Importing data

Importing data requires admin or editor access. If you are logged in as a member or viewer, you will not be able to access this settings menu.

Terrastories has an import tool, which allows admin or editor users of a community to add stories, places, and speakers in one batch operation, rather than manually inputting them one by one. To access the import tool, navigate to the Import view in the sidebar.

On this view, you can import data for Places, Speakers, and Stories, and this can be done in one operation (or one by one, as you prefer).

Currently, the Terrastories import tool can interpret a csv file. You can either Download a Sample CSV file that is provided by Terrastories (online or offline), or you can use your own csv.

For Terrastories in an offline environment, it is possible to upload media attachments as well. See the below section Importing media attachments (Terrastories in an offline or mesh hosting environment only).

Importing CSV files

To begin using the import tool, click Choose File and select your csv for any of the data types (Places, Speakers, or Stories).

The columns in your csv file can be in any order. Once you've uploaded your csv, the Terrastories import tool allows you to map your columns the Terrastories data fields.

For any data fields for which there is no column in your csv to match, you can just leave that blank.

The Media and Name audio fields are intended for media attachments, and currently will not work for Terrastories hosted in an online environment.

Once you are done, click Import. The data will now be added to Terrastories.

Make sure to provide names for each column in the top row of your csv so you can map the columns to the Terrastories data fields, as in the screenshot above.

Depending on the size of your csv (and media attachments if adding for an offline or mesh environment), the importing process may take a while. Do not close the page while this process is ongoing or your import operation will be interrupted.

Importing media attachments (Terrastories in an offline or mesh hosting environment only)

For a Terrastories community on a server that is hosted in an offline or mesh environment, it is possible to add media attachment for each of the Stories, Places, and Speakers being imported. Media attachments include photos, videos, and audio. (In the future, we hope to make this possible for Terrastories hosted in an online environment as well.)

The way this works is that for each row in the csv, if there is a filename listed in the media or name audio fields being imported, then it will look for that filename in the /rails/import/media directory of your Terrastories application. If it finds the file, then it will import it for the data row you are importing; if not, it will skip adding a media attachment.

For example, let's say that you have a story in your csv called My Terrastories Story, and you want to add a video file called TerrastoriesVid_Final.mp4.

1. First, copy your file TerrastoriesVid_Final.mp4 to the /rails/import/media directory.

2. Next, find the row containing your story My Terrastories Story in your csv. Ensure that there is a column in which the full filename is written out (e.g. TerrastoriesVid_Final.mp4, with the .mp4 file type and matching the capitalization of your file).

3. When you click Import to import the csv, and the tool starts to import your My Terrastories Story row, it will look for a file called TerrastoriesVid_Final.mp4 in /rails/import/media. Since you placed it there, it successfully locates the file, and proceeds to add the file as a media attachment.

The same will happen for all of your csv rows for any Stories, Speakers, and Places that you import, in one batch operation.

If one of your rows failed to attach a media file, then it is likely that the filename was misspelled in the csv. It is easy to miss a character or capitalization. It can also sometimes happen that a filename ends in all capital letters such as .MP4. Make sure the filenames strings in your csv match the files exactly.