DOWNLOAD PLUGIN → quotesfromcsv.zip [12kB zip archive].

quotesfromcsv

Tags: quote, random, csv, database

Contributors: Christian Ries

Quotesfromcsv is a plugin that adds a quoting feature to Wordpress. When activated you will be able to place a single random quote from your csv quotes file anywhere into your blog or to display all the quotes in a Wordpress Page.

Credits

Quotesfromcsv was inspired by Hello Dolly by Matt Mullenweg and Wordpress Quotiki Plugin by Marko Pflipsen. The contents of the file 'quotes.csv' were copied from wikiquote at http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Science.

Installation

1. Extract the archive into your plugins folder. Optionally, make a folder called "quotesfromcsv" in your plugins folder and place the files from the archive there.
2. Activate the plugin.
3. TO PLACE ONE SINGLE RANDOM QUOTE:
   • 3.1. Place this function call <?php quotesfromcsv_one(); ?> at wished location in the code of your theme. Example: to place a single random quote on top of every page content, insert the function call as last line of header.php of your template (...<div id="content"><?php quotesfromcsv_one(); ?>).
   • 3.2. Place this function call <?php quotesfromcsv_one_css(); ?> inside the header section of your theme (file header.php). A good place might be right before the closing tag (...<?php quotesfromcsv_one_css(); ?></head>).
4. TO PLACE ALL THE QUOTES IN A WORDPRESS PAGE:
   • 4.1. Copy the template file 'quotesfromcsv_all_template.php' into your theme directory.
   • 4.2. Create a new Page and select 'quotesfromcsv_all' as Template. The template will call the function <?php quotesfromcsv_all(); ?> below the contents you entered for your Page.
     
   • 4.3. Place this function call <?php quotesfromcsv_all_css(); ?> inside the header section of your theme (file header.php). A good place might be right before the closing tag (...<?php quotesfromcsv_all_css(); ?></head>).

Upgrading

No support is available for this plugin. This means that the plugin is to be used at the user's own risk and the author will not respond to inquiries or be updating the plugin on a regular basis.

Usage

By default the code of the plugin file quotesfromcsv.php uses a csv file with 2 fields:
Field 1 contains the quote text.
Field 2 contains the name of the author and in some items some additional information about the source.

In case of more fields the following changes in the functions are required:
1. Function quotesfromcsv_one     : implement containers or locations for the further fields (note that field numbers start with 0)
2. Function quotesfromcsv_one_css : implement style definitions in case new containers have been defined for the further fields

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I make my own quotes csv file?

Just fill in a table in a spreadsheet programme or a simple editor and save as csv file named 'quotes.csv'.

My own quotes csv file won't work, what's wrong?

There might be a problem with the delimiter character. This character is used to seperate the fields within a row.
CSV files are built according to the following scheme: each row is a set of fields belonging to one item where all the fields are seperated by a specific delimiter, usually a comma , or a semicolon ;. One of these characters will be used per default by spreadsheet programmes like openoffice or excel. But if the delimiter is used inside a field content (which might occur rather often dealing with quotes, comma and semicolon occuring regularly in text citations) it is recommended to use a delimiter like # which will never occur in texts (see 3rd line of example below).

Example: these are the first 3 lines of the provided quotes.csv file:

All models are wrong, but some are useful#George E. P. Box
All science is either physics or stamp collecting#Ernest Rutherford
In science there is only physics; all the rest is stamp collecting#Ernest Rutherford

Examination of the 1st line:

1. content of 1st field: All models are wrong, but some are useful
2. delimiter: #
3. content of 2nd field: George E. P. Box
4. end of 1st row (invisible): line feed