Title: html_entity_decode() expects parameter 1 to be string, array given
Last modified: July 6, 2020

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# html_entity_decode() expects parameter 1 to be string, array given

 *  [Ava Wendt](https://wordpress.org/support/users/akwendt/)
 * (@akwendt)
 * [5 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/html_entity_decode-expects-parameter-1-to-be-string-array-given/)
 * After installing the latest update to Participants Database, I get the following
   error when trying to export a filtered list (by date updated greater than November
   25, 2018)
    html_entity_decode() expects parameter 1 to be string, array given
   in /home/young**s/public_html/wp-content/plugins/participants-database/classes/
   PDb_Field_Item.php on line 319.
 * The page I need help with: _[[log in](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwordpress.org%2Fsupport%2Ftopic%2Fhtml_entity_decode-expects-parameter-1-to-be-string-array-given%2F%3Foutput_format%3Dmd&locale=en_US)
   to see the link]_

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

 *  Plugin Author [xnau webdesign](https://wordpress.org/support/users/xnau/)
 * (@xnau)
 * [5 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/html_entity_decode-expects-parameter-1-to-be-string-array-given/#post-13080002)
 * This indicates there is some unexpected data in your database…in this case, a
   multidimensional array. Participants Database does not normally store such arrays
   in the database (it stores only “flat” arrays), so it may be something that was
   imported directly to the database.
 * This can be difficult to find because unless you know which record it was that
   caused the problem, you need to search the database for the value that is giving
   you this message. A multidimensional array will look something like this:
 * `a:1:{i:0;a:3:{s:4:"name";s:11:"Susan Smith";s:4:"city";s:6:"Boston";s:5:"state";
   s:2:"MA";}}`
 * There will be flat arrays that will look similar in the database, but a multidimensional
   array is one that has a “a:” inside the curly brackets. Did I mention it would
   be hard to find?
 * Anyway, i’d be interested to hear what you discover about this.
 *  Plugin Author [xnau webdesign](https://wordpress.org/support/users/xnau/)
 * (@xnau)
 * [5 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/html_entity_decode-expects-parameter-1-to-be-string-array-given/#post-13080008)
 * by the way, a multidimensional array is an array of arrays, a flat array is simply
   an array of values.

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

The topic ‘html_entity_decode() expects parameter 1 to be string, array given’ is
closed to new replies.

 * ![](https://ps.w.org/participants-database/assets/icon-256x256.jpg?rev=1389807)
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## Tags

 * [PDB](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/pdb/)

 * 2 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [xnau webdesign](https://wordpress.org/support/users/xnau/)
 * Last activity: [5 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/html_entity_decode-expects-parameter-1-to-be-string-array-given/#post-13080008)
 * Status: not resolved