Import Issue

The CSV Import for categories only works with the categories. You can use the CSV exported from Connections for categories or you can create a CSV of your own following the instructions on this doc page:

• https://connections-pro.com/documentation/tools/#Categories-2

To bulk import Entries into the directory, you’ll need the CSV Import addon. Here’s the link:

• https://connections-pro.com/add-on/csv-import/

Using this addon, you can use either the CSV exported from Connections or create a new one.

If you click the button and nothing happens, that is a sign that another plugin is not limiting their scripts to their admin pages and causing a fatal error breaking javascript on your admin pages.

You can tell if this is the issue by doing an import and, after clicking the button, hit the F12 key and then click the Console tab. If you see errors, this is likely the reason the import is not being processed.

The easy fix, in this case, is to deactivate all plugins not related to Connections temporarily and then do the import.

I hope this helps, please let me know.

I understand. I have a csv file for the entire export, which I received by using the connections plugin. I will say that I think it is strange that you have an export all function, but not an import all function.

I also find it disheartening that you charge $15 for the add on plugin to do this import. I can export it for free, but I have to pay $15 to import it?

Will the add on plugin import my images or the image link as well?

Also, like I said, nothing happens when I try to just import just the categories either, so that’s broken.

I did deactivate all plugins and try and there was an error in the console:

{readyState: 4, getResponseHeader: ?, getAllResponseHeaders: ?, setRequestHeader: ?, overrideMimeType: ?, …}
abort: ? (e)
always: ? ()
catch: ? (e)
complete: ? ()
done: ? ()
error: ? ()
fail: ? ()
getAllResponseHeaders: ? ()
getResponseHeader: ? (e)
overrideMimeType: ? (e)
pipe: ? ()
progress: ? ()
promise: ? (e)
readyState: 4
responseJSON: {success: false, data: {…}}
responseText: "{\"success\":false,\"data\":{\"form\":{\"id\":\"cn-import-category\",\"action\":\"csv_upload\",\"type\":\"category\",\"nonce\":\"31b0968579\",\"_wp_http_referer\":\"\\/wp-admin\\/admin.php?page=connections_tools&tab=import\",\"cn-upload-csv-category\":\"Upload\"},\"message\":\"Syntax error found on row 1. Non-enclosed fields can not contain double-quotes.\"}}"
setRequestHeader: ? (e,t)
state: ? ()
status: 200
statusCode: ? (e)
arguments: (...)
caller: (...)
length: 1
name: "statusCode"
prototype: {constructor: ?}
__proto__: ? ()
FunctionLocation: load-scripts.php?c=0…-upload&ver=5.7.1:2
Scopes: Scopes[3]
statusText: "success"
success: ? ()
then: ? (t,n,r)
__proto__: Object

RE: I also find it disheartening that you charge $15 for the add on plugin to do this import. I can export it for free, but I have to pay $15 to import it?

Well, the CSV Import addon existed long before the export tools. Two, most of all new features end up in the free plugin, something has to fund me being able to devote full time to working on Connections. It is fair for me to make a living to support my family, is it not? Please do not take this as being an attack or anything because I sincerely do not mean it to be.

RE: like I said, nothing happens when I try to just import just the categories either, so that’s broken.

If this is the case, I’ll repeat my suggested fix:

`If you click the button and nothing happens, that is a sign that another plugin is not limiting their scripts to their admin pages and causing a fatal error breaking javascript on your admin pages.

You can tell if this is the issue by doing an import and, after clicking the button, hit the F12 key and then click the Console tab. If you see errors, this is likely the reason the import is not being processed.

The easy fix, in this case, is to deactivate all plugins not related to Connections temporarily and then do the import.`

If that does not work, please let me know if there were errors in the browser’s Console or not and if there were, what they are.

Hi Steven,
I get it on charging for the plugin, I apologize if I came across harshly. I’m just frustrated with trying to get anything to work here. I did deactivate every last plugin and reverted to the Twenty-Twentyone theme, just in case it was a theme issue as well.

I post the errors in a previous post.

I don’t mind buying the importing plugin, but the current import for categories doesn’t even work, so I’m hesitant.

The info from the browser Console says the import was a success. You can get success even if nothing was actually imported due to the contents of the file.

You are attempting to only import categories in the CSV file, correct?

And that file is set up as shown in the docs, correct?

• https://connections-pro.com/documentation/tools/#Instructions

Can you please paste the first few rows from the CSV file here? Please use the CODE tags. Thanks!

Yeah, when I click the upload button, literally nothing happens. I have never seen a map screen. Here’s the first few lines of the cvs file:

???"ID"	Name	Description	Slug	Parent
2	Acupuncture		acupuncture	
10	Brain Fitness		brain-fitness	
37	Breathwork		breathwork	
27	Cannabis Dispensaries		cannabis-dispensaries	

Was the file edited? I would expect something that looks more like this:

"ID","Name","Description","Slug","Parent"
"2","Business","","business",""
"3","Agriculture","","agriculture","Business|business"
"4","Apartments","","apartments","Business|business"
"5","Auto Body Repair","","auto-body-repair","Business|business"

Notice the lack of quotes and no commas in your file.

The ??? characters are also concerning that might indicate an improperly encoded file as well.

My suggestion, remove those characters and the ID column. Save the file as UTF8 encoded. I suggest using LibreOffice Calc or Google Sheets and not Excel (because Excel likes to “help” by creating incorrectly formatted and encoded files).

I hope this helps! Please let me know.

No editing. I literally downloaded it and then uploaded it, never even opened it.

Yes! I just removed the extra characters, but left the word ID and the column and it all came in.

One quick question. With the paid import plugin, will it pull images, or at least the image link and allow me to map the image link? I didn’t see that option in your screenshots, but it was really small.

In the Export All CSV file, you will see at the end columns that there is both a Logo URL and Photo URL field.

These should be automatically mapped to the respective fields in the Import CSV addon.

For the images to be imported, they need to be publicly accessible in order for WP to fetch the image for Connections to import.

One way to test that the images are publicly accessible is to copy the URL from the field and paste it into a browser address bar. If the image display, then it is publicly accessible. If it does not, then the image can not be imported.

If you find your image URLs are not publicly accessible, you will need to copy them to a location that is and then update the CSV file with the correct URL address.

The process I use for all bulk imports; I import the first few rows or so and verify that everything imported as expected. If everything looks good, then I import the remaining.

I hope I have answered your question thoroughly and it helps, please let me know.

Hi Steven,
Just an update… I purchased your CVS Import plugin and it worked flawlessly out of the box. 5 star review from me man, thank you!

– Mike

Thanks, happy to help!