Hi, Michael 

Thanks for reaching out to us

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I am not sure if i understood correctly, my apologies.

I will certainly show you our general documentation about using SQL Queries with our plugin, please check it out here.

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But regarding automation about collecting the data, if you can please elaborate a bit more on this, and i will advise you?

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Accessing the database remotely, i am sorry but I'm also not sure if i understood that question.

We have a feature to create remote DB connections with our plugin, if you perhaps need this, you can check this out here.

But since you said to access the WP DB remotely, it is probably not that.  If you can explain in a bit more details and i will advise. Thank you

Hey, Michael 

Firstly, I would like to sincerely apologize for the delayed response as we have been experiencing an unusually high number of tickets. I am sorry that it has taken longer than usual to respond to your concern and your patience is highly appreciated.

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1. Regarding the first question, absolutely,

you will be able to either connect to your WP Database, that is the default SQL selection;

but you can also add any additional SQL remote connections, other databases, and if you add other DB connections, you can select them from dropdown during table creation wizard.

Please check more details about our multiple DB connection support here.

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The tables will absolutely auto-sync with the database, and if you switch on server-side processing, it is going to use the Ajax functionality to only load certain number of rows at a time, 

you can of course set the number of rows loaded at one time.

And server-side tables have auto-refresh function, you can choose the time interval.

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2. 

Regarding automating or speeding up table development, with a similar setup for different clients;

i suppose you mean, for example to make kind of a "default template" of table settings, and then "migrate the setup", so that you don't have to build up everything from scratch for each site?

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There might be a couple of ways, unfortunately we still don't have an easy "export" solution.

Our developers are working to create one, but i can't say an ETA when they will finish.

I will tell you what is possible at this time regarding "moving tables and their settings" to other sites.

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For example, when we are moving on live site from local or stage site (or vice-versa) we can suggest using Plugin Duplicator. We use it and it's working fine because it will transfer all the files and also the tables to the database. 

Other than cloning the site, another option would be to copy all database tables (wp_wpdatatable_#) along with tables wp_wpdatatables, wp_wpdatacharts, wp_wpdatatables_rows and wp_wpdatatables_columns. Then, in wp_options table, you would also need to export the following option_names:

• wdtPreventDeletingTables
• wdtUseSeparateCon
• wdtSeparateCon
• wdtTimepickerRange
• wdtTimeFormat
• wdtTabletWidth
• wdtTablesPerPage
• wdtSumFunctionsLabel
• wdtRenderFilter
• wdtRenderCharts
• wdtIncludeBootstrap
• wdtIncludeBootstrapBackEnd
• wdtPreventDeletingTables
• wdtParseShortcodes
• wdtNumbersAlign
• wdtBorderRemoval
• wdtBorderRemovalHeader
• wdtNumberFormat
• wdtMobileWidth
• wdtMinifiedJs
• wdtMinFunctionsLabel
• wdtMaxFunctionsLabel
• wdtLeftOffset
• wdtTopOffset
• wdtInterfaceLanguage
• wdtGeneratedTablesCount
• wdtFontColorSettings
• wdtDecimalPlaces
• wdtCSVDelimiter
• wdtDateFormat
• wdtCustomJs
• wdtCustomCss
• wdtBaseSkin
• wdtAvgFunctionsLabel
• wdtInstallDate
• wdtRatingDiv
• wdtMDNewsDiv
• wdtTempFutureDate

It is rather cumbersome to do all this, but unfortunately at the moment, it's the only way, when we wish to move the entire site.

 Also, for tables linked to an existing data source, you would need to change the file path, because at the moment the file path depends on the domain, so if you change the domain, the URL to the file will also have to be changed.

- There are also certain export functionalities, to export individual tables using Table Tools.

*But we have to note these Table Tools are based on a third party HTML library, and are very limited at this time.

There are the limitations:

• For tables with server-side processing, only the visible rows will be exported to any format. If you want the entire table to be exported (or copied to a clipboard), you need to choose the “Show All” feature in the “show … entries” block, and then do the export:

• Generated PDF, XLS, CSV are not customizable. Unfortunately, the library allows very little “fine-tuning” of the generated files, so font, size, and other properties cannot be changed (but the title can – see below).
• Conditional formatting is not reflected in any of generated export files.
• Other front-end extensions cannot be combined with Table Tools. If you have row grouping enabled for the table, or there are some customizations you did yourself, they won’t be reflected in the generated Excel, CSV or PDF document, nor in the clipboard.
• When you export tables with the wpDataTables plugin, please note that you can export values, but not formulas. WpDataTables doesn’t support exporting formulas, so a Formula column will be exported only with values; and any calculations of Average, MIN, MAX, and Total will not be exported at all.
• Exporting images is not possible at the moment, but you are able to export them as HTML with the new “Include HTML” option.
• You can’t export columns that are hidden – they will not be visible in any exporting or printing tool.
• Export numbers with comma as decimal separators have issues in the Excel report. Please use the CSV export button or change column type to string for these columns.

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Now, there is also a manual way, but this only works easily for Manual tables.

You can export the manual tables created in the database easily (they are entitled wp_wpdatatable_#, where wp_ is your database prefix, and # the corresponding table ID).

However, all other tables, including SQL Query based (linked to an existing data source) store information in a few places:

wp_options

wp_wpdatacharts

wp_wpdatatables

wp_wpdatatables_columns

Mostly it is saved in the wp_wpdatatables_columns table, but the configuration is linked to the table ID from the plugin, so you may need to recreate them in the same order in which you created them here. You can copy those tables, but I can't guarantee that all of them will work after you transfer them to a new database.

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Sorry if that was too much details, i just want to do my best to give you all the information, so that you can think what might be the best for you, with the current limitations.

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Also, If you have any ideas on how we could improve any feature, please feel free to search on our suggestions page, 

 to see if someone may be already suggested the same features. If you can't see it, feel free to add your suggestion there,  and as more people vote, the feature will move higher on the priority list.

You can certainly follow our changeLog page if you'd like ( it is also available in the plugin dashboard), where we state any changes/new features/bug fixes during updates;

and our newsletter, so you're informed about new features, bug fixes, freebies, etc.

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Let me know how all that sounds and if you have any further questions. Thank you