Include custom fields in Meetings Export

[ckyoga]

Hello,

I have a few custom fields added via ACF and I would like them included in the meetings export.

Dashboard -> Meetings -> Import & Export -> Download CSV

Is there some code I can add to my functions.php?

Thank you in advance.

[kiyote33]

Hi @ckyoga, we don't have an easy way of doing what you are asking, as far as I know. You could probably achieve what you are wanting to do by overwriting our tsml_get_meetings() function with your own custom code in the functions file. There you would need to retrieve your ACF data from the database for each $post and then appending that data to the $meeting array (sort of the same way the attendance_option is added). Unfortunately the function code in question (tsml_get_meetings) is not wrapped with a function_exists() check so it can't be used in a child theme functions fille. Hope this helps...

We don't normally recommend doing this as your custom code would be overwritten when the plugin receives an update.

[ckyoga]

Darn. Thank you for your prompt reply. Do you know of any download/export plugins that would work with the Meetings datatype and ACF custom fields? It seems pretty straight-forward.

Just to re-iterate -> I added a custom Post Type field for the 'Meetings' Post type called 'admin_comments'. I want that field to be included in the export function & downloaded .csv file for each meeting download.

Thanks again!

[kiyote33]

No, I haven't had experience with anything meeting your specific requirements, but you might look at something related to exporting custom post types like 'WP All Export'.

[kiyote33]

Hi again @ckyoga, our team is looking at what may be a workable solution to your issue. We are running it through some tests and it may be available shortly if it works out.

[ckyoga]

That's Amazing! Thank you...I look forward to your reply.

[kiyote33]

Hi @ckyoga, just a quick update here. We will be releasing 3.14.29 fairly soon with code changes to accommodate your request. We've tested it out and it seems workable. See 'enable exporting custom fields' PR #1335 to observe how it was setup prior to testing. Note that the $tsml_custom_meeting_fields array was placed in a child theme functions.php file to avoid being overridden when new releases are published. Hope this works for you. Let us know how it works out and if there's anything else you need.

[joshreisner]

hi @ckyoga yes once you get 3.14.29 if you add this to your theme's functions.php:

$tsml_custom_meeting_fields = [
    'admin_comments' => 'Admin Comments',
];

you should see that column in the CSV

[ckyoga]

Hello Josh,

I really appreciate you making this effort with us...so awesome! I feel like we are very close!

I have updated the plugin and added the code to the child theme's functions.php.
$tsml_custom_meeting_fields = [
'admin_comments' => 'Admin Comments',
];

I can see the new column 'Admin Comments' in the export file but the actual field data is not coming thru.

I edited two meetings with admin comments and neither meeting has the data in the export file.

please advise.

best,
Caroline Burns

meetings-ACF-5.csv

[joshreisner]

hi @ckyoga in your ACF field group settings, could you confirm the name of the Admin Comments field?

[joshreisner]

oops i didn't see the other posts in the thread. it looks good! i'm not sure why you're not seeing the value show up.

you saved changes on the meeting, and clicked the CSV again, and are not seeing the value?

[kiyote33]

Hi Caroline @ckyoga,
When editing the Field Group "admin_comment", did you assign it to specific meetings in the Settings/Rules like I did in the following graphic where you see my ACF Test field is assigned to the "Saturday Serenity" meeting?

That will add whatever text is added in your Admin Comment field to only the Saturday Serenity meeting on export.

If you want the Admin Comments on every meeting, I suspect you would want your settings set like this:

You will still need to edit each meeting and add and save your admin comments before they will appear in the export file.

This appears to work correctly for us. Let us know @ckyoga if either of these suggestions work for you...

[ckyoga]

Hello,

We want the admin to have the ability to add admin_comments on any or all meetings and not just a specific meeting.

Here is our setup:

[meetings-ACF-5.csv](https://github.com/code4recovery/12-step-meeting-list/files/14160848/meetings-ACF-5.csv)

[kiyote33]

That works! I had edited my message above to show that would be the correct setting to meet your needs. You may need to refresh your screen.

[ckyoga]

Here is my field - is this right?

[kiyote33]

Looks correct to me. Can you show me the Admin Comments of a meeting?

[kiyote33]

Hello Caroline. Are you still there?

[ckyoga]

yes, i am preparing a screenshot....one min

[ckyoga]

I am not seeing it. Including CSV download, screenshot of plugin version, edit screen of test meeting
meetings-ACF-6.csv

[kiyote33]

If you entered the "test admin comment....in new meeting" text and then published the meeting, you should see it in the export meetings.csv file for the Test ACF field meeting. You're confirming that did not happen?

[kiyote33]

What does the line of code entered in your theme functions.php file look like?

[ckyoga]

[kiyote33]

It's perfect. Give me a minute to review. I must have missed something because everything on first pass seems correct.

[ckyoga]

You are right...the admin_comments did not export.

[kiyote33]

Ok. I replicated your process and it worked perfect. I can confirm it's not anything wrong with your process. Let's take a look at your site if you'd like. Can you give me some temporary credentials?

[kiyote33]

you can send them to me at [email protected]

[kiyote33]

It's midnight here, so I'm signing off for tonight. We can continue when it's convenient for you tomorrow. Good nite...

[ckyoga]

Sent you an email from '[email protected]'

[kiyote33]

Hi @ckyoga, Thanks, I got your email. I'll take a look-see and let you know what turns up, if anything.

[kiyote33]

Caroline, I added the Hello theme to my test site along with a child Elementor theme for it. The admin_comments are still working correctly. So I think the theme you are using is OK. I do see there is an update available for Elementor Pro. Can we update that or has the license expired?

[ckyoga]

interesting....elementor pro is updated now. You are seeing the actual data in the column?

[kiyote33]

Life is sweet again, eh!

[kiyote33]

Ah! you were asking a question. No, I see no joy.

[ckyoga]

oh darn!

[kiyote33]

Hi Caroline, My test site pretty much mimics your site, except I'm getting the expected results in the meetings.csv downloads. I can see no obvious reason why your site isn't getting the same. I looked in the json cache file and can see your data for the admin column is not there.

I'm sort of grasping at straws here. If you don't mind, I would like to restart from the beginning with a clean state. Sort of like a reboot where I recreate the test group and field. There has to be something I'm missing.

[ckyoga]

Geez....have you tried uploading my meetings.csv into your test setup? Maybe the way the data is laid out affects the export. I am not sure.

I will also try on a fresh install. This site is pretty simple as of yet. Let me know how I can assist.

[kiyote33]

Unfortunately the problem didn't transfer to my test machine when I uploaded your data.

[ckyoga]

shoot....Thank you for trying. I am going to have to start fresh as well to see if I can figure this out....very odd. I will get back to you later today.

[kiyote33]

So between Josh & me we sort of figured out that the two piece label when setting up ACF in your environment was not working. We added 'test' => 'Test' which worked fine, but after many fruitless attempts to get 'admin_comments' => Admin Comments' to work we settled on 'comments' => 'Comments' and that worked. There seems to be something in your environment that is causing our code to bomb when it sees the two-word label, or a hyphen or underscore in the ACF field name. Weird. But I think you've now got a work-around. Let us know if that will work for you...

[joshreisner]

yeah i wonder if there is some database cruft on the admin_comments name specifically, if it would work for example if it were admin_notes? if you learn anything please let us know!

[ckyoga]

Phew....good find!

I tried the following in functions.php with the ACF field definition matching.

Did not work:
$tsml_custom_meeting_fields = [ 'test' => 'Test', 'comments' => 'Comments', 'admin_test' => 'Admin Test'];
$tsml_custom_meeting_fields = [ 'test' => 'Test', 'comments' => 'Comments', 'admin_test' => 'AdminTest'];
$tsml_custom_meeting_fields = [ 'test' => 'Test', 'comments' => 'Comments', 'admintest' => 'Admin Test'];

Worked - Must remove all spaces and special characters to get it to work. This is great!
$tsml_custom_meeting_fields = [ 'test' => 'Test', 'comments' => 'Comments', 'admintest' => 'AdminTest'];

Once again, thank you sooo soo much!

[joshreisner]

oops i see the problem! this is probably TMI but in this function we are array_mapping on a multidimensional array - we should be using array_keys.

this will be fixed in this PR, which is probably why i wasn't able to recreate the issue -- i think i was probably testing on a site running that branch 😅

[ckyoga]

Ha! Not TMI...I know PHP. Thanks again!

[bubfcg]

Just came across this topic. I also added custom fields with ACF. I do get them in my export. But what I want to do is fill the custom fields with the CSV. But That doesn't seem to work.

1. I made an export, the custom fields were in it
2. I deleted all the meetings in the export
3. Added 1 new test meeting, with values in the custom fields
4. Uploaded the csv, the new meeting was added, but custom fields were empty