This article assumes you already have a basic knowledge of fields within your instance of Element451.

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Importing People Records is key to using Element451. This article will give you an understanding of the components of the Imports Module. You'll have records in the system in no time!

Open the Import module of Element451, you'll start by hovering over the Data Module and then select Import. This screen is where you can view existing imports and create new ones.

Ensure that you have either a .csv or a .txt file. Excel files can't be imported, and will need to be saved as .csv or .txt first. Data files should at least have an email address, first name, and last name for each contact.

To create a new import:

In this article, we'll focus on importing data. You are also able to import documents. Learn more about Document Imports.

You can import files from a variety of sources, as seen on the Sources tab. In this example, we'll use the My Computer source, which will upload a file from your desktop.

Ensure that you have either a .csv or a .txt file. Excel files can't be imported, and will need to be saved as .csv or .txt first. Data files should at least have an email address, first name, and last name for each contact.

In the Import, click the "Upload File" card to select the .csv or .txt file from your desktop.
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After selecting your file, you'll be moved to the Mapping screen. This is where the bulk of your import work will take place.

You'll see each of your file columns displayed vertically on the left. The right will be blank, but is where you will select the Element451 field that each file column corresponds to.

At the top of the tab, you can select an import template. A list of system templates are available by default, or you can build your own.

In this article, we'll assume you are not using a template.

For some fields, mapping will be simple. For example, when importing first name, you can simply click "Map to Field", search "First name" and select the first name field.

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Some fields will not be as simple. In those instances, we'll need to edit the column settings.

Open column settings by clicking the settings cog icon at the right of each row.

Column Setting tabs include:

See All Column Setting Options.

Many rows will have a grey cog, but some will have a blue or red cog. This will indicate the column needs attention. All cogs should be blue or grey before running the import.

Let's look at some common examples of advanced mapping.

In this example, you have a data file of students and their application information. One column is the application term code (FA22), and that correspond to the term codes in your Data Sources. Here are the steps to map this column and verify it is reading the data correctly:

In this example, you have a data file of student contact information. One column is their home address state code (NC). Here are the steps to map this column:

In this example, you have a data file of student contact information. One column is their email address. Here are the steps to map this column:

Check the Preview tab to see the output of transformations. Read more about expected outputs for data sources.

Once you have completed mapping, you can move on to the matching tab. This tab will allow you to identify the criteria in your import to match any existing records on. Matching will prevent duplicate records from being created.

It's common to match on email address, but all identity fields being imported can be matched on.

The Groups & User Type tab will allow you to do the following:

The Preview tab will allow you to preview records in your import to confirm that everything looks good. If there are any errors in the formatting of those records, you'll see a yellow yield sign on the right side of the screen.

The Run Task tab allows you to Run the task immediately or schedule it to run at a time in the future.

Test Task: Before you run, try testing your import with the "Test Task" button. This will simulate how many records will be created or updated and how many rows will be skipped without affecting the records. Read more about testing imports.

When configuring a scheduled import task, you will also see an option to select "When no matching files are available, execute the next scheduled task run." Enabling this option allows your scheduled task to continue to run as scheduled, even if there is not a matching file found. This helps to ensure that your run won't break.

Once you've tested and are ready to execute your task, click "Run Task" (if running immediately) or "Schedule Task" (if running on schedule).

The Results tab shows the results of all runs and tests executed by the import. Each run result will show the number of records added or updated by the run, and the number of rows in the data file that were skipped. If a row was skipped, the results will show a warning. Read these warnings to understand why rows were skipped.

A list of all options in the Transformations and Validations tabs and a description of what they will do.

Transformation allow you to perform basic changes to the data in your file. Here are the transformation available to you within Element451:

Validations are a way to ensure that the data you're entering into a field is in the correct format. Here are the validations available to you within Element451:

See Also: