CSV to SortTable

July 11, 2013

CSV to SortTable Plugin

Import data from a spreadsheet (.csv file format) and display it in a sortable HTML table.

CSV to SortTable is great for anyone who wants to display information from a spreadsheet on a WordPress website. This plugin can be used to display product catalogs, inventory lists, leaderboards or anything else that can be stored in a CSV file.

How To Use

Insert a sortable table into any page or post using this shortcode:

[csv src=http://example.com/myfile.csv] 

The result will be a beautiful, semantically-correct HTML table populated with the contents of your file.

Optional Features

This plugin automatically does a few things for you, all of which can be disabled:

  1. Adds some CSS to make the table look nice.
  2. Converts image file URLs into clickable image links.
  3. Converts certain file URLs into clickable file-type icons (.doc, .pdf, .ppt, .xls, .zip).

To disable any of these features, use the disable shortcode attribute:

[csv src=http://example.com/myfile.csv disable=css] [csv src=http://example.com/myfile.csv disable=icons,images] [csv src=http://example.com/myfile.csv disable=all] 

The first example would disable only the plugin CSS; the second would disable both the file-type icons and image links; and the third would disable all optional features. Disable any combination using a comma-separated list (no spaces!).

Table ID

Want to give your table a unique ID? Use the id shortcode attribute:

[csv src=http://example.com/myfile.csv id=my_data_table] 

The above example would give the <table> element an id attribute of my_data_table.

Group Classes

Let’s say you have a table with three columns: Item, Description and Type. You want all table rows of the same Type to have the same class, so you can highlight them in different colors using CSS or modify them all at once with JavaScript.

This can be done by assigning a column number to the group shortcode attribute:

[csv src=http://example.com/myfile.csv group=3] 

The result would be a special class assigned to each table row based on the value of the third column.

Sorting Options

By default, table data is sorted alphabetically. If you want to sort columns numerically or as dates, or disable sorting on certain columns, use the following shortcode attributes:

[csv src=http://example.com/myfile.csv number=2] [csv src=http://example.com/myfile.csv date=3] [csv src=http://example.com/myfile.csv unsortable=4,5,6] 

The values can be a single column number, or multiple column numbers in a comma-separated list (no spaces!).

Relative File Paths

If the src value is a relative path (beginning with a forward slash), the plugin will refer to the “Site address (URL)” defined in WP-Admin > Settings > General:

[csv src=/mydata/data.csv] 

The above example would refer to http://example.com/mydata/data.csv.

Data Array Filter

You may want to manipulate the CSV data after it is imported, but before the HTML table is rendered. To do so, use this filter:

csv_to_sorttable_data_array 

Here are some code examples of how to use the data array filter:

  1. Remove First Row (Function)
  2. Add a Header Row (Function)
  3. Add a Header Row (Plugin)

Credits

This plugin utilizes some excellent open source scripts, functions and images whose creators deserve to be recognized.

  1. Stuart Langridge wrote sorttable.js, the JavaScript that inspired this plugin and makes it possible to sort tables by clicking on the column headers.
  2. V.Krishn wrote a handy PHP function that enables users of PHP < 5.3 to utilize the str_getcsv() function that powers this plugin.
  3. Blake Knight created the beautiful file type icons used in this plugin and made them free for all.

Installation

  1. Install and activate the plugin via WP-Admin > Plugins.
  2. Add shortcode to a post or page: [csv src=http://example.com/data.csv].
  3. Use optional shortcode attributes to modify table behavior (see description).

Screenshots

  1. Default sortable table shows off some key features.

    Default sortable table shows off some key features.

  2. Table sorted by <code>Description</code> column (A-Z).

    Table sorted by Description column (A-Z).

  3. Table sorted by <code>Description</code> column (Z-A).

    Table sorted by Description column (Z-A).

  4. Table sorted by <code>Group</code> column (A-Z).

    Table sorted by Group column (A-Z).

Changelog

4.2

  • Added id shortcode attribute.
  • Fixed a problem with CSV_to_SortTable::string_to_html_class() that dropped uppercase letters from class names.

4.1.3

  • Added filter csv_to_sorttable_data_array to table data array in CSV_to_SortTable::parse_csv().

4.1.2

  • Added support for relative paths to CSV files.

4.1.1

  • Code cleanup; refactored methods of primary plugin class & improved inline documentation.

4.1

  • Fixed bug with shortcode source and src attributes not working.

4.0.2

  • Fixed support for old shortcode [csv2table].

4.0.1

  • Fixed bug causing image-type and file-type classes from incorrectly carrying over into other table cells.

4.0

  • Major code revision!
  • Replaced custom CSV file import function with WordPress core function: wp_remote_fopen().
  • Replaced custom CSV parser function with str_getcsv() (including support for PHP < 5.3).
  • Replaced custom HTML/link handler function with WordPress core function: make_clickable().
  • JavaScript and CSS is optional and only loads on posts & pages where shortcode is used.
  • Added single shortcode attribute to easily disable features: css, icons, images, or all.
  • Removed file type icons for image and media files.
  • Added feature that converts image file URLs into images with links using jQuery.
  • Modified row and column classes and ‘group’ class feature.
  • Killed even and odd classes introduced in v2.0; use CSS selectors :nth-child(even) and :nth-child(odd).
  • Added shotcode [csv src=""] and retained legacy support for [csv2table source=""].
  • Included test.csv file as default if source file is defined.

3.1

  • Fixed bug that was adding td .col class without column number (i.e. class was ‘col’ instead of ‘col1’, ‘col2’, etc.)
  • Added icons shortcode parameter to replace url links for certain file types (e.g. PDF, MP3, MOV) with file-type icons
  • Renamed functions using the mnsp_ prefix
  • Cleaned up code

3.0

  • Replaced fopen() function with curl for retrieving .csv data
  • Added mnsp_parse_csv() function to replace fgetcsv(), which requires fopen() — str_getcsv() would have worked with curl, but requires PHP v5.3
  • Changed the default CSS to a nicer light blue theme
  • Cleaned up code

2.1.1

  • Cleaned up code by creating a separate function for finding links in cell data.

2.1

  • Fixed problem with URLs getting truncated when converted to links.
  • Now correcly converts email and www addresses to mailto: and http:// links, respectively.

2.0

  • Automatically detects URLs contained in cells and converts them into HTML links.
  • Added group option, which assigns a unique common class to all adjacent rows containing the same data in the specified column.
  • Added even and odd classes to row groups.

1.0

  • First public release.

Details

  • Version: 4.2
  • Active installations: 200
  • WordPress Version: 3.2.1
  • Tested up to: 3.5.2

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