How to import events

Events can be created and edited in bulk through CSV upload.

Step-by-step guide

• Step 1 of 9

  Navigate to Content > Bulk actions.
  
  The tasks list displays all previous actions that have been performed, along with their status.
  
  
  
  To create a new task, select + Create new bulk action.
  
   

• Step 2 of 9

  Select Import events as the action you would like to perform.
  
  
  
  You will then be presented with the new import screen.
  
  Enter an Import task title.
  
  
  
  A dropdown selector of all Event Types which you are capable of creating as a result of the role(s) assigned to your account are displayed. By making a selection here you are choosing the type of Events you wish to create and/or edit the specified users through CSV upload.
   

• Step 3 of 9

  After making a selection it is possible to Download a template to assist you in gathering the data in the required format.
  
  

  The download consists of two files:

  1. CSV template - This file contains all possible columns you may need to populate in order to successfully import data for your chosen type of Event.

  2. PDF instructions - This file contains instructions and supporting guidance on how to populate the CSV with the correct data format.

• Step 4 of 9

  The import behaviour selection determines the action you wish to perform when uploading the populated CSV.
  
  
  The table below describes the import behaviour for each selection.

  Behaviour	Description
  Search for existing data, create new records which do not exist, do not update existing data	risr/advance will use the data in the uploaded CSV to attempt to search for events which may already exist. If existing data is found these events will NOT be updated. Any rows which do not match existing data WILL be created as new events.
  Search for existing data, create new records which do not exist, update existing data	risr/advance will use the data in the uploaded CSV to attempt to search for events which may already exist. If existing data is found these events WILL be updated with the information within the uploaded CSV. Any rows which do not match existing data WILL be created as new events.
  Search for existing data, do not create new records, update existing data	risr/advance will use the data in the uploaded CSV to attempt to search for events which may already exist. If existing data is found these events WILL be updated with the information within the uploaded CSV. Any rows which do not match existing data will NOT be created.
  Create all records in the file, do not check for existing data	All rows in the uploaded CSV will be created as new events.

• Step 5 of 9

  For the import, email notifications can be enabled or disabled.
  
  
  
  This import email notification setting only applies when creating single-section events, and dictates whether the timeline owner receives the event completed email notification. All subsequent email notifications will be triggered in the normal manner through the workflow where appropriate and cannot be controlled.

• Step 6 of 9

  After selecting the type of event you wish to create, and the import behaviour it is then possible to upload the source CSV file.
  
  

  Only CSV files with a maximum of 100MB are allowed.
  The format required for uploading dates is YYYY-MM-DD
  ASCII characters (e.g. / - ) are not supported in the column headers of the CSV upload file.

• Step 7 of 9

  Once the CSV is successfully uploaded, the page will update to allow you to choose to which event fields the CSV data should map.
  
  The User identification section shows all the available user profile information which can be used to identify for which users the events should be created.
  
  The Data section shows all the possible information related to the event type chosen for import.
  
  

  Imported data column
  These selection boxes correspond to the columns found within the source CSV file. Selecting the relevant CSV columns here will allow data in the source file to be mapped to the appropriate risr/advance user field or event field.
  We recommend you assign a unique identifier to every row of data being imported should you wish to make updates to the data file being imported as a later stage. The export file containing these identifiers will be easily retrievable from the import as then used as a cross reference.

  Matched
  This indicates whether or not a mapping has been chosen for this line.

  Mandatory fields
  This indicates whether this is a mandatory field within risr/advance. Start date and End date are mandatory fields along with any other custom fields marked as mandatory.

  Use to ensure unique value
  This is shown if choosing to search for existing records. The combination of fields selected here determines how this task will define what constitutes an existing record. For example, if selecting 'start date', 'end date' and 'Year of training', any events of the type selected for the destination user with the same values in the CSV will be identified as an existing record.

  Constant value 
  Allows for a value to be set and applied to all records, without it needing to be present as an input column in the CSV.
  
  Search for existing records
  This column will be displayed if you have chosen the import to search for existing data. It allows you to choose how risr/advance should attempt to search for existing data. All the lines checked will be combined together to determine the exact combination of information which should constitute existing data.
  
   

• Step 8 of 9

  When the event type chosen for import contains a file field it is possible to attach files to the events through the CSV import process. If a file field is detected within the selected event type there is an additional zip file upload area.
  
  
  
  This zip file should contain all of the files which you wish to attach to the events that are specified in the source CSV. The filenames of each file should be specified in a column within the source CSV.

  Only zip files with a maximum size of 100Mb can be uploaded.

  
  Example use case: Uploading certificates to students' timelines. To create events onto the timelines of three different students which contain their certificate of results you would need to create a zip file which contains all of the files you wish to attach to the events.
  
  
  
  Ensure the source CSV contains a column which references the filename of the file you wish to attach to each event.
  
  

• Step 9 of 9

  Choose import to run this task for real and mock run to perform a test of the import behaviour.
  
  

The ability to import event data is controlled through the role permissions Allow user to import events.