Import Member Data

To add a large list of Members in one step, import their data into your website via a CSV file, a special kind of text file that you edit in a spreadsheet program.

  1. Click on the “Membership” tab on the vertical dashboard menu at the left side of the screen.
  2. Click on the “Members” tab.
  3. In the “MEMBERS” window that opens, click on the “Members Actions” dropdown menu at the top right and choose “Member Import.”
  4. In the “MEMBER IMPORT” window that opens, click on the “+Import Members” button to open the “IMPORT USERS” window.
  5. Click on the “Download Import Template” button to download the “import-Members.csv” file to your computer. Use Microsoft® Excel or another spreadsheet program to open the file.*
    • Always ensure that you download the template file when you actually are ready to use it. This ensures that your template is up to date. An outdated file could be missing newly added required data fields, which would cause errors when you attempt to import it.
  6. Enter your Member data into the file, with one line for each Member. Type directly into the file, or copy and paste from a spreadsheet or text document. If you copy and paste data into your CSV file, verify that the data columns in your source document are in the same order from left to right as the data columns in the CSV file you downloaded. Otherwise, you will paste your information into the wrong columns.
    • Standardize the way you enter data so all your records use the same abbreviations. For example, if you abbreviate “Boulevard” as “Blvd” and state names using two-letter shortcuts, do so consistently on all relevant entries.
  7. When you have finished typing or copying and pasting Member information into the CSV file, save the file and close it.
  8. Return to your web browser and click on the “Members” tab in the vertical dashboard menu to open the “MEMBERS” window.
  9. Click on the “Members Actions” dropdown menu at the top right and choose “Member Import” to reopen the “IMPORT USERS” window you opened to download the CSV file you just saved.
  10. If you want to send a password reset message to all the Members whose data you import, activate the “Email New Members to set password” checkbox. To send the message later, leave this option unchecked.
  11. Click on the “Browse” button and locate the CSV file with your Member data. Click on the file name to highlight it and click on the “Open” button.
    • If you accidentally choose the wrong file, click on the “Remove File” link in the “IMPORT USERS” window to deselect the file, or click on the “Cancel” button, press the “Esc” key, or click on the “X” in the top right corner of the window to stop the process altogether.
  12. Click on the “View Summary” button to review and finalize your data import.
    • The “Summary” tab itemizes the number of users you’ll add with this import, the number you already have, and the Member total that will result once the import process completes.
    • The “New Members” tab lists the row number in the CSV file, e-mail address, name, and street address of each new Member your data import will add.
    • The “Updated Members” tab includes the same information as the “New Members” tab, but only appears if your file includes new information about a Member whose data already exist in the system.
    • The “Failed Rows” tab appears if any of your data include errors that you must correct, and lists the row number in the CSV file, e-mail address, name, and error description for each problem entry.
  13. Click on the “Import” button in the “MEMBERS IMPORT SUMMARY” window to add the data from your CSV file into your Member list. To exit the “MEMBERS IMPORT SUMMARY” window and return to the “IMPORT USERS” window without completing the import process, click on the “Close” button, press the “Esc” key, or click on the “X” in the top right corner of the window.
    • The Member Import process will skip records that it identifies as including errors. All other records in the CSV file will import as new or updated Members.
  14. After you complete at least one Member Import, the “MEMBER IMPORT” window lists the status of each import process, including the name of the CSV import file, the date and time that the import began and ended, the progress status of the import (pending or completed), the number of records imported or updated successfully, and the number of records with errors (not imported). If an import process includes errors, the “MEMBER IMPORT” window includes a download link in the “ACTIONS” column so you can download an error file that itemizes and explains why specific records were rejected.

*CSV stands for “Comma-Separated Values.” Each line of text in a CSV file represents a single data record, equivalent to one row in a spreadsheet. Commas or tabs separate the pieces of information from each other on a single line. You can open and edit CSV files in a text-processing application. However, if you try to edit them in a word processor such as Microsoft® Word, you will add formatting to these files that changes the way they function and makes them incompatible with the process of data import.