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Import People And Families

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Contents

Watch a 74s video about working with the Import People tool

What you can do with the Import People Tool

With the Import People tool, you can Import new data or update existing data on people and families from any external app using an Excel or CSV file. 

Introduction

When you first get started using ChMeetings, you can easily import your list of people, using a simple spreadsheet. 

This feature is also very useful when you want to make bulk updates to people’s profiles, because you can easily export your list, make the updates using the spreadsheet, then upload it back into ChMeetings. 

This guide shows you how to import People data yourself. If you have recently signed up for a paid ChMeetings account and would like our team’s support to make the import for you, please get in touch by email (info@chmeetings.com) so we can help.

Notes

  • Please make sure that you have properly configured the account Country and State/City in your Account Settings, before importing any data.

  • You can export your list of people, make updates, then import it back. The exported spreadsheet uses the appropriate template for the import tool.

  • Using the template is optional, but if you don’t already have a spreadsheet, it can serve as a guideline to arrange your people data. ChMeetings lets you map every column in your spreadsheet to the appropriate field, during import. 

  • The import template or export file will reflect any people profile fields you enable or disable, as well as any custom profile fields you create. Therefore, please go to Settings > Profile Fields and ensure that people’s profiles include the fields you need.

  • Only first and last names are required in order to import a new person.

  • Group data and notes will only be imported for new people, to prevent overwriting existing information.

  • Please contact us by email (info@chmeetings.com) to help you fix any issues related to the import. We are regularly updating the import tool to make it better and easier.

Importing People

Please go to Settings > Tools > Import People to get started. Here is where you will find an import wizard that will take you through all the steps required in order to import people data into your ChMeetings account.

Step 1: Download a starter template (optional)

If you don't have an existing spreadsheet, download a pre-formatted template. Choose your preferred name format first.

  • If people’s full name is stored in one column, please select the Single Name Column format, which uses one "Name" column formatted as: "First Last".

  • If people’s names are stored in multiple columns, please select the Multiple Name Column format, which separates columns for first, middle, and last name.

  • If you want to import existing member QR Codes from an external, please check the checkbox next to the Add QR Code Column. Leave unchecked otherwise.

The selections you make here will determine the template you download, which ensures correct formatting to successfully import your data. Click Download Template File to do so.

 

If you download the template, please populate it with data to get it ready for import. Click Next when you are ready to proceed. 

Under Upload File, select the newly created spreadsheet and upload it to ChMeetings. 

If you have not used the template, just upload the spreadsheet you already have. The import tool will help you map your existing columns to the appropriate fields in ChMeetings People Profiles. 

Please wait for the upload to complete. This might take a few moments, depending on how large your database is. When done, click Next.

 

Step 2: Map Fields

Now, you can map the columns in your uploaded spreadsheet to the fields required by ChMeetings People Profiles. 

The Import tool automatically maps columns and fields and marks them as Mapped if they match. Columns and fields are mainly being matched based on their name. If a column does not match a field, then it will be marked as Needs review. For the fields requiring review, you can select an appropriate field from the dropdown list. You can change the mapped fields, too, should you need to do so. 

The columns that have no mapping will be skipped during import. You can map them during this step or continue without them. Just note that the data contained within them will not import. 

When you’re done mapping, click Continue, at the bottom of the list.

 

Step 3: Import People

This is where you can take a detailed look at your data. This screen is split into several sections, to allow you to narrow down on the impact of your import and any potential issues. 

This screen includes several tabs: 

  • All - contains all of your imported data.

  • Families - any newly imported families (each member is listed individually), as well as new members that match an existing family, both based on the Family ID, Please see the dedicated section below, to learn more about importing families.

  • Correct (New) - correct records that will create new people profiles.

  • Correct (Update( - correct records that will be updating existing people profiles.

  • Warnings - records with specific warnings, for example an invalid email. Even if there are warnings, your data can still be imported, but it is important for you to be aware of them.

  • Errors - The data cannot be imported if there are errors. These can vary from missing information (e.g.: first or last name) to a template that does not match the one required.


 

The spreadsheet section of this screen lets you see the exact data that will be imported. 

Any existing warnings will be highlighted in yellow, and errors in red. Please go to the corresponding tabs for an overview. Correct any warnings or errors, then reupload your file by following steps 1 and 2.

You can remove a specific record from the import using the Delete (red bin) button next to it.  To remove multiple records in one go, click their corresponding checkboxes, then click Remove, at the top of the spreadsheet..

 

Note: Removing a record from the import does not delete any existing profiles, it only removes the record from the import tool, so no updates will be made to the respective profile. 

 

 

Additionally, you can decide whether to include new people into specific groups. Simply select them from the dropdown to do so. As a reminder: Group data is not updated for existing people. You can adjust their group memberships via the People or Groups area.

Once you have gone through your data and corrected any issues, please click on Import. 

 

Once the import is done, any new people will now have profiles. If you have updated existing profiles, these will reflect as well. 

 

💡 Tip

If you don’t have people’s names in separate columns (e.g.: “First Name”, “Last Name”), then you can add a single column called "Name" and delete the other name related columns ("First Name", "Last Name", “Middle Name”.) Once you import, ChMeetings will automatically separate the name into the appropriate fields. You will need to have the name into the correct order (First, Last, and optionally Middle Name, with spaces in-between) for this feature to work correctly. Alternatively, you can use the Text to Columns option in Excel to separate pre-import.

 

Importing families

The family import is the same as the general one, but to group people into families and import them as such, you will need to create a Family ID that is unique to each family. This ID can be any number. We recommend that you decide on its length in digits, then to use consecutive numbers. To add people to the same family, simply add the same Family ID to their respective row in the import spreadsheet. 

All members of a family share the same ID, regardless of their Family Role. The last name does not have to be identical, though we suggest you make sure people are actually part of the family before configuring them as such.

Here is an example:

10_import_families.png

 

Note: Before importing, we suggest that you populate the Family Role column, so you don’t have to set it manually in the app. The same goes for any other piece of data you already have and can place into a field. (The family roles are: Primary, Spouse, Child, Grandparent and Other) If the Family Role column is left empty, then ChMeetings will set it as “Other”.

 

Custom QR Codes

When importing people, you can add custom QR codes that will be used all across ChMeetings (e.g.: profile, event check-in, people QR code exports, etc.). 

To add a custom QR code, add a 'QR Code' column to your people import file and enter any value for each person. Once imported, ChMeetings will read it as a QR code.

Importing partial data into existing profiles

If you want to import partial data into existing profiles, the best practice is 

  • Go to the People page, 

  • Export your people list, 

  • Edit the downloaded Excel file and update the fields you want.

  • Go to Settings > Tools > Import People and import the edited file. During the import process, the record status will be shown as Updated, rather than New. The imported information will update the existing records and will not create duplicates. 

Caution!

Please do not import spreadsheets containing just the data you want to update while leaving the other fields blank. The blank fields will overwrite the data you have in the system. If you find it easier than working with the entire spreadsheet, you can remove the columns that you do not want to update and leave the spreadsheet containing exclusively the columns corresponding to the fields you want to update. For example, if you only want to update the Name, Email, and Mobile Number, and do not want to change any other fields, then keep only those columns in the import file and delete the rest. This way, only the fields included in the file will be updated, and the existing data in the other fields will remain unchanged.

 

 

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