CSV imports and duplicate events

[Sally Richardson]

Hi – I use the csv import to import events into the calendar from our Access database.
This used to work extremely well, but I now find that duplicate events are often being created.

Example A: I import an event with no start time – marked as an all day event. I then import the same event again but with the start time now included. Result: the import will no longer recognise the event as being the “same one” but with an amendment – and instead creates a duplicate event.

Example B: I import an event with no venue. I then import the same event again but with the venue now included. Result: the import will no longer recognise the event as being the “same one” but with an amendment – and instead creates a duplicate event.

In the past this worked beautifully: if the event title was still the same and on the same date it simply updated the record if the start time changed or the venue changed -but no longer!

Please could you tell me:
a) what criteria is used with the CSV import to determine whether an event already exists? Event title plus date plus??
b) perhaps I need to have a unique identifier for each event? I can easily provide this within the CSV file as our database holds a unique ID for each event – but I have not seen this as a field on the CSV import?

Many thanks!

[Cliff]

Hi, Sally. Sorry you’re experiencing this.

If this is the bug I’m thinking it is, it was introduced as of The Events Calendar version 4.4 — does that possibly ring true with your experience?

FYI: I marked this thread as Pending Fix, which means it should receive a reply once the applicable fix has been released. I cannot guarantee when it will be fixed as it’s in the development team’s hands now. They need to assign it, code it, test it, and schedule it for release.

I apologize for this issue and appreciate your understanding and patience.

[Sally Richardson]

Hi – thanks for your help. It is hard to tell whether or not it started around that time…..
Can you tell me a little about the specific bug though, so that we can be confident my problem will be resolved when the bug you mention gets fixed? Is is only with CSV imports, or more general? Or just send me a link to a thread which covers it? Many thanks!

[Cliff]

The bug is specific to CSV importing. Basically, it doesn’t have the logic to detect if a likely match exists (i.e. avoid duplicate and update vs. create new every time and possibly create duplicates).

That’s as much as I’ve got for you. I hope it helps in some way.

[Victor]

Hi Sally!

Just wanted to share with you that a new release of our plugins is out, including a the tribe_events_import_event_duplicate_matches filter that facilitates the addition of some matching rules to prevent duplicates.

Find out more about this release → https://theeventscalendar.com/maintenance-release-week-15-april-2018/

Please update the plugins and let us know if the fix works for your site.

Best,
Victor

[Support Droid]

Hey there! This thread has been pretty quiet for the last three weeks, so we’re going to go ahead and close it to avoid confusion with other topics. If you’re still looking for help with this, please do open a new thread, reference this one and we’d be more than happy to continue the conversation over there.

Thanks so much!
The Events Calendar Support Team

[Author]

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