Kicking off with a new release
With the festive season behind us I want to start wishing everybody a joyful, exciting and amazing 2018. That this may be a year full of awesomeness. We are starting it with a new feature release, CSV Improved Pro 7.4.0. This release has been in the making for the past 3 months, so you can expect a lot of new goodies.
Joomla Modules
The Joomla Modules is one of the few parts of Joomla not yet supported by CSV Improved until now. This release brings you import and export features of Joomla Modules. This is a tricky one because each and every module has it's own settings so we cannot support all individual settings but we do support the basic ones. The other settings can still be imported and exported but this will be a field with lots of data in it. So you may have to sift through it if you are looking for a specific setting to change.
However for exporting and importing across multiple sites this makes life a lot easier as you can export and import the modules as-is. Assuming you have the module installed in the target system of course. This also allows you to roll out a module with settings across multiple sites if you need to.
We have the documentation ready and you can find out about it in the Joomla Modules Tutorial.
Custom Table import and export
The Custom Table import and export is undergoing major surgery and it keeps getting better and better. We have improved the performance and stability of the import mechanism and added some new features as well. The features we added this time are:
- Option to empty the table before starting the import
This allows you to import data into a clean table - Option to delete records on import using the record_delete field
SFTP
As the web is looking to become more and more secure we at CSV Improved would like to chip-in as well. This release adds the option to import from and export to SFTP servers instead of FTP. SFTP is the SSH File Transfer Protocol and should not be confused with FTPS which is something completely different. In case you are interested in the differences you can read the article Difference Between FTPS and SFTP. To use the SFTP option, you choose the FTP option and then enable the SFTP setting. Make sure you fill in all the correct details of course.
Remote images
Hosting images on another server is nothing new but what is new is that there is some movement going on in this area. HikaShop now allows you to use remote images so we also support that from this release onwards. In the K2 Item import we now added the option to download remote images and use them in K2. Finally, all the remote images downloads can be used with a username and password. This allows you to download remote images that are behind a login, making it even easier to manage your images directly.
Imagenames with spaces in them will now be replaced with underscores to make the files less prone to issues.
Changes
The above changes are just some highlights. We have made quite a few stability fixes as well to ensure CSV Improved keeps running smoothly. Check the full list of changes in this release:
- Changed Threshold limit for AwoCoupon
- Fixed Custom table import not adding new records
- Setting value to Import based on field if its not a primary key field
- Rework update mechanism for the Custom table import
- Fixed skipping new records if set in template on Custom table import
- Fixed fatal error and added logging to Custom table import
- Added option to empty table before import in Custom table import
- Added spaces will be replaced by underscores in image names on all imports
- Added a new option to select required date field to be used in date range option in VirtueMart Order export
- Added a new option to select required date field to be used in date range option in HikaShop Order export
- Fixed do not use timezone when saving order date in VirtueMart Order export
- Fixed do not use timezone when saving order date in HikaShop Order export
- Fixed do not use timezone when saving order date in J2Store Order export
- Added support for multiple product ordering in VirtueMart Product import
- Added SFTP option for import and export
- Added Multi replace rule to support replace of empty values
- Fixed some minor issues with templates listing making it more robust
- Added maintenance option to delete duplicate related categories and products for VirtueMart
- Changed Take time offset into account when using last run date for HikaShop Order export
- Fixed search filter on template fields not working
- Added date field to multi-replacement plugin
- Fixed ODS files import running forever
- Changed Set a default extension in FastSeller producttype import
- Added Image name to support accent characters
- Fixed Front-end import for fromdatabase shows no file error
- Fixed Missing image upload class in K2 2.8 version
- Fixed Skip rule plugin to not skip the record
- Fixed date format to read from first field instead of individual fields
- Added username and password to be set to read images from remote resources that require login
- Added support remote image download of K2 Item import
- Fixed a number of undefined notices
- Changed Make thumbnail processing more robust in VirtueMart Product import
- Added import of remote HikaShop images to HikaShop Product import
- Added I'm Mac to Field mapper
- Added Joomla Modules import
- Added Joomla Modules export
- Fixed Joomla Article import not recognising required fields
- Added support for zip files for restoring templates
- Added Delete row using record_delete field in Custom Table import
- Added Check if component is installed while restoring templates
- Fixed custom_ordering field not exporting if it has a 0 value
- Fixed Template fields view to be more robust
- Fixed product thumb image in J2Store Product import
- Added Validate regular expression set in Skip rule
- Changed Keep Field name selected for Custom Table export template fields
- Fixed Join field not selected by default in Custom Table export template
- Fixed Stockable Custom Fields not updating parameters for children in VirtueMart Product import
- Added order_number field to VirtueMart Order Item export
This release is available for free to everyone with an active subscription from the Download section. If you do not have a subscription yet, you can subscribe here.