A dataset like that is going to take some work to import.
From a user interface perspective, it would be worthwhile to look at how that data ia structured and find ways to collapse it into fewer feields. You would need to do this before importing anything…use your spreadsheet app to collapse the data into fewer fields. Then define your Participants Database fields to match the new set of fields. I know you said it can’t be changed, but it’s worth looking in to since it will make everything else a lot easier to do.
For starters, the story of what’s happening will be in your php error log, so take a look at that after performing the test import to see what happened. If you don’t have your php error log set up, I recommend you do so, it will be a great help.
Second, you must define all your Participants Database fields in small groups. How large the groups can be depends on your server, but something like 30-50 maximum per group. Smaller groups are more efficient, and it will make such a large number of fields easier to manage once you get the data imported.
Third, the header for the CSV must exactly match the field names (not the titles) of the fields you’re importing, so the plugin knows where to place the data. From your description, I would guess that your CSV header does not match any fields, so no data was imported.
You will also need to break the import up into batches, you’ll never be able to import all of that in one go. Because of the number of fields, that will probably be 1-2 thousand per batch.
Thanks for the response, but I guess I wasn’t clear.
My test data has 5 fields and 1 record entered manually. I have tried exporting a blank CVS of field names and entering data, then importing new data, does not work. I have tried exporting existing dataset of 1 record with 5 fields and then importing without change,does not work. I had tried splitting the “real” data into 300 records per dataset, failed.
I’ll keep trying things, hopefully I’ll get it to work and then implement the two add-ons I purchased.
Sounds like you need to look at the php error log to see why your import isn’t working. Get the test import working before trying anything else.
I figured it out. My Excel file has double-quotes around text fields and tabs between records. If I import using double-quotes for “enclosure character”, and tab for “delimiter character”, it fails every time. I thought it should work since double-quotes and tabs are common delimiters in CSV files.
When I selected Auto for the delimiters, it works every time. Same data with double-quotes and tabs, and Auto works.
FYI for anyone reading this, foreign characters in a record also caused some records not to be imported. Eg, if you have the name Ramírez, you have to Anglicize it to Ramirez. This includes characters like ñ, î, â, ê and so on.
The Participants Database import page includes the ability to select which characters to use for the enclosure and delimiter characters:
Als, it is not true that you must anglicize the data, if you configure your spreadsheet to export with UTF-8 encoding, all characters will import correctly. Excel and some other spreadsheet apps do not do this by default.
I wanted to clarify that because it’s important for people to know that the plugin is designed to work with all international characters.
