Best Way to Create Directory Based on Form/Spreadsheet Data?

  • Unknown's avatar
    calwritersclub · Member ·

    Hi, our club is putting together a member services directory similar to http://redwoodwriters.org/business-directory/?wpbdp_view=all_listings

    I’m gathering the data with a form, which can be exported as a spreadsheet.

    My question is, what’s the most organized and efficient way of translating this data into WordPress content?

    A complicating factor: we don’t have a child theme, and our theme doesn’t have a Portfolio option, or any kind of custom page types. Ideally I’d use WordPress’s taxonomy options to separate the content, right? But I think without a child theme, the only/best way to do that would be to create a new category for Member Services and to create sub-categories for services offered. But that would mean each entry would be a new page, and that would take longer than putting all of the directory info on one page. Then again we do not update our theme, so maybe not a problem to add custom code..?

    I could also use advice on any tools that might exist for translating form data or spreadsheet data into WP. I can just copy paste manually, but it seems like this is exactly the sort of thing that computers and websites can do more efficiently than I can (after all, what is WordPress itself but a bunch of scripts that are fetching data from a database?). Since we are a volunteer-run organization, I’d rather put in the work upfront to make it as easy as possible to maintain. Are there any tools for pulling data from a spreadsheet into a WP page? Or some custom code I can use for this?

    Also I am way more experienced with self-hosted WP sites, so I am not sure what the limitations are to customizing our premium account, or what relevant features may be available.

    Finally I should add that I’m not a coder, though I do know HTML and CSS I’m just starting to scratch the surface in learning WP themes (e.g. I am using _S and the Themeshaper walkthrough to start on my first theme). So if your advice requires coding I may need to be pointed to some cut-and-paste code I can use.

    As you can see there’s a lot to tackle here so any advice you can offer is appreciated!

    The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

  • Unknown's avatar
    thesacredpath · Member ·

    Hi there, this support page will give you a brief rundown on the differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org (self-hosted).

    Here at WordPress.com, you can add html to posts and pages, but there are limitations on the code that can be added, for security reasons.

    I would suggest taking a look at our Google Docs support page, and perhaps playing around with a draft page to see if that might possibly work for you.

    As far as translating the code, it would have to be imported into a Google doc of some sort, so the translation, and what will be required will depend on what you have and what Google offers.

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