[concoa]

I have installed Connections to create a directory for a homeowner’s association. The primary directory will be of families.

Question 1. • I created a page named “Resident Directory” and in the body I placed [connections list_type='family']. • In Connections “Settings / General / Home / Page”, I selected “Resident Directory”. • In Connections “Templates”, I selected “All” and (after clicking around) selected “Default Entry Card 3.0”. When I preview the page, it looks like I expect. BUT, when I clicked on the name of a family member, it opens a page that does not use any page or Connections template. (the url is “site”/resident-directory/name/”the individual’s name”) • I made a child page with the slug “name” and in the body I placed [connections list_type='individual']. When I open that page it looks good, but has ALL the individuals. And, when I clicked on the name of one of the individuals, it is still opening an unformatted page. How do I set the individual pages?

Question 2. This subdivision has “neighborhoods” within it. I am using the Categories to group them. How do I change the label on the page from “Categories” to “Neighborhood”? I am trying to set the basics and familiarize with it, then add in several extensions. Would this make more sense with extensions enabled? Thank you in advance!

[concoa]

Additionally, I do have the Settings / Display / Single Entry / Template enabled.

[Steven Zahm]

@ concoa

re: How do I set the individual pages?

You do not, Connections does this.

re: I made a child page with the slug “name” and in the body I placed [connections list_type='individual']

Delete this page… it’ll cause you headaches because the WordPress page will take priority and not display the single entry. This is also why it displays all the entries.

re: I created a page named “Resident Directory” and in the body I placed [connections list_type='family']

I suggest removing list_type='family' from the shortcode.

re: Additionally, I do have the Settings / Display / Single Entry / Template enabled.

I suggest disabling this option.

re: How do I change the label on the page from “Categories” to “Neighborhood”?

See this QuickTip on changing text in Connections.

The original string will be: Categories:

re: In Connections “Templates”, I selected “All” and (after clicking around) selected “Default Entry Card 3.0”.

I recommend going back to the Connections : Templates admin page and activating the Default Entry card template under “All”, “Individual” and “Organization”.

Hope that helps!

[concoa]

Thank you, Mr. Zahm. I am still working on this, but have made a little progress.

<h1>1) I need to create a directory that “begins” with displaying only the family groups (showing the family members) in a subdivision. I got that working by placing [connections list_type='family'] in a static page. The template is the “card” and it displays correctly.</h1>

<h1>2) Then, I need users to be able to select members of the family to see their individual profile. This is where I have had trouble. The page Connections generates does not appear to have any formatting.</h1>

I finally discovered the card.php had inline css and the card-single.php did not. The formatting was missing. I created a copy of the card-single.php and placed it in my child theme folders and edited the inline style.

Now I have another concern. I really love the potential of Connections, but is there any way for the program to use the registered wordpress or buddypress members and keep them synched? Do I have to input members in Connections separately from registered users?

[Steven Zahm]

@ concoa

re: The page Connections generates does not appear to have any formatting.

Actually, it does, it is just that it is not inline. The card.php file actually has very little inline styling left as most has been moved over the course of updates. The styling left out of the card-single.php is on purpose on is to allow the template to inherit most of its styling from the theme.

re: I really love the potential of Connections, but is there any way for the program to use the registered wordpress or buddypress members and keep them synched?

No, Connections is not intended to be a member directory even though a lot of users successfully us it that way. This separation was designed this way on purpose. Using the Link extension it is possible to let your WP users maintain an entry that is linked to them, but there is now way to automatically pull in WP/BuddyPress users.

re: Do I have to input members in Connections separately from registered users?

Yes, other users generally only use the WP/BuddyPress profile for logging into the site, nothing more.

Hope that fully answers your questions.

[concoa]

Thank you for the rapid reply. Hmm, separate user registrations was what I was suspecting. I was hoping to utilize the BuddyPress XProfile info with Connections. I am using it on the frontend registration and then it is also available in the BP user’s profile settings for updates. The XProfile enables me to create all the customized information fields I would need for a Connections Directory and I know that all user info in WP & BP stays synched. This site will also serve as a user-initiated BP events calendar with PayPal for collecting event fees and collecting home owner’s dues. So, I am hoping to keep the custom user’s data tied together and synched as much as possible. People get really particular when money’s involved. Darn. I either have to get users to update their info in two different places OR create a management task to import and export data to try to keep Connections updated. (Neither of these is a good option for my situation) Is it your recommendation that I purchase the CSV uploader add-on, the Link add-on and the Form add-on to do this? Thanks again for your help.

[Steven Zahm]

@ concoa

Probably the best solution would be to create a “bridge” plugin that would add/edit the entry when the user adds/edits their XProfile info. Basically you would hook into the add/edit events provided by XProfile (I’m assuming there are hooks available) to either add a new Connections entry or edit an existing one. I have personally done something like this as before but with Gravity Forms/Restrict Content Pro/ for a client. It worked pretty well.

That said… you could use Link, Form and CSV Import to somehow manage bulk updates. Not sure how effective that would be since I would image user would expect their changes to take effect immediate. I know other users simply provide a link to the directory entry page on their membership page. So that may be an easy option.

Hope that helps!

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