new-import.html in Node import 6

File

help/new-import.html

<p>
The <em>New import</em> wizard guides the user through a number of
steps to configure an import.
</p>

<a name="select-content-type"></a>
<h3>Select content type</h3>

<p>
On the <em>Select content type</em> page you can select the content type
to create content for. Only the content types you have permission to
create are listed.
</p>

<a name="select-file"></a>
<h3>Select file</h3>

<p>
The <em>Select file</em> page allows you to upload and select the file
that contains the content to import. There is a list of available files
to choose from (previously uploaded files), or you can upload a new file.
</p>

<h4>Using FTP</h4>

<p>
The <em>Node import</em> module can be configured to allow users to
upload files using FTP rather than by the form.
</p>

<ul>
<li>on <a href="&base_url&admin/content/node_import/settings">Administer &raquo; Content &raquo; Import content &raquo; Settings</a>
you need to <em>Allow FTP uploads</em>,</li>
<li>all files uploaded by form are "owned" by the user that uploaded
them - no other user will be able to use that file to import content.
For FTP uploaded files, you need to specify what user "owns" those
files.</li>
</ul>

<p>
After you have uploaded a (big) file using FTP, you need to press
<em>Reload page</em> to inform the form about the new file.
</p>

<a name="set-file-options"></a>
<h3>Set file options</h3>

<p>
On the <em>Set file options</em> page you can specify the file format
by selecting one of the predefined formats, such as <abbr title="Comma
Separated Values">CSV</abbr> or <abbr title="Tab Separated Values">TSV</abbr>,
or specify the <em>Record separator</em>, <em>Field separator</em>,
<em>Text delimiter</em> and <em>Escape character</em> yourself.
</p>

<p>
After changing the options, press <em>Reload page</em> to view the
first 5 rows of the file in a tabular format.
</p>

<a name="map-file-columns"></a>
<h3>Map file columns</h3>

<p>
On the <em>Map file columns</em> page you must tell <em>Node import</em>
which file columns contain the content for which content fields.
</p>

<p>
Some content fields, such as <em>Title</em> for <em>Node content</em>
is required, while other content fields may be optional.
</p>

<p>
You can map the same file column to different content fields if the
content in that column happens to apply to multiple content fields.
</p>

<h4>Multi-valued content fields</h4>

<p>
Some content fields may allow for multiple values to be assigned. For
example <em>Vocabulary terms</em>. In this case you have two options:
</p>

<ol>

<li>
<table>
<thead>
<tr><th>title</th><th>body</th><th>field value 1</th><th>field value 2</th></tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr><td>Some title</td><td>Some body</td><td>Value 1</td><td>Value 2</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>

<p>
If you want some content field to contain the values of both the
<em>field value 1</em> and <em>field value 2</em> columns, you
will need to select the two columns in the select list for that
content field.
</p>
</li>

<li>
<table>
<thead>
<tr><th>title</th><th>body</th><th>field values</th></tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr><td>Some title</td><td>Some body</td><td>Value 1||Value 2</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>

<p>
In this case, you put both values in the same file column, but separated
by some separator which you will be able to set on the following page.
By default it is || - double pipe character.
</p>
</li>

</ol>

<h4>Hierarchical content fields</h4>

<p>
Some content fields may contain a value that is inherently hierarchical,
such as a <em>Parent item</em> in a <em>Book outline</em>. In this
case you also have the option to map either a single column or
multiple file columns to the content field.
</p>

<ol>
<li>
<table>
<thead>
<tr><th>title</th><th>body</th><th>parent</th><th>child</th></tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr><td>Some title</td><td>Some body</td><td>Parent</td><td>Child</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>

<p>
If you want to set the value of a content field to <em>Parent &raquo; Child</em>
you need to select both file columns in the select list for that
content field.
</p>
</li>

<li>
<table>
<thead>
<tr><th>title</th><th>body</th><th>parent</th></tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr><td>Some title</td><td>Some body</td><td>Parent&gt;&gt;Child</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>

<p>
Similar to multi-valued content fields, you can also map the content
field to exactly one file column and have the hierarchy of the item
separated by separators which you can set on the next page. By
default this separator is &gt;&gt; - double greater-than character.
</p>
</li>
</ol>

<h4>Multi-valued hierarchical content fields</h4>

<p>
In the case a content field can have multiple values which are all
hierarchical by nature, you can also map the content field to either
one file column or to multiple file columns.
</p>

<p>
The interpretation in this case is that the multiple value nature
of the content field has precedence over the hierarchical nature
of the field.
</p>

<ol>

<li>
<table>
<thead>
<tr><th>title</th><th>body</th><th>value 1</th><th>value 2</th></tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr><td>Some title</td><td>Some body</td><td>Parent 1>>Child 1</td><td>Parent 2>>Child 2</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</li>

<li>
<table>
<thead>
<tr><th>title</th><th>body</th><th>parents</th></tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr><td>Some title</td><td>Some body</td><td>Parent 1>>Child 1||Parent 2>>Child 2</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</li>

</ol>

<p>
In both cases, the values <em>Parent 1 &raquo; Child 1</em> and
<em>Parent 2 &raquo; Child 2</em> will be assigned to the content
field it is mapped to.
</p>

<a name="set-import-options"></a>
<h3>Set import options</h3>

<p>
On the <em>Set import options</em> you can set additional options
on how to interpret the supplied data from the file.
</p>

<h4>Hierarchical and multi-valued content fields</h4>

<p>
You will get an option to set the <em>Multiple values separator</em>
and <em>Hierarchical separator</em> if it applies for a content
field.
</p>

<a name="set-default-values"></a>
<h3>Set default values</h3>

<p>
On the <em>Set default values</em> page you can set the
default value to use in the case the content field either
has not been mapped to a file column or the data in that
file column is empty for a given record.
</p>

<p>
Note that the default values are only used in those two
cases! Selected a number of <em>Taxonomy terms</em> here
will not assign those terms to all imported records for
example.
</p>

<a name="preview-import"></a>
<h3>Preview import</h3>

<p>
On the <em>Preview import</em> page you can see a preview
of the content you will created. You can go <em>Back</em>
to correct any errors you encounter.
</p>

<p>
Note that the preview of the imported content is not always
100% correct as some content fields may only appear after
the content has really been created, such as <em>Menu items</em>.
</p>

<a name="start-import"></a>
<h3>Start import</h3>

<p>
The <em>Start import</em> page offers the last chance
to change any options. When you press <em>Start import</em>
you will be guided to a different page which starts the
import.
</p>

<p>
You can set a name for the import so you can keep track
of the different imports on <a href="&base_url&admin/content/node_import">Administer &raquo; Content &raquo; Import content</a>
page.
</p>