Importing data from Excel, CSV sheet
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Hi,
I’m wondering if I can import data to profile fields in Buddypress. If yes, how should I design the tables in Excel?
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@DJPaul: tks for the info, though it doesn’t make me smile
I searched for other plugins that allow for bulk import that include xprofile fields, but I find none. Any thoughts on ways to handle this? direct import via mysql is not a good solution as my client needs as wysiwyg as possible.
Are we sort of in a “dead zone” now as people wait for WP 3.0 before coming out with plugin updates?
@ffemtkl – good creative solution
I am reading the docs now and will attempt imports and tweaking soon. I will let you know the result.Ok, I have feedback for you on the “Import from Ning” plugin if I use it to upload a normal CSV file that is not originally from Ning. I hope the developer @boonebgorges of the plugin reads this to give him some ideas about expanding the ability to use this
The plugin does work, but not entirely. In your CSV columns, you must have Name and Email as the first and second columns, respectively. If you do not have them in that order, it will not import. That is an easy thing to do though, so not a headache
Here are some problems I found:
1) I want to create usernames for my imported users. How are usernames generated for users when you import them? The “Import from Ning” plugin takes the ‘Name” field and makes that the username automatically. So if your name is “George Bush”, it will automatically create a username called “georgebush”.
However, I do not want this. I have separated by “Name” field from the “Surname” field, so my user would have Name=George and Username=George. I do not want that. Instead I want to create my own usernames. However if I upload a column called “Username”, the importer does not recognize that.
2) The “Import from Ning” plugin does a decent job of automatically aligning your xprofile fields with the columns in the CSV file. For selectbox fields, there is no problem. For textbox fields, there is no problem. For radio fields, there is no problem. However there are problems with these two fields: datebox and checkbox.
What happens if I try to upload data into datebox? I tried uploading in the formats “1 January 1950” and “January 1, 1950” but the plugin ignored those, so I am unsure how to upload dates correctly. When I tried “1 January 1950”, it changed that and instead displayed “January 1, 1970”, so I feel that maybe I am near a solution…. however when I tried “January 1, 1950” in my CSV field, it just left that entire area blank… I have no idea about the correct protocol for uploading dates tat include months, days, and years together. But I feel I am near a solution….
What happens when I include data from a checkbox? Nothing is included.
For example, I have a field that is “Favorite Foods” and users can select more than one choice. In my field, I am using “~” as the separator. So I have “Pizza~Noodles~Fruit” in my CSV field, but the plugin ignores this. Therefore, for the “checkbox” field data, I am unsure of the correct protocol for how to prepare my data to upload using this plugin.I feel that this is a great plugin and we only maybe need some help figuring out the details from above.
@wordpresschina – Thanks for the suggestion, this is exactly what I was looking for. I really do not understand one thing. Why when someone wants to register they get redirected to the Buddypress version of the registration, but when someone wants to login they go to the standard WP login page? Maybe there is something wrong with my install
Unfortunately, I am importing very basic information so I am not having the same issues as you. The only “special” info I am importing is for s drop down selecting menu. It should be noted that it does not force matching, meaning if the field requires 1 – 10 and the CSV file has 12, it will import the 12. The import only really matches up the columns. FYI… if you type something wrong in the top row like Website instead of “company website” the import will actually create a new xprofile field.
Hope this helps (or at least answers some questions.
@wordpresschina – Thanks so much for your work on this, and especially for sharing your work on the forum. Very glad you were able to make it (mostly) work.
When I built the plugin, I didn’t make any effort to differentiate between different kinds of profile fields (checkboxes vs radio buttons vs text boxes etc). It’s impossible to get this info merely from the Ning export (at least, the old style CSV export), so it would require prompting the importing admin for each new field. Not impossible, but it required a lot of coding that I didn’t want to do because I wanted to get the dang thing out there so people could use it
I’m hopeful that the upcoming Ning network exporter will produce more robust data that will allow easier, and more fine grained, imports into BP.
Whether that can be expanded to more general CSV imports will always be a tricky issue. Ideally, an importer would be designed to handle a generic import format, so that importers for new formats would only have to convert to this standard format – all the BP-specific stuff would be done with the all-purpose importer. I’m afraid I don’t have the funding to build such a plugin right now, but it will definitely be crucial to the growth of BP as a platform in the months and years to come.
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