To import sessions
To import sessions, got to Sessions and click the Import button (at top right).
- The import file must be an Excel file (.xls or .xlsx) or a CSV file (.csv).
- International characters and special characters: if your import includes international or special characters, best practice is to use a .CSV file .
- It must include the required fields: Session Name, Session Code, and Type.
- If any of the other three required fields are not included, they will be set to default values: Duration to 60, Capacity to 1, and Occurrences to 1.
- Note: If the Type is a Standard Type that has been deleted for the event (on the Sessions page), then a new Custom Type of that name is automatically created and assigned to the imported session.
- Header Row: The first row must be column names.
- Fields must match any validation mentioned in Add or Edit Sessions or otherwise implied.
- ( Points and Instances must be numbers, Track must exist, Type must be one of those listed, etc.)
- If the import includes values for Job Function or Industry, the values must be assigned to the event in Setup > Job Functions or Setup > Industries.
- You can separate multiple values with the "|" ("pipe") character.
- For example: "CEO|CFO|CMO|COO" or "Finance|Manufacturing|Retail".
- If the import includes one or more Sub-Tracks, it/they must already be set up for the Track being imported.
- Separate multiple sub-tracks with the "|" ("pipe") character.
- For example: "SubtrackA|SubtrackB|SubtrackC".
- If the import includes a standard Level that has been deleted for the event (on the Sessions page), then a new Custom Level of that name is automatically created and assigned to the imported session.
- If importing values for Tags, those Tags must already exist in the account, as added by an administrator in Account Settings > Management >Tags.
- > Note: if you're working in a sub-account, the Tags must exist in the account itself, not in the parent account.
- Separate multiple tags with the "|" ("pipe") character.
- For example: "Myfirsttag|Mysecondtag|Anothertag".
- Duration must be in minutes, and a multiple of 5; for example, 90.
- (It will still be displayed in hours and minutes when you edit or view the session.)
- If your import file doesn't include a Duration, or has a blank Duration, the imported records will have a default Duration of 60 minutes.
- If these required fields are left blank (or not included in the import file), then for new records (but not for updates):
- Duration defaults to 60 (minutes)
- Capacity defaults to 1
- Instances defaults to 1
- To assign a speaker to a session as part of the import, include their Username in a Username column.
- (For multiple speakers, use a single column, separating their usernames with the "|" (pipe) character.)
- You cannot import tasks or presentation details for a session.
Note: You can update existing sessions by importing records using existing Session Codes. See Updating Sessions via an Import, below.
Steps to follow
1. In the first step of the wizard you can click a link to download a template file to populate.
- If you're updating existing sessions, you can choose to download a list of all sessions, for you to edit, save, and upload back.
- Include Session Custom Fields as their own columns.
- Use the Custom Field Code as the column header.
- For questions with pre-set options (that is answers), use the option Code as the value in the spreadsheet.
- To assign more than one pre-set option value to a custom field where the Custom Field Type allows it (such as a Checkbox List or Multiple Select List), separate the valuess using the "|" "pipe" character.
- Example: "Marketing Automation|Social Media|Big Data".
- Once you have a file ready to import, click Next in the first step.
1. Drop a file into step 2, or click Choose File and select the file to upload. 2. In the Session Import step, map the columns in your import file to the Session Field in Certain. 3. Click Complete Import to start or schedule the import process. 4. You receive an email advising that the import is complete, and details of any rows that failed to import (for example, because they didn't match the validation rules mentioned above).
Updating Existing Sessions via an import
- If the Session Code for a record in the import file already exists in the event, then the import will update the existing session.
- For example, you could assign speakers to existing sessions via an import.
- Note, however: An import to update records still needs values for most of the required fields, even if they're unchanged.
- (If left blank, then for new records but not for updates, Duration will default to 60 (minutes), Capacity to 1, and Instances to 1.)
- Note also: If the import updates an existing record, and the update includes values for any of the fields that could be multiple items (Job Functions, Industries, Tags, or Speaker Usernames), it will only add values, if there are any different ones; it will not delete any that are not in the import row.
- For example: Session A has tags Tag1 and Tag2, and the import includes Session A with Tag1 and Tag 3.
- That would add Tag3 to Session A but would not delete Tag2 from it.