The Google CSE Module is available as part of the YaleSites Module listing. If you do not see the Module listed on your site, please request a refresh and all of the latest Modules will be added to your site.

(Note the Google CSE module should not be confused with the Custom Search module.)

Enabling and Configuring the Google CSE Module in Drupal 7

Before getting started, a customized Google Custom Search Engine must be created using an EliApps account or any Google account. Instructions for creating the Google Custom Search engine can be found here.

1. Select Modules from the Drupal 7 administration menu.

   
    

2. Ensure the Google CSE module checkbox (located in the Other section) is selected as Enabled. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save configuration. (Note the Search module is required for the Google CSE module to work and should be enabled by default.)

   
    

3. From the Drupal 7 administration menu, hover over Configuration and then Search and metadata before clicking on Search settings.

   
    

4. Choose Google CSE for Active Search modules and Default Search module options. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save configuration.

   
    

5. The Google Custom Search Engine ID will need to be entered to complete the Drupal Configuration. Copy the Search engine ID found on the Google Custom Search control panel (navigate to Setup > Basics tab) to the right of Details.

   
    

6. Returning to the Drupal Search settings menu, enter the Search engine ID in the Google Custom Search Engine ID field located in the Google CSE section.

   
    

7. Also located in the Google CSE section, uncheck the Search results “Add to Google” Google Gadget checkbox.

   
    

8. Next, ensure the On this site (requires JavaScript) radio button is selected for the Display search results option. Finally, click Save configuration at the bottom of the page.

   
    

9. In the Drupal administration menu, hover over the People menu and select Permissions.

   
    

10. Finally, ensure the Anonymous User and Authenticated User checkboxes are selected for the Google CSE / Use Google CSE permission and click Save permissions.

    
     

11. If there are no other active search modules, the generic Drupal Search form block can be added to a region for access to Google Custom Search results.

Congratulations! Your new Google Custom Search engine is now configured as the active search module on your Drupal 7 site.

You can easily restrict access to specific pages or sections of your site using the Content Access Module. This allows you to provide access to view and/or edit content for a specific content type based on a user’s role. In addition, you can provide permission to specific pages on an as-needed basis, in the event that only one page of a specific content type requires restriction.

Since the use of multiple user access modules can create conflicts, YaleSites will only offer the Contact Access module as the option to restrict/grant access to users. For instructions on how to configure this module, please visit the Content Access module page on the YaleSites How-To Guide.

You can restrict access to pages on your site using the Content Access module, but this does not prevent anyone from viewing files that have been uploaded on those pages. In order to so this, the field used to upload the file needs to be set as “private” when it is created. Some site configuration must be done to make the private option available.

• Configure the site to allow Private Files
• Create the Private File Content Type
• Indicate which roles you want to view content created with the Private File Content Type.

Private Directory Configuration

The first thing you need to do is configure the Private directory on your site. 

1. Go to Configuration > Media > File System
2. The Private file system path field is blank. 
3. Enter the following path in the field sites/default/files/private (required, directory name must be called private)
   
4. The Private directory is now available for your site with an .htaccess file that prevents access to anything in the file without the proper permissions.

Private Files Content Type

For files that require restricted access, create a Private Files content type. This is the Basic Page content type but with the “file upload” field set to “private”. Once created, you need to set permissions to allow specific roles to view any of the content on that page, including the uploaded files.

1. Create a Content Type (Structure > Content Types > Add) and configure based on your requirements. 
2. Add a File Field to upload the type of file(s) you would like.
3. When configuring the field, scroll down to the bottom of the configuration page and select the Private files radio button. 
   
4. Save the Configuration.

Assigning Access to the Content Type

The Private Files cannot be viewed when they are in the private directory unless access is provided to the content type the file is associated with. Therefore, you need to set access permissions to the Private Files content type using the Content Access Module in order to allow anyone to see and/or download the file. 

1. Open the Private File Content Type and click on the Access Control tab.
2. Adjust the permissions to allow the roles you want to view/edit this page.
   

The downloadable file that is attached to this file takes on the permissions of the permissions set here.

Please note: the Lynda.com video describes how to set up a Private file directory and create a Private File content type. This is not necessary. You do not need to create/or change the Private File system path. This has already been set up as part of your YaleSite.

We get many requests from site builders that want to provide an RSS feed that lists content from their sites.  The RSS feed provides a list of links for designated content (most frequently news and events) to display on a browser or phone. People can subscribe so they can view the list that is updated automatically as content is added to the site.

Creating an RSS Feed with YaleSites can be done with a few adjustments to the News and Events pre-built features. For this example we will use the News Content Type and View.

News Content Type Adjustments

RSS format is very simple, displaying just a Title, description, author, and publication date. Most of the fields that you need for an RSS feed already exist in the News Content Type, but you will need to add the Path and Author fields in order to capture that information.

Creating the RSS Feed with Views

The Views Module provides RSS Feed as one of the display options. This makes it relatively easy to create an RSS feed for your site.  You just need to set the filters and fields based on the RSS format.

In the News View:

Be sure to apply theses changes to This display

1. Choose Feed from the Display drop-down in the views interface.
   
2. Click on Content
   
   and change that option to Fields
   
   You will be asked to override the fields, but first you need to adjust the fields in your list so that it includes only the fields that are part of an RSS Feed. Just click Cancel and you will return to that after your fields are adjusted. The Format section will look like this:
   
3. Go to the Path Settings section in the middle panel of the View and enter a path i.e. rss-news
   
4. Go to the Fields section of your View.
5. Delete the Image field.
6. Click on the Title field.
   • Set display to settings to
      
   • Uncheck the Link this field to original content
   • Make sure Strip HTML is checked.
     
   • Click on the Description field.
   • Make sure Strip HTML is checked (see image above)
7. Click on the Add button and add the Path field to link to the content.
   
   • Make sure Strip HTML is checked (see image above)
   • Uncheck label at top.

Creating the Date Format

The YaleSites News Feature comes with a date field, but the format needs to be adjusted. Because the RSS feeds uses the RFC 2822 date format, your date field needs to be formatted in order for it to be accepted. You can to create the format in the following way, then assign it to the View.

1. Choose Configuration > Date and Time
2. Click the Formats tab to add the Date format
3. Choose r from the PHP Manual (click to enlarge)
   
   Type the lower case r in the Format string field and click Add format.
   
4. Click Types to create a new type and assign the new format
5. Give it the name RSS format and choose the new date format.
   
6. Go back to your view and assign the date format to the Date field. Click on the Date field and choose RSS format from the list.
   
7. Format is better but still has HTML. GO into the view and strip the HTML tags (UNCHECK THE CHECK BOX SEEN BELOW).
   

Adding the Author Field

Each piece of content that is added to your site is stamped with an author, or the person who created the page. This information is part of the People Profile so it is not added directly to the News Content Type. Therefore in order to associate the Author field with the News Content Type, a Relationship must be created.

Creating the Relationship

1. Click on the Advanced link in the far right panel of your Views interface.
2. Locate the Relationships section and click on Add.
3. Locate the Content:Author field, click on the check box, then scroll down and apply to This Display.

Adding the Author Field

Now that you have the relationship you can add the Author field in the Field section

1. Click on Add in the Field Section
2. Locate the User:Name field
   
3. Click on the check box, then scroll down and apply to This Display.
4. Uncheck the Link this field to its user check box.

Go back and Setup the RSS Field Mapping

1. Click on Settings next to Field under FORMAT and map the following:
   
   • Title > Title
   • Link field > Content:Path
   • Description field > Content:Body
   • Creator field > (author) User:Name
   • Publication date field > Content: Date
   • GUID Settings > Content:Path GUID field – unique identifier – typically the path is unique so that’s a good one to use.
     

Attaching an RSS Image to the News display

Once you have created the feed, you might want to attach an RSS icon to the main news listing so people can easily subscribe to it. This is relatively easy to do.

1. In the middle pane of your Views Interface, click on None next to Attach to
   
2. Click on the checkboxes next to the pages you want to attach the RSS image. 
   
3. When you save the View, an RSS feed icons displays at the bottom of the news listing.

Additional RSS Feeds Based on Taxonomy Tags

You can also add additional filters through the Filter section of your Views interface or using Contextual Filters.

Helpful Hints

• Always view the preview to make sure the RSS is displaying correctly.
• If odd characters are showing up, enable Strip HTML tags in the Rewrite the Output section of the field configuration.
• For even more control use the Views RSS Module.

If you want more control over the content that is pulled into your site from an RSS feed or you want to integrate the articles with current content (i.e. News, Videos) you can import RSS feeds to your site using the Feeds Module. The example below provides instruction for how to import an RSS Feed from news.yale.edu into the YaleSites News Feature Content Type. Important Note: If you want to pull the image from the news feed you must use the jSon Feed option. 

Create a Content Type

The RSS or data feed imports the data into a Content Type; you must create a Content Type if you do not already have one.

Creating the Importer

1. Enable the Feeds Admin UI module (the Feeds Module is enabled by default).
2. Select Structure > Feeds importer > Add importer
3. Give the importer a Name and Description and click Create.
   
4. Click on Settings in Basic settings section and only change the Periodic import if desired. This determines how frequently the importer pulls articles from the RSS feed.
   
5. Click on Change in Fetcher to select the method to pull the feed. To pull RSS feeds, use HTTP Fetcher.
   
6. Click on Change in Parser and select the Common syndication parser.
   
7. Click on Change in Processor and select the Node processor (to pull content into a specific Content Type).
   
8. Click on Settings in Processor and select the News Content Type to pull the RSS content into. Important Note: It is recommended that you uncheck Published in the Publishing Options so imported items are not available to the public.
9. Change the Author to someone assigned administrator privileges on your site. DO NOT leave Anonymous.
   
10. Click on Mappings in Processor and match the Source fields (from RSS Feed) to the Target field (to the News Content Type). Important Note: At least one field must be unique. The URL or Title are recommended unique fields. 
    

Import the RSS Feed

Once you have created the importer, you can indicate the RSS feed to pull in and import the RSS feeds.

1. Go to http://sitename.yale.edu/import
2. Click on the Importer you have created (in this example, news.yale.edu).
3. Enter the URL for the news feed. 

Yale News (news.yale.edu) is the main source of news related to the academics, research and community activities. You can include articles from the Yale News site in your news listing by importing one of the Yale News jSON feeds with the Feeds Module and making a few adjustments to the News Content Type. 

• YaleNews: All topics - http://news.yale.edu/news-json
• Arts & Humanities - http://news.yale.edu/topics/arts-humanities/json
• Business, Law, Society - http://news.yale.edu/topics/business-law-society/json
• Campus & Community - http://news.yale.edu/topics/campus-community/json
• Science & Health - http://news.yale.edu/topics/science-health/json
• World & Environment - http://news.yale.edu/topics/world-environment/json

While you can use the basic RSS Feed to pull this information, you won’t have a lot of control over what is pulled into your site. For the most part, you can import the title of the article, the description and the date. If you want to exercise more control and import the picture, you can use a jSON feed.  

Adjust the News Content Type to set incoming articles to unpublished

By default, the news articles created with the News Content Type are published. However, once you setup the jSON feed to import articles into the News Content Type, you’ll most likely want to monitor how and when they are published.

1. Select Structure > Content Types > News
2. Scroll down to the Vertical Tabs and click on the Publishing Options tab and uncheck the Published checkbox.
   
3. Set the External Link field to redirect to the url for the news article.
   • When an article is imported, it creates a page, but you most prefer the link point directly to the actual news article. You can do this using the Field Redirection Module. Just enable the Module and configure the field based on the image below:
     

Create a jSON importer with the Feeds Module to pull in the news articles

In order to pull in the entire feed, including the image, we need to use the json feed setting when creating the feeds importer. 

1. Enable the Feeds UI Admin and JSONPath Parser module (the Feeds Module is enabled by default).
2. Select Structure > Feeds importer > Add importer
3. Give the importer a Name and Description and click Create.
4. Click on Settings in Basic settings section and only change the Periodic import if desired. This determines how frequently the importer pulls articles from the jSON feed.
5. Click on Change in Fetcher to select the method to pull the feed. To pull RSS feeds, use HTTP Fetcher and Save.
   
6. Click on Change in Parser and select the jSONPath parser  and Save.
   
7. Click on Settings next to JSONPath parser/Parse JSON using JSONPath and click on Select.
8. Then jump down to the Processor section and change the Node processor settings and Mappings.
9. Jump down to Processor and click on Change; select the Node processor (to pull content into a specific Content Type).
   
10. Click on Settings in Processor and select the News Content Type to pull the content into and Filtered text into the Text format. 
11. Change the Author to someone assigned administrator privileges on your site. DO NOT leave Anonymous.
    
12. Then click on Mapping to set the target to match the source during the import:
    • ​Select JSONPath Expression from the Source dropdown then select the field you want to map to in the Target column. The source will display as jsonpath_parser:0 and then the field name next to it. ​
    • Create the fields in the following order:
      • jsonpath_parser:0 Title
      • jsonpath_parser:1 Body
      • jsonpath_parser:2 Publication Date: Start
      • jsonpath_parser:3 External link: URL
      • jsonpath_parser:4 GUID (Set as unique)
      • jsonpath_parser:5 Image
    • Your settings should look like this: 
      
13. Go back up to Parser, and change the JSON Path Parser settings as follows (see image for exact details). Be sure to Save when you are done.
    
    • Context: $.news.*.node
    • title: title
    • body: description
    • field_data:start: date
    • field_link_to_external_story:url: path
    • guid: guid
    • field_news_image: image

Import the jSON Feed

Once you have created the importer, you can indicate the jSON feed to pull in and import the jSON feeds.

1. Go to http://yoursitename.yale.edu/import
2. Click on the Importer you have created (in this example, news.yale.edu).
3. Enter one of the URLs for the news feeds:

• YaleNews: All topics - http://news.yale.edu/news-json
• Arts & Humanities - http://news.yale.edu/topics/arts-humanities/json
• Business, Law, Society - http://news.yale.edu/topics/business-law-society/json
• Campus & Community - http://news.yale.edu/topics/campus-community/json
• Science & Health - http://news.yale.edu/topics/science-health/json
• World & Environment - http://news.yale.edu/topics/world-environment/json

Publishing Imported Articles

Once the news items are imported, you can choose the ones you want to publish, upload an  image and click on the Published checkbox to make it live.

YaleSites now allows for an alternative way to showing your Google Calendar. This is the recommended procedure and allows for an easier implementation into your page using Blocks rather than installing a completely separate module. 

Obtain the Google Calendar’s Source Code

1. Open up your Google Calendar. On the left side of the window, under where it says My calendars click on the arrow on the right that corresponds with your calendar.
2. Click on Calendar settings
3. Copy the source code from the Embed this Calendar area.

Add the Source Code to your Drupal page via Blocks

1. Select Structure -> Blocks from the Administrator’s toolbar.
2. Click on the + Add block link above the list of links.
3. Enter the name of the Block in the Block title; this is shown as the title of the block to the user when placed in a Region.
4. Enter a description in the Block description; this is shown on the Administration page to identify the Block.
5. Select the Block body.
6. Click on disable rich-text.                                   
7. Copy the code provided by Google Calendar and paste it into this box.
8. Indicate the pages you want the block to display/not display, Content Types it should be available for, and/or the Roles who should be able to see this block.           
9. Save your new block.

You can import a Google Calendar into your site using Feeds Aggregator. This imports the events in an RSS feed-like format, with very little control over how the events display. 

Enabling Feeds Aggregator

1. Enable the Feeds Aggregator Module.
2. Select Modules, check Aggregator and click Save Configuration.

Creating a Feed

1. Select Configuration > Web Services > Feed Aggregator.
2. Under Feed Overview select Add Feed.
3. Add Feed Title and URL for the feed you are importing (i.e. http://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/……).
4. Select amount of items to import.

Important Note: Remember to click Update Items after creating feed or your feed will remain in 0 items until the next Feeds Pull.

You will now have a block with your issued title that can be assigned to any region within your YaleSite. 

The Agenda module allows you to display a list of upcoming events from Google Calendar as a block on your website. The example below provides instructions for enabling the Agenda Module and how to import your Google Calendar into your YaleSite.

Enabling the Agenda Module

1. Enable the Agenda Module.
2. Select Modules, check Agenda and click Save Configuration.

Creating a Feed

1. Select Configuration > Web Services > Agenda.
2. Select Create a New Block.
3. Edit Fields as follow: [See Screen Capture]
   • Administrative title: Desired title for block.
   • Agenda start: “now” – This will only include events that have not yet started.
   • Agenda end: “+% months” – This will display any events that occur in the next entered months. Replace “%” with desired number.
   • Dates to display: Enter desired number of events to display.
   • Maximum number of events to fetch: Enter desired number of events to import.  
   • Date formatting: Specify the date format.
   • Time formatting: Specify the time format.
   • Text to display if no events are found: Use Default
   • Calendar link text: Use Default
   • Amount of time to cache event data: Use Default
   • Display fields: Comma separated list of fields to display in the event summary.
   • Hide labels: Comma separated list of fields for which the label should not be displayed.
   • Google Calendar IDs: The IDs of each google calendar you want to display.
   • Timezone: The timezone identifier
4. Save Settings.

Assigning Block to Region

1. Go to Structure > Blocks
2. Find block named “Agenda: YourBlockName” and select Configure                                             
3. Assign block to desired region.                                      
4. Specify what page the block should show in.                   
5. Save Configuration.

Applying Style to Block

To attach a style to the Agenda Module you need to create a CSS Injector Rule. If you do not have CSS Injector, see instructions on Enabling CSS Injector.

Apply the Following CSS Rules:Agenda Module CSS Styiling

Note: Copy and paste the code from these files into separate CSS Injector rules. 

Many organizations or departments store and display their events in external calendars such as Google Calendar, but want to display those same events on their YaleSites. To avoid duplicating effort and entering the events in 2 places, you can import the Google Calendar using an iCal feed. 

Necessary Modules

In order to import using iCal, be sure you have the versions of the following Module on your YaleSites. If you have a lower version, please request a Refresh my site and the latest Modules will be updated on your site.

• Feeds 7.x-2.0-alpha8+33-dev (or higher)
• Feeds Admin UI 7.x-2.0-alpha8+33-dev (or higher)
• Date iCal 7.x-3.1 (or higher)

Creating the Feed Importer

The feed importer indicates the type of feed you are creating and allows you to map the fields from the importer (Date, Location, Description, etc.) to the fields in the Event Content Type.

1. Enable the Feeds Admin UI Module (the Feeds Module and Date iCal are enabled as part of your YaleSite).
2. Select Structure > Feeds importer > Add importer. The following dialog displays:
   
3. Give the importer a Name and Description and click Create.
4. Click on Settings where you will enter the Basic Setting. Attach to Content Type: Use standalone form and turn Periodic Import to Off. Click image to enlarge; most should remain the same:
    
5. Be sure to Save.
6. Click on Change next to Fetcher and click on the HTTP Fetcher radio button to match the image below and click Save (click image to enlarge).  
   
7. Click on Change next to Parser and select iCal parser. Click Save (click image to enlarge).
   
8. Click on Change next to Processor. Be sure the Node Processor is selected (this is the default).
9. Click on Settings next to Node Processor.
10. Select Event as the Bundle, Filtered HTML as the format.
    
11. Map the fields as demonstrated in the image below. Remember, the fields being imported are limited to the fields that are coming in from the iCal feed. 
    

If you are using the YaleSites Calendar feature, site visitors might want to add your events to the calendar on their phone, google calendar etc.  As the site administrator you might want to import your events from another calendar such as a Google Calendar. In order for this functionality to be available as part of your Calendar Feature, you must create an iCal (or iCalendar) feed and attach it to your calendar or the individual events on your calendar.

iCal is an Internet file format that allows you to do just that, share events on your calendar between various calendar products used by your site visitors. There are 2 main ways you might want to share information on YaleSites Calendar:

• Importing events into the calendar from other calendars - Google Calendar, etc.
• Exporting events from your calendar to other calendars on various devices – phone, tablet, etc.

This tutorial will provide you with instructions for adding the iCal feed to your calendar or individual event so site visitors can import your events to their calendars, and importing events from external calendars, in this case a Google Calendar.

Important Note: if you are importing your events from the Yale Institutional Calendar (Bedeworks) you can use the pre-built feature. Instructions can be found here. 

Enable Necessary Modules

The first step is to enable the necessary Modules.

• YaleSites Calendar Feature – by default this is already setup.
• Date iCal

Creating an iCal Feed for Your Calendar

Create a Custom Display Setting on the Events Content Type

All Content Types allow you to create custom displays so you can show/hide and arrange fields for the unique requirements of that display. Once you have enabled the Date iCal module, a Custom Display for iCal is available.

1. Structure > Content Types > Event > Manage Display
2. Scroll down to the gray Vertical Tabs
3. Click on iCal
   
4. Scroll back up to the top, still in Manage Display tab and you will now see an iCal button.
   
5. Click on it and arrange the fields you want to display in the top section and in the order you would like them.
   

Create the Feed Display in the Calendar View

1. Click on the Calendar link in your Main Menu to view the YaleSites Calendar Feature.
2. Hover over the right corner of the page to expose the gear icon. Click on edit View.
3. Click on the +Add button in the display listings and select Feed. A new Feed Tab displays in the listing.
   
4. Click on the link Format: RSS Feed and change to iCal Feed, then click Apply.
   
   
5. Add the Calendar name to the settings.
6. Click on Content and choose iCal Fields, then apply.
   
7. Map the field names in the following way:
   • Date Field = Event type Start Date
   • Summary field = Body
   • Location field = Location
   • Click on Apply
8. Scroll down to Filter Criteria​ and set the to include Content: Type = Event
9. In the Feed Settings section (middle pane), set the path to ‘calendar/%/export.ics’, including a  /%/ for the Contextual Filter.
   
10. Click on the link next to Attach and select the display(s) you want to attach the standard iCal feed icon to.
    
11. Make sure the Pager options are set to ”Display all items”.
    

You can embed a Google Map into your page without having to install a separate module. This is done using the Full HTML capabilities of the Text Editor and pasting the iframe code right into your Body field.

Obtain the Google Map’s Source Code

1. Search Google Maps for address.
    
2. Click Share and Embedded Map to get the embed code.
   
3. Copy HTML code to embed into Drupal Page.
   

Adding Google Map Source Code to your page.

1. Once you have selected the page for the map click Edit.
   
2. In the Text Format select Full HTML. Alternatively, select the source button.
   
3. Paste the code into the body area. 
4. Click on the Save button.                          
   

You should now have a Google Map in your content area pointing out your location as well as give people the opportunity to get Directions and more.

Content Types are used to capture data for your website. While Drupal provides some basic Content Types, it is often necessary to create custom content types to capture the various types of content that are unique to your site. This tutorial will provide you with the basic understanding to create a Custom Content Type. 

1. Select Structure > Content Types > Add Content Type from the administrator’s toolbar. 
2. Enter the name of your Content Type and a descriptions (optional).
   
3. Scroll down and click on Publishing Options. Change the settings as desired. It is important to note that Promoted to the front page will add the page to the default RSS feed that is part of your YaleSite (http://yoursitename.yale.edu/rss.xml).
   
4. Click on Display Settings and uncheck Display author and date information. This prevents the authors name and creation date from showing up at the top of the page.
   
5. Click on Comments Settings and set to Closed. This must be done when creating the Content Type.
   
6. Click on Save and add fields to continue. 

Once your Content Type is created, you can create additional fields to refine the data that you are capturing. In this example, we’ll add 1 new field - Faculty Member Name and use 2 fields that already exist on other Content Types for your site - Date and Image.

1. In the field listing, click in the Add a new field section and add the title of your field. Then select Text from the Select Field type dropdown. The widget defaults to Text.
   
2. When you click on the Save button you will be asked to configure the text field settings.
   
   
3. Add a Date field, selecting one that already exists.
   
4. Configure the date field if you want to change what already exists. 
   Change the label and add help text.
   
   Change starting and ending years and time increments.
   
   Changes to this section will affect all instances of the field on the site.
   
5. Adding an image using an existing field.
   
   Change the label and add help text.
   

Set image sizes and caption/alt text. 

Changes to the field settings will change the Image field for each instance.

Click on Save settings. 

Your field list should look like this. 

Once your have Content Type created, you can begin to create the View that will rotate each quote using transitions to move from one to the next. 

1. Enable the Views Slideshow and Views Slideshow Cycle Modules.
2. Select Structure > Views > Add new view from the administrator toolbar.
3. Create a new view following the image below. 
   Create a page (list of quotes) and block display using the Slideshow format.
   
4. When you click on Continue & Edit you are brought to the Views interface. This can seem a little intimidating until it’s broken down into smaller chunks. 
   
5. Add and configure Faculty Member, Body, and Date fields
   
   
   
6. Rearrange the order of the fields; click on the Add icon and select rearrange. 
   
7. Add filters to determine what types of content will display and in what order.
   

    

Before you can import the data you must do the following:

• Get the data you want to import into your site into a format that can be imported - in this case a CSV file.
• Create the Content Type that the data will be imported into.

Getting the Data into a CSV File

In order to import the data, the content needs to be in a format that can be read by the Feeds importer – in this case a CSV file which is a text format that can be generated with an Excel spreadsheet.  If the data is already in table form, where each field is in its own column, you can copy and paste it from the web page directly to an Excel Spreadsheet. If not, you will need to do some configuration to ensure the data can be mapped to the fields in your content type. Important Note: If you do not have a unique field in your listing, you will need to create a GUID field/column to ensure no overlap of data.

Creating a View with Tabular Data**

If you are importing from another YaleSites (D6 or D7) you can create a page display in a View using the Table format, where each column contains a where the data displays. Be sure to set the view to display all records.

Creating the Content Type**

The Content Type is where the data is transferred with the fields module. For each column in your table/or text field, you need to have a field where the data ultimately will live. For this example, we would create a Content Type with the following fields:

• Department – Text Field
• Chair – Text Field
• Phone – Text Field
• FAX – Text Field

1. Enable the Feeds Admin UI Module (the Feeds Module is enabled as part of your YaleSite).
2. Select Structure > Feeds importer > Add importer
3. Give the importer a Name and Description and click Create. The following dialog displays:
   
4. Click on Settings and change the settings to match the image below  and click Save (click image to enlarge). Most should remain the same:
   
5. Click on Change next to Fetcher and click on the File Upload Select radio button to match the image below and click Save (click image to enlarge).  
   
6. Click on Settings next to File Upload and change the Allowed file extensions if desired  and click Save (click image to enlarge).
   
7. Click on Change next to Parser and click on the CSV Parser radio button to match the image below and click Save (click image to enlarge).  
   
8. Click on Settings next to CSV Parser – DO NOT CHANGE ANY OF THESE SETTINGS. (click image to enlarge).   
   
9. Click on Change next to Processor and click on the Node Processor Select radio button to match the image below and click Save (click image to enlarge).  
   
10. Click on Settings next to Node Processor and adjust based on the image or personal preferences. (click image to enlarge). Important Note(s): In the Content Type field, be sure to select the Content Type you want to import the data into. Be sure to change the author from Anonymous to someone in your group (type the first few letters to produce a list of available people).
    
11. Click on Mapping next to Create and update nodes. This is where you will “map” your fields in the Content Type - TARGET with the data from your CSV file - SOURCE (click image to enlarge)
    1. Select a target or field that is part of the Content Type indicated in Step 10.
    2. Enter the name of the column from the CSV file that contains the data you want to go in that field.
    3. Be sure to incorporate a GUID as the unique identification number to ensure data does not get overwritten. You must have a unique field in your CSV file (Email, Title, URL sometimes works). If you do not, just create a new column, with a title of GUID and create a unique number for each entry by dragging down with the fill handle. 
       

Once you have created your importer and your CSV file is all set, you just need to import the data. 

1. In the base URL of your site, enter import after yale.edu (http://yoursite.yale.edu/import).
2. Click on the name of the importer you just created and the import dialog displays:
   
3. Click on the Choose file button and upload the CSV file. 
4. Click on the Import button and your data is imported. 
5. Go to the Content listing, filter by your Content Type and you should see a new “page” for each record imported.

OK, you’ve created the importer and prepared the data. You click on the Import button and nothing happens - either no records are imported or only a partial list was imported. This is actually very common because the data needs to be cleaned up a little so that is can be read by the database. Here are some things you can do to ensure that your data gets imported quickly and accurately:

Feeds Tamper Module

The Feeds Tamper Module allows you to adjust content that a feed is importing before it is saved. When enabled, the Feeds Tamper Module provides a variety of plugins that help to “purify” the data before it is imported by decoding or encoding HTML characters, stripping HTML, changing the case of characters and many more. See the Full List of Plugins for existing plugins.

Removing Gremlins or Unwanted Characters

Gremlins are are unwanted characters that you can’t see but the database can (and it doesn’t like them). This is very frustrating because you can’t “see” the problem in your basic text or CSV file; but the import will stop when the database gets to the first hidden character. In order to avoid this, you need to remove the gremlins/unwanted characters before you import the file:

MAC

• Open the CSV file using the TextWrangler program. Select Text > Zap Gremlins. You will be asked to replace it with another character. It is recommends you just press the spacebar to replace the character with a space.
• If you want to view the characters prior to zapping them, select View > Text Display > Show Invisibles. Your text document will display the characters.
• Save the file as Line breaks: Windows (CRLF), Encoding: Unicode (UTF-8)
  

PC

• To view the characters prior to zapping them, select View > Show Symbol > Show All Characters. Your text document will display the characters.