When importing a CSV, you'll want to make sure it's formatted properly to successfully upload your List. Here are our guidelines for formatting your CSV (Comma-separated values):
If you are importing one of the following values, we recommend the column headers to be named as such:
- Phone_number
- First_name
- Last_name
Make sure that there is no information placed above the column headers in your file. Any text, spaces, or metadata that exists above the headers will cause a formatting error.
Workshop also supports uploading custom attributes to be used for targeting communications or personalizing emails. Include columns with information like department, title, salary, etc.
If you would like to download a template for the CSV importer, you can find one here:
Sample Workshop CSV file
Column matching rules:
-
Email: Columns starting with the word "email" will map to the email attribute. There is some flexibility (e.g. email_address, e-mail) but we encourage you to title it “email”.
-
Phone number: Columns starting with the word “phone” will map to the phone_number attribute. There is some flexibility (e.g. phone_work, phone_mobile) but we encourage you to title it “phone_number”.
-
Name Columns: Columns containing any combination of "first" + "name" or "last" + "name" map to first_name and last_name attributes. There is some flexibility (e.g. preferred_first_name, legal_first_name) but we encourage you to title it “first_name". The same is true for last_name.
Handling Multiple Matches: If multiple column headers match the criteria for a single attribute, (e.g. ‘phone-work’, ‘phone-mobile’) then there must be an exact match (“phone_number”) to prevent a conflict. If no exact match exists, an error will occur asking you to specify which column you’d like to use by re-naming the header.
To note, first & last name are not required fields. If your employee already lives in your directory and you are uploading a CSV to update those existing employees - you can upload without including first or last name.
Resolving errors within your CSV
When resolving issues with your CSV, it's best to view the CSV with a plaintext editor such as Notepad (Windows) or Notes (MacOS). This ensures that no formatting is being corrected by your default CSV editor.
Other things to remember when uploading a CSV to Workshop:
- Ensure that a header is provided for each column
- Make sure that there is no information placed above the column headers in your file. Any text, spaces, or metadata that exists above the headers will cause a formatting error.
- Workshop only supports CSV file uploads, so please ensure that your file is saved as CSV with the ".csv" file extension type. Any other format will cause an error (e.g ".xlsx", ".tsv", ".html")
- Values must be separated by commas as opposed to semicolons or any other delimiter.
- Remove any extra commas or empty spaces from the end of the CSV