Tools

Export

Connections : Tools Export Tab

Connections provides several easy to use options to export your data  as CSV files. The tools can be found on the Connections : Tools admin page under the Export tab. These tools create the CSV file using batch processing. What this means is that your data will be written to the CSV file in small batches. The batch exporting helps prevent out of memory and script timeout errors due to the web host configuration. What this means to you is that you should be able to do exports which contains 10’s of thousands of rows even on shared hosts with limited resources.

Important

While an export is in progress you should not navigate away from the page. Doing so will interrupt the export progress.

Tip

Large exports can take some time to process.

Addresses

CSV Export Addresses Metabox

This export tool will export all the addresses that were entered for all entries. If an entry has more than one address entered, then each address entered will be in its own row in the resulting CSV file.

The following fields are exported:

  • ID — This is the entry ID automatically assigned to the entry by the database when the entry was added.
  • Entry Type — This is the entry type, ie. Individual, Organization or Family.
  • Family Name — If the entry type is a “Family”, the family name will be in this field.
  • Prefix — If the entry type is an “Individual”, this will be the individual’s honorific prefix, ie. Mr. or Ms. 
  • First — If the entry type is an “Individual”, this will be the individual’s first name.
  • Middle — If the entry type is an “Individual” ,this will be the individual’s middle name.
  • Last — If the entry type is an “Individual”, this will be the individual’s last name.
  • Suffix — If the entry type is an “Individual”, this will be the individual’s honorific suffix, such as PhD.
  • Organization — If the entry type is an “Individual”, this will be the individual’s organization, or if the entry type is “Organization”, this will be the organization name.
  • Type — The address type.
  • Line One
  • Line Two
  • Line Three
  • City
  • State
  • Zipcode
  • Country
  • Latitude
  • Longitude
  • Preferred — Whether or not the address was set as the entry’s preferred address.
  • Visibility —  The address’s visibility status, ie. public, private or unlisted.

Phone Numbers

CSV Export Phone Numbers Metabox

This export tool will export all the phone numbers that were entered for all entries. If an entry has more than one phone number entered then each phone number entered will be in its own row in the resulting CSV file.

The following fields are exported:

  • ID — This is the entry ID automatically assigned to the entry by the database when the entry was added.
  • Entry Type — This is the entry type, ie. Individual, Organization or Family.
  • Family Name — If the entry type is a “Family”, the family name will be in this field.
  • Prefix — If the entry type is an “Individual”, this will be the individual’s honorific prefix, ie. Mr. or Ms. 
  • First — If the entry type is an “Individual”, this will be the individual’s first name.
  • Middle — If the entry type is an “Individual”, this will be the individual’s middle name.
  • Last — If the entry type is an “Individual” ,this will be the individual’s last name.
  • Suffix — If the entry type is an “Individual”, this will be the individual’s honorific suffix, such as PhD.
  • Organization — If the entry type is an “Individual”, this will be the individual’s organization, or if the entry type is “Organization”, this will be the organization name.
  • Type — The phone number type.
  • Number — The phone number.
  • Preferred — Whether or not the phone number was set as the entry’s preferred phone number.
  • Visibility —  The phone number’s visibility status, ie. public, private or unlisted.

Email Addresses

CSV Export Email Addresses Metaboxes

This export tool will export all the email addresses that were entered for all entries. If an entry has more than one email address entered then each email addresses entered will be in its own row in the resulting CSV file.

The following fields are exported:

  • ID — This is the entry ID automatically assigned to the entry by the database when the entry was added.
  • Entry Type — This is the entry type, ie. Individual, Organization or Family.
  • Family Name — If the entry type is a “Family”, the family name will be in this field.
  • Prefix — If the entry type is an “Individual”, this will be the individual’s honorific prefix, ie. Mr. or Ms. 
  • First — If the entry type is an “Individual”, this will be the individual’s first name.
  • Middle — If the entry type is an “Individual”, this will be the individual’s middle name.
  • Last — If the entry type is an “Individual”, this will be the individual’s last name.
  • Suffix — If the entry type is an “Individual”, this will be the individual’s honorific suffix, such as PhD.
  • Organization — If the entry type is an “Individual”, this will be the individual’s organization, or if the entry type is “Organization”, this will be the organization name.
  • Type — The email address type.
  • Address — The email address.
  • Preferred — Whether or not the email address was set as the entry’s preferred email address.
  • Visibility —  The email address’s visibility status, ie. public, private or unlisted.

Dates

CSV Export Dates Metabox

This export tool will export all the dates that were entered for all entries. If an entry has more than one date entered then each date entered will be in its own row in the resulting CSV file.

The following fields are exported:

  • ID — This is the entry ID automatically assigned to the entry by the database when the entry was added.
  • Entry Type — This is the entry type, ie. Individual, Organization or Family.
  • Family Name — If the entry type is a “Family”, the family name will be in this field.
  • Prefix — If the entry type is an “Individual” ,this will be the individual’s honorific prefix, ie. Mr. or Ms. 
  • First — If the entry type is an “Individual”, this will be the individual’s first name.
  • Middle — If the entry type is an “Individual”, this will be the individual’s middle name.
  • Last — If the entry type is an “Individual”, this will be the individual’s last name.
  • Suffix — If the entry type is an “Individual”, this will be the individual’s honorific suffix, such as PhD.
  • Organization — If the entry type is an “Individual”, this will be the individual’s organization, or if the entry type is “Organization”, this will be the organization name.
  • Type — The date type.
  • Date — The date.
  • Preferred — Whether or not the date was set as the entry’s preferred date.
  • Visibility —  The date’s visibility status, ie. public, private or unlisted.

Categories

CSV Export Categories Metabox

This export tool will export all the categories.

The following fields are exported:

  • ID — This is the category ID automatically assigned to the category by the database when the category was added.
  • Name — The category name.
  • Slug — The category slug.
  • Description — The category description.
  • Parent — The category ancestors, ie. “Great Grandparent > Grandparent > Parent” or empty if the category has no parents.

All

CSV Export All Metabox

This export tool will export all the entry data.

Important

Currently any entry meta, such as custom fields, address types, visibility and so on, will not be exported. If an entry has more than data type added, only the first will be exported. For example, if an entry has been assigned two “Cell Phone” numbers, only the first will be exported.

The fields that are exported really depends on the data entered in your database. The list of fields below assumes all entries in your database have been entered with all fields including one work address, one work phone number, one work email, one Skype messenger ID, one social media Facebook URL, one blog link and one birthdate.

  • Entry ID — This is the entry ID automatically assigned to the entry by the database when the entry was added.
  • Entry Type — This is the entry type, ie. Individual, Organization or Family.
  • Visibility —  The entry’s visibility status, ie. public, private or unlisted.
  • Family Name — If the entry type is a “Family”, the family name will be in this field.
  • Honorific Prefix — If the entry type is an “Individual”, this will be the individual’s honorific prefix, ie. Mr. or Ms. 
  • First Name — If the entry type is an “Individual”, this will be the individual’s first name.
  • Middle Name — If the entry type is an “Individual”, this will be the individual’s middle name.
  • Last Name — If the entry type is an “Individual”, this will be the individual’s last name.
  • Honorific Suffix — If the entry type is an “Individual”, this will be the individual’s honorific suffix, such as PhD.
  • Title — The entry’s title.
  • Organization — If the entry type is an “Individual”, this will be the individual’s organization, or if the entry type is “Organization”, this will be the organization name.
  • Contact First Name — If the entry type is an “Organization”, this will be the contact’s first name.
  • Contact Last Name — If the entry type is an “Organization”, this will be the contact’s last name.
  • Biography — The entry’s bio.
  • Notes — The entry’s notes.
  • Work Address | Line One
  • Work Address | Line Two
  • Work Address | Line Three
  • Work Address | City
  • Work Address | State
  • Work Address | Zipcode
  • Work Address | Country
  • Work Address | Latitude
  • Work Address | Longitude
  • Phone | Work
  • Email | Work
  • Messenger | Skype
  • Social Network | Facebook
  • Link | Blog
  • Date | Birthday

Import

Connections : Tools Import Tab

Categories

Using this flexible and robust tool you can very easily and quickly bulk import nested categories into Connections. But before we delve into how to import nested categories we’ll start with the basics, with examples and example files you can download and try out.

Instructions

Importing a CSV file is an easy three step process. It is simple as:

  1. Upload
  2. Map
  3. Import

Let’s go over these steps in more detail.

Step 1 – Upload: First navigate to the Connections : Tools admin page and then click the Import tab. Locate the Import Categories tool. Click Choose File button and then select the CSV file you plan on importing and click the Upload button.

CSV Import Categories - Step 1

Step 2 – Map: The upload will only take a couple seconds. After it completes you will be presented with the CSV mapping options. In the left hand column you will be shown a list of column headers found in the CSV file you just uploaded. On the right will be a drop down for each column header found in the CSV file. The drop downs will contain the fields for categories. You’ll notice that these option names match the same fields names as found on the Connections : Categories admin page; Name, Slug, Parent and Description. For each column header found in the CSV file you would select the appropriate field in its corresponding drop down. As you see, the column header names of the CSV file that you upload are not important because you will be mapping them to the correct category fields in Connections.

CSV Import Categories - Step 2

The above screenshot shows a simple CSV which had only a single column header, Names mapped to the Category Name field.

Step 3 – Import: The last step is the easiest. After you’ve completed mapping the fields you simply Click the Import button. While the import is in progress you’ll be shown a progress bar representing the percent completed. When the import has completed, you’ll be presented with the Import Completed message as shown in the following screenshot.

CSV Import Categories - Step 3

Important

Imports can take some time so please be patient and do not navigate away from the page. If you do the import will be interrupted and will not be completed.
Example 1

To simply import a list of categories your CSV file only needs setup with a “Name” column like so:

Name
One – Level One
Two – Level One
Three – Level One
Four – Level One
Five – Level One
Six – Level One
Seven – Level One
Eight – Level One
Nine – Level One
Ten – Level One

Download: example-11.csv

After you import the example CSV file you category page should look like this screenshot:

Example 2

As you see in Example 1, the new categories were imported and the slugs were automatically created just as if you were to add them manually. This example will show you how to import category and define the slug.

The CSV file should be set up like the following example.

Name,             Slug
One – Level One,  custom-one
Two – Level One,  custom-two
Three – Level One,custom-three
Four – Level One, custom-four
Five – Level One, custom-five
Six – Level One,  custom-six
Seven – Level One,custom-seven
Eight – Level One,custom-eight
Nine – Level One, custom-nine
Ten – Level One,  custom-ten

Download: example-2.csv.

Example 2: Mapping the import.

Important

There are a few very important rule that you must follow when defining your own slugs.

  1. The slugs must be in all lowercase.
  2. Spaces must be represented with hyphens.
  3. Each slug must be unique. There can not be duplicates. There is a safety feature built in. In case a duplicate slug was provided in the CSV file an attempt will be made to create a unique slug automatically.

After you import the example CSV file your category page should look like the following screenshot. Notice the categories were imported with their custom slug.

Example 3

Building on the previous two examples, this example will show how to import the category description.

The CSV file should be set up like the following example.

Name,             Slug,        Desc
One – Level One,  custom-one,  "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Curabitur eget."
Two – Level One,  custom-two,  "Aliquam erat volutpat. Donec dapibus congue lorem, non porta dolor."
Three – Level One,custom-three, Aenean aliquam eu tellus vitae dictum. Suspendisse sit amet congue.
Four – Level One, custom-four, "Vivamus odio ligula, rutrum in mattis at, tempus id elit."
Five – Level One, custom-five, "Aenean dapibus pretium elit, sit amet tempor nulla vestibulum a."
Six – Level One,  custom-six,  "Suspendisse accumsan placerat massa, ac porttitor odio sagittis id. Fusce."
Seven – Level One,custom-seven,"Nulla facilisi. Cras dignissim ante molestie ligula ornare, rhoncus hendrerit."
Eight – Level One,custom-eight,Integer id lectus velit. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora.
Nine – Level One, custom-nine, "Pellentesque porttitor ex diam, rhoncus congue nulla placerat a. Phasellus."
Ten – Level One,  custom-ten,  "Mauris rhoncus magna mi, id dapibus libero porttitor quis. Curabitur."

Download: example-3.csv

Example 3: Mapping the import.

After you import the example CSV file you category page should look like the following screenshot. Notice the categories were imported with their custom slug and the description.

Example 4

Continuing to build on the previous example this example will show you how to import nested categories. There are a few ways this can be accomplished.

The first and simplest is to simply add a new column to your CSV file and name it Parent. In the Parent column you would put the name of the parent category as shown in the following example:

Name,              Parent
One – Level One  ,
One – Level Two A, One – Level One
One – Level Two B, One – Level One

If you were to import the above the result would be one parent category with two children categories.

Important

One very important rule is that the children categories must always come after the parent in the CSV file.

Now, suppose you used custom slugs, you should (although it is not required) add those to the parent column. You do this by adding a pipe (|) after the parent name and then add the custom slug you gave the parent, as the following example illustrates:

Name,              Slug,       Parent
One – Level One  , custom-one,
One – Level Two A,           , One – Level One|custom-one
One – Level Two B,           , One – Level One|custom-one

The reason you should do this is because it is possible to add multiple categories with the same name, but only if they have different slugs or if they have different parents. The next example shows.

Name,             Slug,        Parent
One – Level One,  custom-one,
One – Level One,  custom-one-a,
One – Level Two A,            , One – Level One|custom-one
One – Level Two B,            , One – Level One|custom-one

The result of importing this would be two One – Level One categories but with different slugs and the two children categories nested only under the one with the matching slug.

Now here is where it gets fun!

If you do not need import category descriptions, it is not really necessary to add the parent categories before the children because the import will automatically insert the parent category if it does not already exist. Confusing? Consider this example:

Name,             Slug, Parent
Two – Level Two A,    , Two – Level One|custom-two
Two – Level Two B,    , Two – Level One|custom-two

The above would result in three categories where Two – Level One with a slug of custom-two would be the parent for Two – Level Two A and Two – Level Two B.

You are not limited to importing only a single level deep either. You can create as many levels as you need. To create multiple levels you would use the > character to define the parent category hierarchy as shown in the next example.

Name,                Slug, Parent
Three – Level Three,     , Three – Level One|custom-three > Three – Level Two|three-level-two

This would result in a single parent category, Three – Level One, with a single child, Three – Level Two, which in turn will have a single child, Three – Level Three. If you find this confusing I suggest creating a few test categories a few levels deep and then use the Category Export Tool to export a CSV file that you can use as a reference. Additionally you can reference the following sample CSV file which illustrates the various techniques explained above.

Download: example-4.csv

Example 5

Lastly, suppose you already have categories and you want to add more, but as children to those existing categories. You could use the method that was covered in the previous example, i.e., use the category name and slug, but there is an easier way. Take a moment and visit the Connections : Categories admin page. Notice that each category has an ID. You can use this ID to import new children categories. For the purposes of this example, let’s say you have three categories already added in Connections with the following name and ID’s.

Name,  ID
One,   2
Two,   3
Three, 4

Now you want to import one child category to each of them. You would set the CSV file up like this:

Name,              Parent
One – Level Two,   2
Two – Level Two,   3
Three – Level Two, 4

After you import the CSV file, the result will be three new children categories, one under each existing parent category.

Advanced

If you have reviewed the previous examples, I’m sure you see how flexible and powerful the Category Import tool really is. If you have not reviewed the previous example it is highly recommended that you do so now before proceeding, because this example builds upon those.

You can add the same child category to multiple parent categories. One way you can do this is by setting up the CSV file like this:

Name,      Parent
One,
Level Two, One
Two,
Level Two, Two

The result would be four categories. Two parents with one child each. You could accomplish the same like the following example. Notice that each parent categories is separated by a comma and that the Parent column is quoted.

Name,      Parent
One,
Two,
Level Two, "One, Two"

You could reduce this even further to achieve the same result.

Name,      Parent
Level Two, "One, Two"

The above is just a simplified example. You can combine this with the methods as shown in the previous examples.

Important

If you are using a spreadsheet application to create your CSV file, do not add the open/closing quotes. When you save the CSV file from the spreadsheet, the spreadsheet will add the quotes automatically.

System Information

Connections : Tools System Info Tab

The System Information provides comprehensive information about the web server, PHP, WordPress and Connections configuration. If you run into trouble with Connections and require support, you might be asked for this information. Furthermore, if you run into trouble with any other plugins or the theme, you could supply the developer with this information to help them troubleshoot the issue.

There are several ways this information can be shared.

  1. It can be copy/pasted from the information box.
  2. It can be downloaded as a text file which can be attached to an email.
  3. It can be emailed directly from the admin page.
  4. A secret auto-expiring URL can be generated and shared.

Email

To send the system information as email with the system information attached, fill in the address to which the information should be sent, as well as adding a subject and message. These are required for the email to be sent. After this information has been filled in, click Send Email.

Remote Viewing

The remote viewing option allows you to generate a secret URL which auto-expires after 72 hours. Generating this secret URL is as easy as clicking the Generate URL button. After you click it, it will only take a moment for the URL to be created. After it is created and displayed, you can share this secret URL with anyone.

To revoke the URL at any time before it expired, simply click the Revoke URL button.

Settings Import/Export

Connections : Tools Settings Import/Export Tab

The settings import and export allow you to easily migrate Connections related settings from one site to another or allow you to create a backup of the settings.

Logs

Connections : Tools Logs Tab

Connections has built in activity logging capabilities. The core Connections plugin will log when and to whom the system information is emailed and several of the extensions log events which can be useful for troubleshooting.

  • Form will log when an email is is sent to the admin notifying that a new entry is waiting in the moderation queue. It will also log the email sent to the user submitting the new entry.
  • Contact will log the email sent to entries from users.