If you have your members information in a spreadsheet, you can import it by uploading the spreadsheet as a CSV (Comma Separated Value) file to us. If your spreadsheet is not in the CSV format, you will need to convert it to a CSV format first (see below).
Before uploading your CSV file, make sure you have setup the membership levels, labels and custom fields you need in the membership templates. We recommend making sure your spreadsheet contains the membership level and renewal date information for your members.
After uploading the file, you will be able to preview and correct the information before finalizing the upload of the data into the database.
Your spreadsheet should start with the first row being the headings of the columns. For best results, use the following column headings where appropriate; you do not have to provide all these columns, only those fields you plan to use. When importing members, we recommend including at least Name, Email, Membership Level and Renewal Date:
- Account name 1
- Contact name
- Organization name
- Position
- Phone
- Mobile
- Fax
- Skype
- Email 2
- Website
- Address 1
- City
- State
- Country
- Zip
- Tagline
- Profile description
- Label 5
- Membership level 5
- Membership add-on 5
- Join date
- Renewal date
- Directory 3
- Public directory email
- Privacy: do not show street address 3
- Privacy: do not show phone number 3
- Privacy: do not show mobile number 3
- Privacy: do not show contact name 3
- Privacy: do not allow messaging 3
- Facebook 4
- Twitter 4
- Linkedin 4
- Google+ 4
- Youtube 4
- BBB 4
- Yelp 4
- Pinterest 4
- Instagram 4
- Unsubscribe 3
You can also import custom fields you created by providing a heading for the column that matches the description of the custom field.
1 If your spreadsheet lists your member's names as separate First Name, Last Name columns, you can use those columns instead of "Account Name". During import the first name and last name will be joined together.
2 Note that if an email is not provided, the member will not be able to sign in to his/her account online because the sign in is through their email address.
3 Custom check-box fields and yes/no fields such as Directory, Privacy fields, and Unsubscribe fields should have "Y" for yes/set and blank for no/not-set.
4 Provide the URL to the social media account. For example "https://www.youtube.com/memberfindme".
5 If you include Membership Level, Membership Add-On or Label columns, you must have already created the membership level, add-on or label under Labels & Membership. The value in the appropriate cell is the name of the label or membership level you want to assign to that row. You can assign multiple labels when importing by having more than one column with the heading "Label".
Formatting Dates
For best results dates should be formatted as MMM DD YYYY (eg. Mar 10 2016). You will be able to review whether the dates are properly understood by your browser at the review stage once you upload the file.
Note: Please use 4 digits for the year to prevent ambiguity - eg. whether "49" means "1949" or "2049".
Sample Spreadsheets
The following are 2 sample spreadsheets for reference. Note that there are 2 Label columns in the sample spreadsheet, and you may add more Label columns if required.
Sample spreadsheet with name column
Sample spreadsheet with separate first and last name columns
Converting To CSV From Excel
From Excel, select Save As, then select CSV (Comma Delimited) as the format.
Excel may indicate that some features of your spreadsheet are not compatible with CSV, click "Yes" to continue saving it in the CSV format.
Uploading The CSV File
From the "Members" folder (or appropriate folder that you want to import the members into), select the Import tab. Click on Upload CSV File to and select the file from your computer.
After uploading the file, the file will be processed, and you will be presented with a preview of the data. Any problems with the data will be marked in red. You can edit the fields and value for each cell as needed to correct any errors. Once you have completed the review, click on "Finalize Import" to add the accounts to your folder.