Facebook Events No Longer Importing/Times Incorrect

[Julie Kuehl]

Hello agruden,

Sounds good. Let me know how it goes.

– Julie

[agruden]

Hi Julie –
Well it did NOT import the event…..

So… I manually imported it from the import FB events where it actually did show it sitting in the events list.

When I did, it happily imported the event — but with an 8 hour time earlier time shift rather than 10 hour earlier shift… Progress? 🙂

Soooooooo….

I deleted the event under events and have reset the time setting to UTC+5 hours. Let’s see what happens overnight again and

1) if it imports and 2) what I get for a time stamp.

Ann

[agruden]

Morning report —
Did NOT import the event. (Clearly unhappy auto importing twice). However, it was sitting in the “import from FB” list. So I Imported manually. Which it did – with a 2 hour later time shift.

So – using UTC+5 sets the time 2 hours later. Using NYC sets the time 8 hours earlier.

Seems I would have to delete the event or again, go “trick” the FB events into thinking it was a fresh installation and setting my time zone to UTC+3 (if I am calculating correctly…not sure anymore) in order to trick it into working properly. Not sure what will happen when DST occurs and we have our shelters depending on this to work for them. Right now, am not signing them up for it, but can only avoid it for so long…

Thank you,

Ann

[Julie Kuehl]

Hey agruden,

Can I admit that trying to keep this situation straight is making my head spin? 🙂

So let’s separate it out. We’ve got two separate issues: 1) time zone shift and 2) auto (not) importing

The time zone shift I really can’t explain and don’t know what else to do for you. When tested, the plugin brings in those events with no problems – except on your setup. It’s something specific to your install that seems to be the trouble and we’ve tried everything I can think of. You really might want to verify with your hosting provider to see what time the server is set for because that’s the only other thing I can think of at this point. The only thing left would be some weird conflict with another plugin or script, but you said disabling the other plugins had no effect.

For the auto importing issue, one thought there that I don’t think either of us has mentioned before – you do have under Events > Settings > Facebook > Default Status set to Published, don’t you? Not Draft or Pending Review?

– Julie

[agruden]

It is set to publishes. But, one last try as I THINK I found the problem… and this is sort of embarressing . . .

I have reverified the UTC time — NYC is not UTC+5 it is UTC-5 ….. trying it in the morning didn’t make it nearly as obvious as trying it at night when military time and the date shift showed up in wordpress…. so I have cleared everything to zero’s, deactivated, and then “reinstalled” with the proper keys and secret for Facebook and will see what the morning brings . . . for the 2 groups with events…. am still not sure why it wouldn’t import events — but maybe it had to do with not importing something it already identified as having been imported previously.

Will report back in the morning….

But we do know that the NYC setting did not work at all — so will stay with this for now.

Thank you, Ann

[agruden]

Sorry Julie – totally forgot I had to reset, and then DELETE and then reinstall in order for it to start importing again… yes, the process around this situation is enough to make one’s head spin… not sure if it will help you all understand the under-pinnings a bit better. But it seems to me that depending on how the installation is done, then it cannot be modified without ramifications. Mine clearly was installed with a WordPress UTC setting and trying to set to a city selection just was not going to work.

Will report back again tomorrow after the auto import as for certain direct import does not function — I tested that this morning and the extremely bizzare time shift was still there. So that clearly does not work on my particular installation. 🙁

[Julie Kuehl]

Hey Ann,

I’m not sure how much more help I can provide here. We’ve tried pretty much everything at this point.

One thing you could do to check your server’s default time is to create a new file, phpinfo.php, and add the following code to it:

<?php phpinfo(); ?>

That’s it. If you could share a link to that page, we can check that out. If it is a server issue, you will have to get in touch with GoDaddy and they may or may not be willing or able to help out.

Other than that, the only other thing is to try a clean install of pretty much everything: WordPress, database, and plugins.You can find some good instructions here: http://codex.wordpress.org/Upgrading_WordPress_-_Extended_Instructions And be sure to grab fresh downloads of WordPress and the plugins too. That may be a little drastic, so it’s the last resort. This issue is something related to your install, it just happened to come out with our plugin.

Unfortunately, since we are unable to replicate the issue and it is inherent to your install, we are unable to provide additional support. Best of luck with the troubleshooting!

— Julie

[fred]

Once more. I’m still having the exact same issue all of a sudden. I’m going to follow this thread in case you miraculously arrive at a solution.

[agruden]

Julie – have not yet tried to do the php file – been fighting storms here.. but am still working on the issue to see if first I have the time setting correct. I know it’s just a matter of the right combination of removing the event; wiping out the FB codes on the Facebook Event plug-in; uninstalling it; reinstalling it; and then getting the time stamp correct – or at least that is what it seems for me.

I got it to import with a 1 hour time shift. Now trying for the magical proper time.

Hope to be able to concentrate this weekend again.

[Julie Kuehl]

Hey agruden,

OK. I’ll leave it in your hands to sort through.

– Julie

[agruden]

Hello Julie –
Sorry for the very long delay in replying.
Had other issues to deal with on my installation.
Did get this working ALMOST working properly with Standard time but does not seem to want to deal with any events that are scehduled to occur to start during Daylight Savings Time. So I have retried using the New York setting.

Did not do it. 🙁

However – I did create and add the file you asked me to produce.

Here is the result:
http://ferretshelters.org/phpinfo.php
If this doesn’t work, guess will just have to tell everyone to forwarn people that times are approximate and event times are incorrect.

Oh – and sometimes it import duplicate copies for brand new events. 🙁

[Brook]

Howdy agruden,

I am sorry for this delayed response. Julie has moved on from our forums here to other pastures. Unfortunately your topic was old enough that it does not look like it was reassigned to another team member. I will help you now, and definitely keep response coming in a timely fashion.

I have done my very best to recreate your issue. I have even added your organization to my Facebook auto imports, changed my server to your timezone, and matched the relevant settings from your phpinfo page on my local server. I am not able to reproduce this issue no matter what I try. The events import properly.

Thus I do not believe this is really a bug with the plugin. Like you I am suspicious that something about your WordPress is corrupted. It could be the Events database, it could definitely be something else though. If you are willing to try it, we would need to do a full reinstall. Fair warning, this is a bit of a pain. As you have learned WordPress plugins do not really delete their settings/data when they are deleted, only plugin files are deleted. Thus, the only way to do a truly fresh install is:
1) Do a WordPress Export. Export only the things you absolutely need. Obviously you will likely want your pages. I do not see a blog on your site, so you might be able to skip exporting your posts or users.
2) Backup /wp-content/uploads/. You might also need to backup your theme, if it is customized. And maybe some of your plugins if you can not redownload them.
3) Do a completely fresh install of WordPress. You might do this on a new subdomain that way you do not have to delete your current site.
4) Copy over the items you chose to backup from /wp-content/.
5) Import your xml backups using the official WordPress Import plugin.

This all requires a fair amount of WP knowledge to do. If you are adept at WP backups, this will be a breeze. But if you are not, this is a bit dangerous and you should use discretion in deciding whether to do this or not. Either way it is strongly advisable that you have a full backup of your WP file and database before trying it.

Aside from that I can not offer much help, unfortunately. Since it is unique to your server, and probably stems from a corrupted database, plugin, or WP, that is the only step left to try. And if you choose not to try it, I understand. Just so you know we do have many users on GoDaddy and this is the first I have seen a complaint like this, so I do not believe this is related to your server.

I really hope that helps! Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!

– Brook

[agruden]

Hi Brook — thanks for taking the time to write. And sorry, for the delay in my reply. Am trying to migrate pc’s and that is never a smooth process!

Actually, I sort of have this partially working but not sure how to proceed as I don’t think it’s working quite the way we had anticipated it would.

We have Events Pro and FB Events both attached to a Business Directory installation on WordPress so events are going to be adding in from FB community pages, potentially, from around the world. I would think that irrespective of where an event is located it should work. However, that is what seems to be part of the problem.

Right now, in Eastern Daylight Time in New York an event that is coming in from Facebook may be coming in correctly (I think as sometimes the plug-in seems to have a mind of its own — but for the moment, our shelter event tests seem to be ok for EDT). BUT what is happening is when an event arrives from a different time zone it is published as if the time is Eastern Daylight Time. So, for example, if I add an event here in Connecticut for December, 2014, it shows a one hour time shift as if it were actually Daylight Savings time.

Further, if an event is posted arriving from Facebook that is Portland, Oregon, it is showing as 6 pm Eastern Time rather than 3 pm Pacfic Time.

That doesn’t sound like a corrupt installation… it sounds like the plug-in is unable to acquire the correct time information from Facebook?

I previously only saw 1 event from the UK that was so far off, I never made the connection for a posting time shift. But someone just posted an event on the West Coast and the 3 hour shift stood out clearly.

Now I actually did try to do a totally new installation on a totally new website about a week ago to do a test so I would not have to upset this directory. I am not a WordPress expert and am very reluctant to mess with our shelter directory which is working well to trouble-shoot an anciliary plug-in we purchased merely to be a convenience for our shelter participants. However, when I went to add the Facebook events, it wouldn’t allow me – I guess because it’s installed here. Even removing the installation on the one website wouldn’t let me to reinstall it on another. 🙁

If the “time shift” is just the way it is going to work, I guess we will have to decide if it’s worth the annoyance of having to manually repair the time for each event. It ports the rest of the information fine. Of course, nothing can ever work perfect – I recognize that. It doesn’t “update” for edits made to the event on Facebook (that WOULD be superb!); so some manual intervention is always going to be needed. But the time shift is a bit tricky as it means everyone is going to have to look out for it.

Thanks for any insights you can offer.
We had high hopes that this would be a useful way for our sheltering community to be able to consolidate disparate information that is all over the place on Facebook into one concise spot.

[Mike]

Agruden, I am a current user of both the FB plugin and the Event Plugin. I also initially was having time period issues. They were not as severe as yours, but my time shifts were off about an hour per event. I ended up having to change my WP timzone from NY East Coast, to UTC-4. This seemed to work for me. However, based upon the overall dynamics of you pulling in multiple events from all over the globe, I think you are correct in that I also I do not believe this plugin is going to be able to accomplish your needs. However, hopefully this could be added as a feature in a future release, not that it helps you now.

[Brook]

Ahh! Thank you for the thorough explanation, Ann.

Our plugin does convert Facebook Events from their timezone to the WP Timezone. So, if you are set to -4, and import a 6PM event from -6, it will show up as 8PM on your site since that is the proper time for your sites timezone.

I believe I fully understand your dilemma. Basically, you want the Events Calendar to support multiple timezone, instead of simply convertin everything to the one timezone that your site is set to. That makes sense! It is not a feature our plugin currently has. It has however been suggested, and voted on three times. Feel free to vote up that feature suggestion as it would enable you to do what you want.

It is possible that you could to add this featurewith some coding if you need it right now, or if that feature suggestions never gains much support. If you are unable to do so and do not know someone whom you can hire, have no fear. We actually keep a list of freelancers who are quite capable of making changes on your behalf. You can obtain this list by emailing [email protected] and requesting it.

Does that make sense? Does this help clarify things? Please let me know. Cheers!

– Brook

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