Title: How to debug CSV import syntax issues
Last modified: September 1, 2016

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# How to debug CSV import syntax issues

 *  Resolved [miceno](https://wordpress.org/support/users/miceno/)
 * (@miceno)
 * [9 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/how-to-debug-csv-import-syntax-issues/)
 * I am using the CSV import plugin.
 * When I try to import a bad formatted csv file, it doesn’t complain about the 
   line, the column or the offending field. In fact, after importing a wrong formatted
   file (say I have a 5 entries file and none of them are valid) it shows “Imported
   5 events”.
 * One of the most common issues is file encoding, since I am using an XLS file 
   to create the CSV file and when writing a CSV file from MS Excel, the encoding
   is (for MacOS X) “Mac Roman”, and not UTF8.
 * I will appreciate some guidance on how to debug csv importing, since I am importing
   a 500 entries file.
 * [https://wordpress.org/plugins/all-in-one-event-calendar/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/all-in-one-event-calendar/)

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

 *  [Benjamin](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bsokic/)
 * (@bsokic)
 * [9 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/how-to-debug-csv-import-syntax-issues/#post-7716601)
 * Hi miceno,
 * So after import you see the 5 events in the backend, they all have the details?
   Please read the guide for more information: [http://time.ly/document/user-guide/manage-add-ons/csv-import/](http://time.ly/document/user-guide/manage-add-ons/csv-import/)
 *  Thread Starter [miceno](https://wordpress.org/support/users/miceno/)
 * (@miceno)
 * [9 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/how-to-debug-csv-import-syntax-issues/#post-8155039)
 * Hi Benjamin
 * Sorry for the delay (vacation time 🙂
 * I imported 5 events, all of them are imported, but the import process didn’t 
   understand the fields, I mean, some of the provided fields in the CSV where empty
   on WordPress. The issue is related to the CONTACT field, since I have some contacts
   with numbers on the name of the contact (like “Quadrat 9” or “P9Artius” and the
   parser is interpretting them as… phone numbers!!
 * I hereby attach a simplified version of the offending line.
 *     ```
       TYPE,UID,DTSTAMP,DTSTART,DTEND,GEO,SUMMARY,DESCRIPTION,LOCATION,WebSite,CATEGORIES,CONTACT
       vevent,kk1,TZID=Europe/Madrid:20160830T190000,"TZID=Europe/Madrid:20160916T210000","TZID=Europe/Madrid:20160916T230000",41.408171;2.199774,"INAUGURACIÓ: EXPOSICIÓ COL·LECTIVA DE P9ARTIUS","Els P9Artius","A Can Ricart\, local de l'Eix Pere IV","http://tallersobertspoblenou.org","INAUGURACIÓ,testing","P9Artius amb la Fundició del Poblenou;http://tallersobertspoblenou.org"
       ```
   
 * After importing it, the event is created, but it has not an assigned starting
   date nor ending date.
 * My request is double:
    1. add a more verbose output when a field is discarded.
   2. improve the parsing to deal with limit cases like the name of a contact containing
   numbers.
    -  This reply was modified 9 years, 8 months ago by [miceno](https://wordpress.org/support/users/miceno/).
 *  [Benjamin](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bsokic/)
 * (@bsokic)
 * [9 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/how-to-debug-csv-import-syntax-issues/#post-8181194)
 * You are welcome to suggest requests, changes, ideas and new features on Timely
   Product ideas page: [http://ideas.time.ly/](http://ideas.time.ly/), upvote an
   existing request or make a new request there.
 * Thanks,
    Ben

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

The topic ‘How to debug CSV import syntax issues’ is closed to new replies.

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 * 3 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [Benjamin](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bsokic/)
 * Last activity: [9 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/how-to-debug-csv-import-syntax-issues/#post-8181194)
 * Status: resolved