Automatic Table Import with Excel

  • Resolved sdbraun

    (@sdbraun)


    10 months, 3 weeks ago

    Hi! I’m currently working on a website where we have several tables that get updated at least once a day. At the moment, we are having to upload the new, updated tables to the site and re-link them each time, which is a huge hassle, so we’re interested in the automatic periodic table import function!! However, I had a few clarifying questions before we commit to upgrading our license to Max.

    1. The tables are created and upkept on Excel. I know that the URL upload works with Google Sheets, but it seems like it doesn’t for Excel — is this accurate? Are there any workarounds?
    2. If we can’t use the URL upload, how does the server upload work? Would we still need to upload a new file every time it gets updated? We’re trying to avoid that.

    Thanks so much in advance. My team and I are big fans of the plugin.

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • Plugin Author TobiasBg

    (@tobiasbg)

    Hi @sdbraun!

    Thanks for your post and sorry for the trouble!

    Indeed, the Automatic Periodic Table Import feature would be a great solution for this!

    Essentially, a URL (or location on the server that WordPress runs on) with the table data as a file is the only requirement — after all, TablePress needs to get the table data from somewhere, but as it can’t access files on your local computer or network, this location has to be on web.

    Google Sheets is indeed one of the more common sources for the import data here, mainly because it offers an easy way to obtain such a URL that TablePress can use for the import.

    Excel Online (i.e. the Microsoft equivalent for Google Sheets) does not directly offer this, unfortunately, from everything that I know.

    However, cloud storage services like Microsoft OneDrive, Google Drive, or Dropbox are known to work, so this might be an option as well, especially with their automatic synchronization features that would remove the burden of having to upload files manually.

    Alternatively, as a “last resort”, you could also upload all files to your server e.g. via an FTP program or a web interface that most hosting companies offer.

    So, in the end, you’ll just need a way to make your Excel files available somewhere on the internet, so that TablePress can then access them.

    Please let me know if anything is unclear! ??

    Best wishes,
    Tobias

    Thread Starter sdbraun

    (@sdbraun)

    Hi Tobias! Thanks for your speedy reply. I got everything working with Excel, but now a new issue arises:

    It appears that my table is too big for importing? When I try to import it as an xlsx, it causes a memory issue (even after raising the memory to 1024). When I try to import it as a csv, it returns a Bad Gateway error. As a last ditch effort, I just created a blank table and then tried to link it to the Excel file through the Automatic Periodic Table Import UI, but then it returns an error 5.

    Any ideas on how to solve this? Sorry about the trouble, and thanks so much in advance!

    Plugin Author TobiasBg

    (@tobiasbg)

    Hi,

    Sorry to hear that you are having these problems! Now, as this concerns a TablePress premium feature, I’ll need to ask you please get in touch via email, to the address that you can find on the “About” screen of TablePress. Per the forums rules here on www.ads-software.com, I’m not allowed to directly support premium features here in the forums.

    If possible, please also include the files that you tried to import (or links to them) and maybe screenshots of any error messages that you are getting. Thanks a lot!

    Best wishes,
    Tobias

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
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