Importing and exporting contacts

Preparing the file

Excel and CSV both work. The only things that really matter:

• A header row with the column names. It is there so you can recognise them in the next step.
• One person per row. Two names in the same cell become one contact with a strange name.
• An email column, or at least a phone column.

You do not need to rename or reorder columns, and you can leave the ones you do not need: they are ignored at the mapping step.

Importing

1. Under Contacts, open the import and upload the file.
2. Map the columns: for each one pick the Eventleash field it corresponds to, or choose to ignore it.
3. Check the preview. It shows how the first rows will be read, and it is the moment you notice you swapped first name and surname.
4. Confirm.

The import flags rows with problems — a malformed email, an empty required field — and lets you decide whether to go ahead with the rest.

Mapping the columns

This is the step that decides everything. A few practical notes:

• Country goes in spelled out or as its standard code; a value we do not recognise is left empty rather than blocking the import.
• Language accepts IT or EN. With no such column, contacts get the default language.
• Groups can live in one column, separated by semicolons.
• Socials want the username only, not the full profile address.
• Date of birth is the field that causes the most trouble: American and European formats resemble each other just enough to be got wrong. If you do not need it, ignore the column.

What happens to duplicates

Nothing dramatic, and this is the most important thing to know: the email identifies the contact. If the address is already in the address book, the existing contact is updated with the new data rather than duplicated.

The comparison ignores case and spaces, so Mario.Rossi@Company.com and mario.rossi@company.com are the same person.

What follows in practice:

• You can re-upload the same updated list as often as you like.
• An import is also a quick way to bulk update one field across many contacts.
• Mind the flip side: an empty cell in the file does not clear the value that was there. To empty a field, use bulk editing.

If two rows of the same file share an email, the last one wins.

Importing guests straight onto an event

From an event's page you can upload a file directly onto that event. That is the right route when the list arrives from the client the day before and there is no point going through the address book.

It works like the contacts import, with one difference worth knowing: if you map no email or phone column, the guests are created for that event only and do not enter the address book. The application says so plainly before you proceed.

When the email is there, every row also becomes a contact: that is nearly always what you want, because it is how the address book grows by itself, event after event.

Exporting

From the export button, on the contacts list or on an event's guest list. You pick the format: Excel, CSV or PDF. Excel is the one to use if the file is coming back into Eventleash; PDF is for the list you print and take to the door.

The export respects your active filters: filter by group and you export that group. It is the simplest way to prepare a list for a supplier, for reception or for the client.

Social accounts come out as clickable links, and re-importing that same file reads the usernames back correctly: the round trip loses nothing.

When something goes wrong

If a list simply refuses to go in, send it to us: [info@eventleash.com](mailto:info@eventleash.com).