WordPress Glossary Plugin (CMTG) - Extras - Importing and Exporting Terms/Settings

Import and Export of Glossary Terms

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The Pro, Pro+. and eCommerce editions of the WordPress Glossary plugin support the option for Importing and exporting glossary Terms and plugin settings.

This gives you the ability to replicate your Glossary Terms database easily and migrate them across several sites and even to import large dictionaries into the plugin.

1) Exporting/Importing Terms

About CSV Files

Exported files are saved in the .CSV (Comma-separated values) format. This type of file can be opened as a spreadsheet by softwares such as MS-Excel, OpenOffice and Numbers.

To make sure that you are using the correct format please download the example file which is provided with the plugin. You can replicate the examples provided and add your own terms.

Another method is to export your existing terms into a csv file, open it and once again replicate the format provided in the csv file you have.

TIP: Sample file

You can always find a sample file in this page.

Finding The Import/Export Options

To reach the Import/Export options, head to Admin Dashboard → CM Tooltip Glossary → Import/Export.

This page has three important features:

• Backup Glossary Terms to File - Creates a CSV file that is stored locally and shows you the link to access it.
  • Additionally you can: define the amount of terms which can be backed up within one iteration. Reduce this value if you experience errors while backing up. Note: this option was introduced in version 4.2.0.
• Export Glossary Terms - Generates a CSV file that will be downloaded by your computer.
  • Addiotionally you can: define the amount of terms which can be exported within one iteration. Reduce this value if you experience errors while exporting. Note: this option was introduced in version 4.2.0.
• Import Glossary Terms from File - Allows you to upload a CSV file. First, choose a file by clicking the Choose File button and then click the blue Import from CSV button.
  • Addiotionally you can: define the amount of terms which can be impoterd within one iteration. Reduce this value if you experience errors while importing. Note: this option was introduced in version 4.3.3.

How The Plugin "Reads" CSV Files

The CSV file needs to follow some rules so that the plugin can read it properly. As mentioned before, the easier method to avoid any confusion is to use a CSV file that was exported from the plugin.

When creating of modifying the table, consider these rules:

• Headers - The first row is composed of headers and will not be imported. The plugin reads the following fields, in this specific order:
  • Id
  • Title
  • Excerpt
  • Description
  • Synonyms
  • Variations
  • Categories
  • Abbreviation
  • Tags
  • Image
  • Languages. Note: this field was introduced in version 4.0.0.
  • One column for each meta field. Note: Meta fields starting with "cmtt" and "_cmtt" are technical meta fields storing the information which are represented in metabox 
    • _cmtt_exclude_parsing
    • _cmtt_exclude_tooltip
    • etc.

Meta Fields Export/Import

The CSV file also exports and imports meta fields of each term. These come after the image column. Example:

The feature was added in version 3.9.1

• Obligatory Information - The terms must have data, at least, in the columns "Title" and "Description". If any of these is empty, that line will be skipped.

  
  

  The image shows two proper rows followed by two incomplete rows as an example:

  

• Repetition - If a term in the CSV file already exists in the database, only its content will be updated.
• Encoding - All files should be UTF-8 encoded. If you’re using MSExcel, please remember that by default Excel cannot save files in proper CSV format (comma-delimited).

Custom Related Articles

Each article has to be placed in separate column named  "_glossary_related_article_" + article name. For example, "_glossary_related_article_My new Home".

Duplicate Terms

In case if the CSV file contains the terms which already exist on the site where you import the CSV file, there can be 2 cases:

1. If the imported term (title and definition) equals to the one on the site, then it will be skipped.
2. If the imported term definition is different from the one on the site (only the title is the same), then the term definition will be replaced by the one from CSV file.

You can decide what to do with these terms in plugin settings. Navigate to Admin Dashboard → CM Tooltip Glossary → Settings → General Settings tab.

Scroll down to the section Performance & Debug and enable one of the following options:

• Allow importing terms with the same title (update/overwrite)
• Skip the imported terms with the same title

Import and Export Video Tutorial

2) Exporting/Importing Settings

Starting from version 3.8.14, it's also possible to export all plugin settings. You can do so from the same settings page.

Below the terms section, you will find the Export Glossary Settings section. The process is the same as with terms.

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