Best way to allow date imports?

[stevejburge]

We should test and either recommend or build a better system for people doing imports.

https://wordpress.org/support/topic/issue-with-importing-post-expirator-meta-data/

After some research into how to solve this issue, I came across a few others which are experiencing similar issues although not exactly the same, they are related:

https://wordpress.org/support/topic/post-expirator-and-wp-all-import/
https://wordpress.org/support/topic/how-to-import-serialized-value-into-custom-meta-field/

_expiration-date-status | text which says whether the expiration is set to saved
_expiration-date | int which is unix time to expire the post
_expiration-date-options | a serialized array which tells the post what to do (set as draft for example) and the post ID.

My issue is around the _expiration-date-options meta field. I am trying to import expiry dates using the default WooCommerce Product CSV importer (accessible from Products > Import).

In the CSV import, the serialized array is shown here:
https://snipboard.io/7gFZdY.jpg
a:2:{s:10:”expireType”;s:5:”draft”;s:2:”id”;i:10000006595;}

But when looking at the database, it has imported differently:
https://snipboard.io/p9gNVd.jpg
s:59:”a:2:{s:10:”expireType”;s:5:”draft”;s:2:”id”;i:10000006595;}”;

It seems s:59″ is added to the start of the text and “; is added to the end of the text.

WooCommerce state:
“From further investigation it appears that the s:59 is the the string identifier for the number of characters in the entire array string and is added by WordPress. Therefore we wouldn’t recommend removing it.”

Any advice on how to properly import post expiration dates will be greatly appreciated, particularly when using the default WooCommerce product import CSV (although I am open to using other products like Really Simple CSV Importer and WP All Import Pro)After some research into how to solve this issue, I came across a few others which are experiencing similar issues although not exactly the same, they are related:

https://wordpress.org/support/topic/post-expirator-and-wp-all-import/
https://wordpress.org/support/topic/how-to-import-serialized-value-into-custom-meta-field/

_expiration-date-status | text which says whether the expiration is set to saved
_expiration-date | int which is unix time to expire the post
_expiration-date-options | a serialized array which tells the post what to do (set as draft for example) and the post ID.

My issue is around the _expiration-date-options meta field. I am trying to import expiry dates using the default WooCommerce Product CSV importer (accessible from Products > Import).

In the CSV import, the serialized array is shown here:
https://snipboard.io/7gFZdY.jpg
a:2:{s:10:”expireType”;s:5:”draft”;s:2:”id”;i:10000006595;}

But when looking at the database, it has imported differently:
https://snipboard.io/p9gNVd.jpg
s:59:”a:2:{s:10:”expireType”;s:5:”draft”;s:2:”id”;i:10000006595;}”;

It seems s:59″ is added to the start of the text and “; is added to the end of the text.

WooCommerce state:
“From further investigation it appears that the s:59 is the the string identifier for the number of characters in the entire array string and is added by WordPress. Therefore we wouldn’t recommend removing it.”

Any advice on how to properly import post expiration dates will be greatly appreciated, particularly when using the default WooCommerce product import CSV (although I am open to using other products like Really Simple CSV Importer and WP All Import Pro)

[stevejburge]

More on this from another user:

The issue is around the field _expiration-date-options in the wp_postmeta table. Because this field is stored a serialized array, by default, WordPress importing manipulates the data (and I believe possibly adds edit locks but I can't be 100% sure) meaning an expiration time isn't applied unless the user first imports the serialised array, then goes into the posts and hits update (which makes importing kind of pointless!). Any importing tools like default WooCommerce Product Import CSV, Really Simple CSV Importer, and WP ALL Import, have issues importing serialized data unless functions are added to functions.php or the importing plugins are customised.

[stevejburge]

More:

When I import multiple posts through a plugin named WP-all-import,
it successfully import and write the post metas: _expirationdate, _expirationdateoptions, -expirationstatus.

But to let all of those settings run, every post must be updated, or visited by user. then you shall check from WP-control, found the data had been written into database.

[stevejburge]

A similar request today from a user who is doing auto-posting (which is a kind of bulk import)

[stevejburge]

One more:

I'm using WP User Manager, and using their form builder to insert data so I have a bunch of fields entering meta keys.
It would be cool to know how to make those meta values