.ics File Does Not Work from Google .ics URL or Local .ics File Upload

[Marnie]

Hi,

I just installed the iCal Plugin to more easily manage recurring events and allow simpler group editing of a the calendar, and neither the .ics URL or an local .ics file upload import with any data.

The Google iCal .ics URL is:
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/gqd6r4be5g3ogp784qoid2ajn4%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics

When I open the .ics file into a text editor, it does appear to have all the information for the calendar, so I don’t think it is an issue with the file or data itself.

I am using Headway as the theme framework and am afraid to disable it and revert to a standard theme. I can do this if absolutely necessary, but both The Events Calendar and The Events Calendar Pro are functioning on the site under Headway and with all plugins activated.

Thanks for any help.
Marnie

[Marnie]

Appending my previous post. It appears the importer does import the event for one date only, but the event is a recurring event that occurs from 2pm – 8pm, Monday – Thursday from April 1 to June 13.

[Brook]

Howdy Marnie,

Thanks for reaching out about this. I am sad to say that is actually a bug we believe to be introduced in our latest version. I am sorry this is causing you difficulties. The good news is we are working on a fix, and it looks like it will be ready in our very next version which is due out in a couple of weeks. Until then any recurring event you import will only show the first occurrence of it.

It this something you need fixed right now. If so I can walk you through downgrading to a past version that won’t have this issue. Or if you can wait a couple of weeks the problem will basically fix itself.

Cheers!

– Brook

[Marnie]

Oh, good to know, thanks. The site needs to launch the first week of May, so I’m afraid we can’t wait for the fix.

We do have Events Calendar/Pro running with all the correct data on the existing version of the site, so I also looked at porting/migrating that calendar to the new site (with Google Calendar being the ultimate solution for a more global access resolution), but in researching it in the forums and Knowledgebase, it doesn’t appear there is a solid way to do that and it seems many people have problems with the data converting properly. I had at one point, I think late in December or early January, tried to do it using the WordPress Import/Export tools but had some issues. I did just find an early March 2016 post in the Knowledgebase for doing that (https://theeventscalendar.com/knowledgebase/using-wordpress-export-tools-to-migrate-events-content/), so maybe something has changed/been fixed with that method. Maybe I will try it again unless you have suggestions for a better solution?

[Brook]

Howdy Marnie,

It totally understand that. If the only events you need to migrate are the ones from the old site then yeah, the import/export tools should do it. I know of nothing that has change since the March article that would affect this. It’s definitely something we could walk you through. I think that option would actually be preferable to doing an iCal export/import as it will preserve other data like featured images, if there is any extra data.

If I were you I would give that tutorial a go. If you do encounter any issues along the way please don’t hesitate to holler, I can you through them.

• Brook

[Marnie]

I was able to export the Venues and Organizers no problem, but get this error on the Events import:
The uploaded file exceeds the upload_max_filesize directive in php.ini.

I had my client’s IT company increase the limit through the CPanel to 30M but am still getting the error when I try to import the file. They do not think we can edit the php.ini with this particular host. Do you have any other ideas on how to get the Events to import?

Thanks.

[Brook]

Howdy Marnie,

In situations where the host doesn’t allow mass imports of any type of data you will need to bypass the host. The only real way to do is to setup a local host or testing server. If you have one of those already:

1. Import the database from your live site. You probably want to set the site URL in your WP-config to match the live site and also setup that domain in your hosts file to point to the temporary server, that way your computer is tricked into thinking this is the real site.
2. Import your data, in this case from the WP Import toools.
3. Export the database.
4. Undo your hosts file so you can see the actual live site again.
5. Import the new database to your live site overriding the existing one.

Note: Your host might have the same 30MB restriction on importing databases. Typically they offer workarounds for Databases and you might have to contact them to find out what these are. If yours does not offer workarounds you should really consider switching hosts. To be blunt, if they do not any of this very basic stuff they are a bad host. Although, I suppose it still might be possible if you’re versed in SQL to split up your SQL file into a few parts and import each of them.

I wish the above options were easier to follow. Any time you are trying to import a lot of data into WordPress it becomes extremely difficult if the host doesn’t allow you to alter the max size, even temporarily. Is it possible perhaps that when they tried altering the upload_max_filesize they forgot to also alter post_max_size ? I know I have forgotten that once or twice.

Cheers!

– Brook

[Marnie]

Thanks Brook. We had already increased the post_max_size due to a limitation on another component of the site, so I know that is at the maximum value.

The IT company was able to make some kind of change that allowed me to import the data from the existing calendar, so I have it now in the calendar on the new site. There are a few strange anomalies, but I think I can resolve them for the most part.

Thanks to you all for your solid support.

[Brook]

Awesome! I am so happy to hear that they could alter it.

Let me know if I can help with the anomalies. The import/export is not a feature we test every release, unlike most of our other features. As such sometimes anomalies can be the fault of our plugin and we’re just not aware of them yet, but sometimes they are also just the nature of the WP Tools.

Cheers!

– Brook

[Support Droid]

This topic has not been active for quite some time and will now be closed.

If you still need assistance please simply open a new topic (linking to this one if necessary)
and one of the team will be only too happy to help.

[Author]

Posts