Author Topic: Importing a CSV file  (Read 9431 times)

gayle

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Importing a CSV file
« on: January 14, 2014, 09:53:41 AM »
When I import new members via a CSV file - do I need to have the Columns in a certain order?

I'm assuming I will need to make sure the Column Headers are named as they are in MM but other than that do I need to do anything?

Thank you -

Gayle

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Re: Importing a CSV file
« Reply #1 on: January 14, 2014, 10:48:58 AM »
I don't believe you need either.  On the import step, it lets you decide what "destination" field you want the data to go in, and the current field name does not have to match.  The order doesn't seem to matter since you designate each field with a destination field (so say your CSV has FName, you choose "First Name" as the destination).

To make it easy on myself, I loaded a 'dummy' record and populated every field, then exported that in a CSV format.  That gave me the field names and orders of what MM has as data.  I then just tweaked the field names on my import file to match the exported file, and set the fields in the same order that MM had on the dummy file.  This made it much smoother to import since visually I had a 'one to one' match during the import process.

One tricky part are dates...they must be formatted in a specific way (yyyymmdd or yyyy-mm-dd if I remember correctly), so if you are using Excel to generate your CSV, you have to remember to fix the date format every time you save out to CSV.  Opening a CSV in Excel to review may switch that format around, so if you modify it, you have to again go back and fix the formatting.

gayle

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Re: Importing a CSV file
« Reply #2 on: January 15, 2014, 05:29:29 AM »
Thank you!

How about phone numbers?  Is there a way to import them with dashes?

I tried an import but my phone numbers have dashes so none of them imported. 

Radishworks

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Re: Importing a CSV file
« Reply #3 on: January 15, 2014, 07:01:46 AM »
Quote
How about phone numbers?  Is there a way to import them with dashes?
Nothing special about dashes.
Quote
I tried an import but my phone numbers have dashes so none of them imported.
Hmm, just ran a test, the dashes seem to import OK.  :o  It could be something odd about the format of your .CSV file, you can email it to support (at) radishworks.com if you want us to take a look at it.

gayle

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Re: Importing a CSV file
« Reply #4 on: January 15, 2014, 08:36:45 AM »
Go figure - I just tried again and it worked this time.

Thanks for replying.

gayle

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Re: Importing a CSV file
« Reply #5 on: January 15, 2014, 08:38:19 AM »
Is there a way to import to existing profiles?

For example if I set up everyone now and import their personal info - can I go back later and import Certification Dates into their existing profiles?

Radishworks

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Re: Importing a CSV file
« Reply #6 on: January 15, 2014, 11:03:07 AM »
Quote
Is there a way to import to existing profiles?
Yes.  If the first and last name is exactly the same the member record will be updated rather than a new one created.
« Last Edit: January 16, 2014, 08:14:56 AM by Radishworks »

gayle

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Re: Importing a CSV file
« Reply #7 on: January 16, 2014, 07:29:12 AM »
Awesome!  Thank you!!