Stephen Harris

<p>This plug-in allows to import events from a CSV file into Event Organiser. You can also export events from<br />
Event Organiser into a CSV file.</p>
<p>Please note that this plug-in still in <strong>beta</strong>. I welcome feedback, issues and pull-requests.</p>
<h4>Aim</h4>
<p>To allow users to export / import events in CSV format between various calendar applications, and to do this flexiably<br />
so as to limit the number of requirements on the CSV file before it can be read correctly. To allow users to move events<br />
between installations of Event Organiser while preserving data that is not suported by iCal.</p>
<p>In the vein of flexibility columns do not have to be in any prescribed order: you tell the plug-in which columns pertain to what (start date, end date etc)<br />
after importing the file.</p>
<h4>How to use this plug-in</h4>
<p>Once installed, go to <em>Tools > Import Events</em>. Here you can export a CSV file or select a file to import one. To import an file:</p>
<ul>
<li>Select browse and select the file, click “Upload file and import”</li>
<li>All being well you should now see a preview of the CSV file, along with a drop-down option at the base of each column. If the preview looks wrong, try<br />
selecting a different delimiter type (comma, tab, space) at the top.</li>
<li>If the first row of the CSV file is a header, select the option indicating this. The first row will then be ignored.</li>
<li>At the bottom of each column select what the column represents. The options are (not all are required):
<ul>
<li>Title</li>
<li>Start (formatted in Y-m-d format, and also indicating time <strong>only</strong> if the event is not all-day)  </li>
<li>End (formatted as above)</li>
<li>Recur until (if the event recurs, the date of its last occurrence)</li>
<li>Recurrence Schedule (if the event recurs, how it repeats: once|daily|weekly|monthly|yearly|custom).</li>
<li>Recurrence Frequency (if the event recurs, an integer indicating with what frequency)</li>
<li>Schedule Meta (See documentation for <a href="http://codex.wp-event-organiser.com/function-eo_insert_event.html" rel="nofollow ugc">eo_insert_post()</a>, e.g. “MO,TU,THR” (weekly), “BYDAY=2MO” or “BYMONTHDAY=16” (monthly)</li>
<li>Content (HTML post content)</li>
<li>Venue (Venue slug)</li>
<li>Categories (comma seperated list of category slugs) </li>
<li>Tags (comma seperated list of tag slugs)</li>
<li>[Any custom event taxonomies registered] (comma seperated list of slugs)</li>
<li>Include dates (comma seperated list of Y-m-d dates to include from the event’s schedule)</li>
<li>Exclude dates (as above, but added to the event’s schedule)</li>
<li>Post Meta (an option will appear to provide the meta-key)</li>
<li>Click import.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h4>Importing new venues, categories and tags</h4>
<p>By default the plug-in will only import venues, categories and tags that already exist.<br />
To allow the plug-in to create new venues, categories and tags you can add the following<br />
code (to a seperate plug-in or your theme’s <code>functions.php</code>).</p>
<pre><code> function my_set_import_imports( $args, $file ){
      $args['import_new_event-category'] =  true; //create category if it doesn't exist
      $args['import_new_event-venue']    =  true; //create venue if it doesn't exist.
      $args['import_new_event-tag']      =  true; //create tag if it doesn't exist. 

      return $args;
 }
 add_filter( 'eventorganiser_csv_import_args', 'my_set_import_imports', 10, 2 );
</code></pre>
<p>Please note the limitations on importing venues discussed below.</p>
<h4>Limitations</h4>
<p>Current limitations apply. See the examples folder for an archetypal CSV file</p>
<ul>
<li>All dates are read using PHP’s DateTime. While various formats are supported, Y-m-d (e.g. 2013-12-31) formats are <strong>strongly</strong> recommended</li>
<li>Starts dates must be provided in Y-m-d (e.g. 2013-12-31) for all day events and also include a time-component (e.g. 2013-12-31 11:30pm) for non-all-day events. There is no<br />
prescribed format for the time but 24-hour time is recommended. You do not need to specify seconds.</li>
<li>Include/exclude dates should be given as comma-seperated list of dates in Y-m-d format.</li>
<li>Categories and tags must be given as comma-seperated list of names</li>
<li>It does not support venue meta-data (yet)</li>
</ul>
<p><em>Please note that in theory all dates (other than the start date) can be given in any format, however, to<br />
ensure dates are interpreted correctly it is strongly recommended to give dates in Y-m-d (or Y-m-d H:i for non-all day events) format. The start<br />
date must be in that format so that the importer can differentriate between all-day and non-all-day events.</em></p>
<h4>Future Features</h4>
<ul>
<li>An “import preview” or “dry-run” so users can view how events will be imported.</li>
<li>Support venue meta data</li>
<li>Support category colours</li>
<li>Add filters for developers</li>
<li>Add support for UID to prevent importing an event twice (perhaps, update the event?)</li>
<li>Add support ‘maps’ for importing from other applications (where format of exported CSV file is prescribed).</li>
<li>Support generic date formatting (try to ‘guess’ / ask for format )</li>
</ul>


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