Importing members from a CSV file
This page shows you how to import email addresses from a CSV file.
Email addresses that are already members can either be skipped or updated with new data (that is demographic information), so importing members can be used as a way of updating current members with additional information.
A CSV file has the information you like to import in a CSV (comma-separated values) format. The first row of the file tells Aurea List Manager which field the data in each column should be imported into. For example:
EmailAddr_,FullName_,Company,Phone
bob@example.com,Bob Shelby,Shelby Corp.,555-555-5555In this example, EmailAddr_ and FullName_ correspond to the default database fields in the members_ table for email addresses and full names.
Additional fields called Company and Phone have been added to this members_ table,
so this information can also be imported into each member's record. (These fields are not provided by
default; you need to add them to your members_ table if you like to store this information).
The EmailAddr_ column name is required. You may add other data if you like. Some default members_ table fields which you may want to include in your import are here:
Members_table fields
Additional_: This is a placeholder for any information you want to store associated with this member.
Comment_: This holds whatever comments you wish to put in. Useful as a user-defined additional info field
EmailAddr_: The email address of this member (required)
FullName_: Full name of this person
MailFormat_: What mail format does the user prefer, (T)ext, (M)ultipart, or (H)TML. The default is M, for Multipart.
MemberType_: This specifies the membership status. If specified, you should also select Use type setting in CSV file".
Possible member statuses are:
- normal (default)
- unsub
- held
- private
- expired
- held
- needs-goodbye
- needs-hello
- needs-confirm
Note
Unless the server is configured to permit it, non-normal members (For example, unsub) cannot be made normal, so you cannot resubscribe members inadvertently.
For more information, see Members settings
By default, the MemberType_ may be changed only if the current MemberType_ is normal. To change other
member types, go to >Utilities > Administration: Server > Server Settings > Security > User Limits > Let CSV Member Imports Update Non-Normal
Member Status must be set to yes.
SubType_: The type of mail the subscriber wants to receive. This setting correlates to Membership
Kind found in Members settings. Possible kinds are:
- mail (default)
- digest
- mime-digest
- index
- nomail
UserID_: This holds the user-definable User ID information, such as a key back to another table.
Importing members from a CSV file
- Go to Members > Add Members > Import Members from CSV File. You may import members in one of four ways below:
- Import quietly as regular members: Import the members into the list, but do not send a hello or confirmation message. These members receive normal list mailings.
- Import as regular members and send list hello doc: Import the members into the list, and send them the hello message as specified for your list in Utilities > Document Associations. If no document is specified here, new members receive a generic message from Aurea List Manager. These members receive normal list mailings.
- Import as unconfirmed members, and send confirmation request: Import the members into the list as unconfirmed, and send them the confirmation message as specified for your list in Utilities: Document Associations. If no document is specified here, new members receive a generic message from Aurea List Manager. These members do not receive normal list mailings until they confirm their memberships.
- Use type-setting in CSV file: Import the members using the setting specified in the
MemberType_column
- Update existing members? (CSV Only)
Determines how Aurea List Manager handles duplicate email addresses in CSV files. If set to No
(default), Aurea List Manager skips duplicate addresses. If set to Yes, Aurea List Manager updates
duplicate addresses with the additional data provided for the address.
Aurea List Manager recognizes the member as a duplicate if the email address is the same, or the file includes their member ID number (and that is a match).
Note
If set to any type but normal, the MemberType_ field may not be overwritten unless
Utilities > Administration > Server > Server Settings > Security > User Limits > CSV Member Imports Can Change Non-Normal
Status is set to Yes.
- Terminate Import: This sets the number of consecutive invalid email addresses to end the import process. For instance, you may
want to terminate the import after ten invalid email addresses and check your formatting to see why so
many addresses are failing. You can also set it to
Do not terminate import due to malformed addressesif you like to ignore any bad addresses and process the import as-is. - Select file: Enter the path of the file that contains the members you want to import or select browse to find the file.
- Add additional columns to members table: This is only visible to server admins. You are taken to Utilities > Administration: Server: Database: Add/remove member columns: Wizard, where you may add additional
members_ columns. - Import: Click import to begin the member import. Aurea List Manager displays the number of addresses successfully imported, and display the addresses skipped due to being duplicates or invalid addresses.
View Member Columns
This page shows you the fields available to you in the Aurea List Manager members_ table. You may use these
column names when importing your member data in CSV (comma-separated value) format.
The only required column is EmailAddr_, to specify the email address of the list member.
Your database administrator may have added additional columns to your members_ table so it can store additional
information. These fields are marked on this page with an asterisk (*).
The fields List_, UserNameLC_ and Domain_ are created automatically by Aurea List Manager, and should not
be included in a CSV import.