Import contacts into Planio via CSV files » History » Revision 3
Revision 2 (Gregor Schmidt, 03/13/2018 03:26 PM) → Revision 3/5 (Gregor Schmidt, 03/13/2018 04:02 PM)
# Import contacts into Planio via CSV files
This is a guide on how you can import contacts and companies from Comma Separated Values (CSV) files using the importer in Planio. You'll be able to move data between different software packages easily.
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There are two steps to this process. First, you need to prepare a CSV file for import. Second, you have to carry out the import. We’ll cover both in this guide.
## Preparing the CSV file
You need to export your contacts in the CSV format. Most contact databases provide one way or another to do so. If you're managing addresses using Excel sheets, you can create a CSV file by clicking on **File -\> Save As…** and then selecting **Comma Separated Values** as the format from the drop-down menu.
Your CSV file can have the following headers. You’ll find a sample CSV file here: attachment:example.csv. Each row corresponds to a newly created contact.
| Values | Notes | |
| ----------------- -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Company fields | |
| Name Activity | Enter This field is used to determine the company name kind of a company, which is already stored activity. This should map to an existing activity and it needs to be enabled within your Planio the target project. You’ll find their names in **Project page -\> Settings -\> Activities**. | This field is optional. Alternatively, you may select a pre-existing company fixed activity for all new contacts time entries when configuring the import. |
| Contact fields Issue | A time entry may belong to a single issue. Fill this column with the issue ID (e.g. `4711`). | This field is optional. If left blank, the time entry will be associated with the overall project. |
| Gender/Salutation Date | Use either `m` of `f` to indicate Enter the person's gender. Alternatively provide commonly used salutations like "Mr." date in your preferred date format (e.g. MM/DD/YYYY or "Mrs." DD.MM.YYYY). | This field is mandatory. |
| First name Hours | Enter a number for the contact's first name spent time in hours (e.g. 15). |
| Last name | This field contains the family name of the person. is mandatory. |
| Email address(es) Comment | You may provide up to three separate columns of email addresses. |
| Phone Number(s) | Enter up to three phone/fax numbers. Enter a comment describing the type of phone separately from the actual phone number. Planio knows the following kinds of phone numbers: "Work", "Home", "Mobile", "Work Fax", "Home Fax", "Pager", and "Other" work. | This field is optional. |
If you wish to create companies along side contacts, you can select "Create missing values". Then you'll be able to also import further information about the company.
**Please note:** When importing companies, the importer will not overwrite information within existing companies. If the imported attributes differ from previously stored values, a new company with the same name will be created instead. You may later merge these duplicates, if need be.
## Importing the CSV File
Now, you have a CSV file ready for import. The next step is to import it into Planio. You’ll find the button for the Import in the top right corner on the overall contacts page.
{{figure(Click on Import contacts in the top right)
!contacts-page@2x.png!
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Then, select your CSV file using the file picker.
{{figure(Upload the CSV file using the file picker)
!file-selector@2x.png!
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On the next page, you can select options for importing the CSV File
{{figure(Select the options for importing the CSV file based on how your CSV file is formatted)
!import-options@2x.png!
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| Option | Notes |
| --------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Field separator | You can select between comma separated values or semicolon separated values |
| Field wrapper | You can select between double quotes or single quotes. |
| Encoding | You can select the encoding for the CSV file |
| Date format | You can select one of five date formats (YYYY-MM-DD, DD/MM/YYYY, MM/DD/YYY, DD.MM.YYY or DD-MM-YYYY) |
First you have to select a target project for the import. Then, you have to map the values from the CSV files to contact time entry fields in Planio. You can select each value from the drop-down menu beside each attribute. You’ll also see a file content preview further down, so you can make sure you’re importing the right data.
{{figure(Assign each column in the CSV file to a contact time entry field)
!field-mapping@2x.png!
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Once you’re done assigning the values to each field, you can click on import to start the import.
If you encounter any problems, you'll see a page with the errors and the import will not be carried out. You can restart the import once you've fixed the problems in the CSV file.
{{figure(A list of the errors encountered during the import)
!import-error@2x.png!
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If all goes well, you’ll see a list of the imported contacts. time entries.
{{figure(You'll see a list of the created contacts.) time entries.)
!successful-import@2x.png!
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That's how you can import companies and contacts time entries or time bookings into Planio using the CSV importer.
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