One of the most useful features of WP Maps is the ability to upload many stores through CSV files.
To avoid any issues with CSV uploads, users will have to follow the exact format for a CSV file that will be uploaded to the WP Maps platform.
This guide will explain in detail how you should structure and populate your CSV file so that it can be recognized by the WP Maps platform.
List of Mandatory Data Columns #
The following is a list of mandatory data columns that should appear in your CSV file before you upload it into WP Maps. Please be sure all column headings are in lowercase and that each word is separated with a “_” (underscore) symbol. For example, “posral_code”:
- title
- description
- marker
- logo
- city
- street
- state
- country
- postal_code
- lat
- lng
- phone
- website
- fax
- open_hours
List of Optional Data Columns #
The following is a list of optional data columns that you can add to your CSV file. Furthermore, a CSV can be successfully uploaded even without these data columns. Please be sure all column headings are in lowercase and that each word is separated with a “_” (underscore) symbol. For example, “posral_code”:
- fb_url
- twitter_url
- instagram_url
- youtube_url
CSV Data Format #
This section will explain what each mandatory column heading means, and in what format you should enter the data for each column so that it is recognized by the WP Maps platform.
For each column heading you will need to enter data for it to be uploaded into the WP Maps platform.
Some column headings, such as “open_hours” have a specific format in which the data should be entered for successful upload to WP Maps. While other column heading don’t have a specific format for the data, and you can add the data in any form you like.
Moreover, for some column headings, the entered data is either optional or mandatory. For example, the data in the “phone” column is optional, so it won’t affect the CSV upload process. However, the data in the “country” column is mandatory. Failing to add mandatory data will result in the failure of the CSV upload.
Let’s go over each column heading one by one and see their requirements
Data Format for Mandatory Data Columns #
1- title #
This column represents the name of your store. Furthermore, the data can be entered in any format.
The data in the “title” column is mandatory for proper CSV upload.
2- description #
The “description” column is for a brief description of each of your stores, such as what it is, what it sells, etc. Furthermore, the data can be entered in any format in this column.
The data in the “description” column is mandatory for proper CSV upload.
3- marker #
This column shows the store marker that is assigned for each store.
The data in the “marker” column should be selected from a list of markers that is available in the “icon” list. To access the “icon” list please follow the below steps:
- Log in to your WP Maps account
- Hover your mouse over the “Store” tab and click on “Create Store”
- On the Create Store page, you will find the “Icon” field
- Click on the “Icon” field to open a list of sore markers
For the CSV file to be properly uploaded, be sure to include a marker name that is available in the list of icons, otherwise, the CSV will fail to upload.
The data in the “marker” column is mandatory for proper CSV upload.
4- logo #
The “logo” column is for the online address where each store logo is stored.
The data entered in this column should be a URL link (https.//…….), otherwise, the data will not be recognized by the WP Maps platform.
The data for the “logo” column is optional for proper CSV upload.
5- street #
The “street” column contains the street name for each of your store locations. Furthermore, the data in this column can be entered in any format.
The data in the “street” column is mandatory for proper CSV upload.
6- city #
The “city” column contains the name of the city where each of your stores is located. Furthermore, the data in this column can be entered in any format.
The data in the “city” column is mandatory for proper CSV upload.
7- state #
The “state” column contains the name of the state where each of your stores are located. Furthermore, the data in this column can be entered in any format.
The data in the “state” column is mandatory for proper CSV upload.
8- country #
The “country” column contains the names of the countries where each of your stores are located. Furthermore, the name of each country should be entered in a specific naming convention. For example, the United States of America should be entered as “United States” in the CSV file and not as “US”, “USA”, etc.
To find out how each country should be named in the CSV file, you can access a demo store CSV that has all the countries named exactly as they should appear in your CSV file. To access this demo store CSV file please follow the below steps:
- Log into your WP Account
- Go to the “Import/Export” sub-tab by hovering over the “Stores” tab
- Download the demo store CSV file
Alternatively, you can check how each country should be named in the CSV by going to the “Create Store” section and opening the country list from the “Country” field”.
The data in the “country” column is mandatory for proper CSV upload.
9- postal_code #
The “postal_code” column contains the postal code or P.O. box number of each of your store locations. Furthermore, the data in this column can be entered in any format.
The data in the “postal_code” column is optional for proper CSV upload.
10- lat #
The “lat” column contains the latitude coordinate of each of your store locations. Furthermore, the data in this column has to be numerical.
The data in the “lat” column is optional for proper CSV upload.
11- lng #
The “lng” column contains the longitude coordinate of each of your store locations. Furthermore, the data in this column has to be numerical.
The data in the “lng” is optional for proper CSV upload.
12- phone #
The “phone” column contains the phone number of each of your stores. Furthermore, the data in this column has to be numerical.
The data in the “phone” column is optional for proper CSV upload.
13- email #
The “email” column contains the email address of each of your stores. Furthermore, the data in this column has to be in the form of an email address. For example, [email protected]
The data in the “email” column is optional for proper CSV upload.
14- website #
The “website” column contains the website URL of each of your stores. Furthermore, the data in this column has to be in the form of a URL. For example, sportsworld.com
The data in the “website” column is optional for proper CSV upload.
15- fax #
The “fax” column contains the fax number of each of your stores. Furthermore, the data in this column has to be in numerical form.
The data in the “fax” column is optional for proper CSV upload.
16- open_hours #
The “open_hours” column contains the opening hours of each of your stores. Furthermore, the data in this column has to be entered in the below format for each store/cell:
mon=7:00 AM-5:00 PM|tue=7:00 AM-5:00 PM|wed=7:00 AM-5:00 PM|thu=7:00 AM-5:00 PM|fri=7:00 AM-4:00 PM|sat=0|sun=0
In the above example, the store is shown to have opening hours from 7:00 a.m to 5:00 p.m from Monday to Friday. The “0” (zero) represents days when the store is closed (Saturday and Sunday). Moreover, you can change the time frames (7:00 AM-5:00 PM) and “0” accordingly.
Important Notes:
- To change a store’s timing simply change the value of the opening or closing time on a particular day. For example, 7:00 AM-5:00 PM can be changed to 10:00 AM-8:00 PM, etc.
- To show that a store is closed on a particular day replace the time frame with a “0” (zero). For example, to make Tuesday as a closed day (in the above example) simply rewrite the data for Tuesday as tue=0
- To indicate that a previously closed store is now open, simply replace the “0” (zero) with a time frame. For example, to make Saturday an open day (from the previous example) simply rewrite the data for Saturday as sat=7:00 AM-5:00 PM.
- There should be no spaces between each character of the data in each cell, except before “AM” and “PM”.
The data in the “open_hours” column is mandatory for proper CSV upload.
Data Format for Optional Data Columns #
1- fb_url #
The “fb_url” column contains links to each of your store’s Facebook pages/posts. Furthermore, the data entered in this column must be a URL that redirects to Facebook.
The data in the “fb_url” column is optional for proper CSV upload.
2- twitter_url #
The “twitter_url” column contains links to each of your store’s Twitter pages/tweets. Furthermore, the data entered in this column must be a URL that redirects to Facebook.
The data in the “twitter_url” column is optional for proper CSV upload.
3- instagram_url #
The “instagram_url” column contains links to each of your store’s Instagram pages/posts. Furthermore, the data entered in this column must be a URL that redirects to Facebook.
The data in the “instagram_url” column is optional for proper CSV upload.
4- youtube_url #
The “youtube_url” column contains links to each of your store’s Youtube channels/videos. Furthermore, the data entered in this column must be a URL that redirects to Facebook.
The data in the “fb_url” column is optional for proper CSV upload.
These are all the things you need to know before you prep your CSV for upload onto WP Maps. Please be sure to follow the above instruction to avoid any issues during CSV uploads.
For further assistance on any matter, please feel free to contact us at [email protected].
