-form, "Raw HTML" — and anything else fails the row before the API call, naming the allowed values.

2. Commands

Command	Description	Behaviour
NEW	Create a new page.	Fails if a page with the same name already exists.
UPDATE	Update an existing page.	Uses `Page ID` if provided, otherwise searches by name. Fails if not found.
MERGE	Create or update.	The default. If the page exists, by id or name, it updates; otherwise it creates.
DELETE	Delete a page.	Uses `Page ID` if provided, otherwise searches by name.
REPLACE	Refused for pages.	Fails the row. Re-creating a page would give it a new id and a new URL — breaking every link to it — and move its child pages to the top level. Use UPDATE.
IGNORE	Skip this row.	Does nothing, and is recorded as skipped rather than as a success.

3. All supported columns

CSV column	BigCommerce field	Required	Description
`Command`	—	Optional	NEW \| MERGE \| UPDATE \| DELETE \| IGNORE. Default MERGE.
`Page ID`	`id`	Optional	BigCommerce page id. Provide it for UPDATE/DELETE to skip the name lookup — and it stays reliable when page names change, which a name cannot.
`Name`	`name`	Required	Page name, 1–100 characters. BigCommerce keeps it unique, which is why a page can be found by name alone.
`Type`	`type`	Optional	page \| link \| contact_form \| raw. Default page.
`Body`	`body`	Optional	HTML content, for the page and raw types. Wrap the value in double quotes if it contains commas or line breaks.
`Link URL`	`link`	Optional	Destination URL, for type link.
`Is Visible`	`is_visible`	Optional	true or false. Default true.
`Is Homepage`	`is_homepage`	Optional	true or false. Sets the store homepage. Default false.
`Is Customers Only`	`is_customers_only`	Optional	true or false. Restricts the page to logged-in customers. Default false.
`Parent ID`	`parent_id`	Optional	BigCommerce id of the parent page. Only useful within one store, since ids differ between stores.
`Parent Name`	`parent_id`	Optional	The parent named instead of numbered — resolved for you, and portable between stores. `Parent ID` wins if you give both. The parent may be created by an earlier row in the same file; the order you write them in does not matter.
`Sort Order`	`sort_order`	Optional	Display order in navigation. Lower comes first.
`URL`	`url`	Optional	Relative storefront URL, e.g. /about-us.
`Meta Title`	`meta_title`	Optional	SEO title tag.
`Meta Keywords`	`meta_keywords`	Optional	SEO keywords, comma-separated.
`Meta Description`	`meta_description`	Optional	SEO meta description.
`Search Keywords`	`search_keywords`	Optional	Storefront search keywords.
`Channel ID`	`channel_id`	Optional	BigCommerce channel (storefront) id. Default 1.
`Contact Fields`	`contact_fields`	Optional	contact_form only: fullname, phone, email, companyname, orderno, rma.
`Contact Email`	`email`	Optional	contact_form only: the email address that receives form submissions.

4. Example file

Command,Page ID,Name,Type,Body,Link URL,Is Visible,URL,Meta Title
NEW,,About Us,page,"<h1>About Us</h1><p>Our story...</p>",,true,/about-us,About Our Company
NEW,,Contact Us,contact_form,,,true,/contact,Contact Us
NEW,,Careers,link,,https://jobs.example.com,true,,
UPDATE,101,About Us,,,,,,About Us - Updated Title
DELETE,102,,,,,,,

5. Building a page hierarchy

Parent Name exists because a raw parent id is unusable in a spreadsheet and meaningless in another store — an export of store A could never be imported into store B. Page names are unique, so a name resolves to exactly one page.

Because a Parent Name makes rows depend on each other, a file carrying that column is ordered parents-first for you and its jobs run in sequence. Write the rows deepest-first if you like; a grandchild, child and parent in any order all build correctly. A row naming a parent that does not exist anywhere fails saying so.

Without that column, page rows are independent and run in parallel instead.

6. Things worth knowing

A type change must bring its field. Switching a page to link needs Link URL in the same row, and to raw needs Body — BigCommerce rejects the change otherwise, even when the page already has one stored.
Type is required to create a page, so a file with no Type column could not create one at all. It is defaulted to page on the create path only: an update stays silent about it, because a partial update merges and naming a type the page cannot have is refused.
The Blog page is special. Your store's blog index is reported with a type BigCommerce will not accept back, so an export leaves its Type cell blank and says so in the export warning. Leave it blank and the page re-imports fine.
Is Homepage is exclusive. Setting it on one page moves it off whichever page had it — BigCommerce handles that itself, so only ever set true.
Deleting a parent does not delete its children. They survive and move to the top level. Categories behave the opposite way.
Blank cells never overwrite. A column you leave out, or leave empty, is not sent — and a cell holding only spaces counts as empty, so it cannot wipe a stored value.
Only one page can be the homepage at a time.
Check before you run. The file check flags any column that would be ignored, with a suggestion for a likely typo, and a dry run previews every row without writing anything.