How do I mass import a contact list into my database via a spreadsheet?
This is the illustrated walkthrough of a mass import, screen by screen. For the full reference, including what every column does and how duplicate profiles are handled, see How do I mass import profiles into my database?
Prepare the file first. Getting the columns and formats right before you upload saves the most time. See How should I format my fields to successfully upload them to my database?
1. Open the mass importer
In the left-hand navigation click Database, then open the Create profiles button and choose Mass import.
2. Upload your file
Choose a .csv or .xlsx file. One row is one person, and you can import up to 10,000 rows per upload. First Name, Last Name and Email are required, and a row with no email address cannot be imported.
One sheet per workbook. An Excel workbook containing more than one sheet will fail to upload. If your file has several tabs, save the one you want as its own file first.
3. Map your fields
Every column in your file has to be pointed at a Vome field before you can continue, so delete the columns you do not want to bring over rather than leaving them in.
If your column titles already match the field names in Vome, they are matched for you automatically and you only adjust the rest.
4. Check file errors
Vome validates the file and lists anything that will not import, with the row number. Nothing is imported until those are gone. Fix them in your spreadsheet and upload the corrected file from that same step, keeping the column titles identical between the two versions.
5. Customize & Assign
This step decides what happens to profiles that already exist, sets default values for fields your file has no column for, and applies bulk assignments to everyone in the import.
You can assign the whole file to:
- Opportunities. Worth doing. People who are approved for an opportunity can start reserving shifts as soon as they claim their account. Without one, someone claiming their account lands on your organization page instead, because Vome assumes they still have to find something to sign up for.
- Profile tags. For your own filtering and grouping. Users never see the tags on their profile, which makes them ideal for marking an imported cohort, for example a corporate or school group.
- Shifts. Puts people straight onto a one-time or recurring set of shifts. This also approves them for whatever opportunity those shifts belong to, and they see the reservations as soon as they claim their account.
- Sequences. Useful when the people you are importing are mid-onboarding.
- Groups and Sites.
Everything here applies to the whole file. If half your list should be assigned one way and half another, that is two imports. See Should I segment profile lists before mass importing them into my database?
6. Review & Save
The last step shows the summary and decides whether anyone is contacted.
Leave Invite all profiles to claim their Vome account off and the profiles simply appear in your database with nobody emailed. Turn it on and everyone in the file is emailed an invitation from noreply@vomenotifications.com to claim their account. You can add a custom welcome message and set whether those emails go out in English or French.
For what the recipient sees, read I've been invited to claim a profile. What do I do next?
Invitations cannot be recalled. On a first migration, import quietly, check the data landed the way you expected, and invite people from the database afterwards.