[Leslie]

Hi there – I’m creating a new business directory which will have about 300 listings. Our source data is stored in an Access file, which we will use to create our CSV to import into the Connections Pro plugin.

My question is about monthly updates. The member list changes frequently, and we will want to import a new csv when that happens, so we can avoid manually updates to each listing on the website (after we’ve already done so in Access). What would that workflow look like using your plugin?

I know I would start with:
1) Update listings in Access
2) Create csv
3) Then….?

Assuming the initial import of the listings in place on the website directory, what would be the best way to import the new csv to replace the old one? Some listings will be the same, some will have minor updates, some will be new and some will have been removed.

Thanks for your help!

[Steven Zahm]

**@ Leslie****

re: What would that workflow look like using your plugin?**

A couple users do something similar… what they do is create the CSV file, delete all entries and then import the CSV file. They do not do this manually though. They each create a custom PHP server cron to do this. At least that is my understanding because I have not personally seen their solutions.

Hope that helps!

[Leslie]

So they basically delete all the listings and import the new list? I guess that would be a simple solution.

I already went ahead and installed Connections Pro and some of the add-ons, and it’s working great. But I did see on the forums for a similar plugin that if you can keep the ID the same, it would overwrite the data. Would that also work for Connections Pro? If so, it might be possible for us to add that ID # in our Access DB.

Thanks for the reply!

[Steven Zahm]

@ Leslie

I already went ahead and installed Connections Pro and some of the add-ons, and it’s working great. But I did see on the forums for a similar plugin that if you can keep the ID the same, it would overwrite the data. Would that also work for Connections Pro? If so, it might be possible for us to add that ID # in our Access DB.

The ID, that would be the entry ID assigned by the WordPress db when the entry is added. This can be found on the Connections : Manage admin page under the View Details section of the entry.

If you can add this data to your Access db then using the CSV Import extension, you can map the ID to the Entry ID and the CSV Import will instead update the entry with the new info, well, sort of. The data for addresses, phones, links… the fields that are repeatable when adding an entry. These are actually simply deleted and replaced with the data in the CSV file.

Hope that answers your question!

[Leslie]

Yes, thank you. I’ll experiment with it.

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