Importing and exporting spreadsheets

You can import or export a spreadsheet that contains various types of information without having to add individual units one at a time. This article intends to teach you how to upload data in bulk through the use of a standard spreadsheet in Excel format.

How can I activate this feature?

To enable this tool, you must go to Settings > Tools > press Edit and check the box for Import/ Export.

Characteristic of the spreadsheet

When importing or exporting the spreadsheet, bear in mind that: '0' is always for No and '1' is always for Yes.

For example, when importing the agenda's activities the column H says: 'It is an open activity? Anyone can sign up?' if you type '0' the automatic enrollment will be disabled. Because '0' means No.

Or to illustrate when exporting the file to check if the participants' agenda is full, if you see '0' means that the agenda is not full yet and '1' that the agenda is full. 

How do I import data using a spreadsheet?

When importing data, you will have two options: you can either use the demo file provided by InEvent or your own spreadsheet.

1. Using the demo file provided by InEvent

The Import spreadsheet function allows you to bulk add information such as participants, sponsors, and speakers to the platform. The Import button is available on pages such as Attendees, Invitees, Activities, Tags, and tickets.

Go to one of these pages, press Edit > Import >  then click on Download demo file.

The file will be downloaded to computer and you will need to fill out the required fields.

Once you have entered your data in the excel sheet, upload the file back onto the platform by clicking Edit > Import. Then, click the green button, select the excel file and press the Analyze button.

You will be able to preview the information that will be uploaded, as well as which columns were left blank (Don't have preview). Next, press Import.

Click here to learn more about the processing time for importing spreadsheets.

1. Using your own spreadsheet

When importing attendees, invitees, and leads, you will be able to use your own file.

To import your own spreadsheet, press Edit in the upper right corner, then click Import in the upper left corner of the screen. Then, click the green button and select the excel file you wish to import and press Analyze.

Next, you will need to choose which row from your spreadsheet will be the header line. Once you are done, press Analyze.

Then, you will need to define which columns from your spreadsheet will match each InEvent property.

For example, if in your spreadsheet you have a column called 'Name of attendee' you should match it with the InEvent property 'Name'.

The text in red that says Missing columns will tell you all required fields that haven't been added yet. Once you have matched all fields, press Import.

What is the processing time for importing spreadsheets? 

The processing time for importing spreadsheets will depend on how long your spreadsheet is, since it takes 1 second per row. For example, if you are uploading an attendee's spreadsheet containing information about 100 attendees, it should take less than 1 minute and 40 seconds.

While the spreadsheet is being uploaded, you will see a message informing you that your excel sheet is being processed:

Besides this pop-up message confirming that the excel sheet has been imported successfully, you will also receive an email:

In case your spreadsheet couldn't be imported, an email will let you know the error.

How do I create custom columns in the demo file?

When you create custom questions for your registration form, they will also be automatically added to the demo file available on the attendees and invitees page. This is particularly useful when you need only your company staff to answer a question, but not all attendees registering for your event.

In this case, you can create invisible questions on your registration form. This way, attendees who register for your event will not see the question. However, you will be able to answer those questions by downloading the demo file from the attendees and invitees page and filling out the private question.

To achieve this, follow these two steps:

1. Create a question on the registration form.
2. Set the question as private (invisible).

After completing the previous steps, the private questions will be automatically added to the demo file as shown below:

To fill out these question(s) for your staff, simply download the demo file, add the information in the custom columns, and upload it back to the platform.

Import Center

In case your spreadsheet wasn't uploaded successfully, you can access the error details by accessing the Import Center.

You can do it from the event level by clicking on Analytics > Import Center. 

Or from the company level, clicking on Reports > Import center. All import logs will be displayed. To check why your spreadsheet wasn't updated successfully, click on the blue button in the Actions column of the desired event. 

Troubleshooting importing errors

Most common errors when importing activities to the agenda

Here we list the main errors that may take place when importing the events' agenda:

1. Incorrect date or time: the main error when importing the activity spreadsheet is inserting a date or time outside of your event boundaries. To check if your event dates match with your activities go to: Event > Details > Edit.  For more information: Read Event Details.
2. Missing table headers: this may happen when customized tabs are inserted in your registration form, or enabled at the company user tool. To solve this issue download the standard spreadsheet again and insert the data. 
3. Attribute is a required parameter: this happens if any information that is required is missing. The mandatory fields are Name or Username. To correct this issue you should insert the missing information into the spreadsheet.
4. Date format: Please note the date format when editing is dd/mm/yy - hh/mm/ss but when import is complete it converts to mm/dd/yy - hh/mm/ss. The system will try to parse the wrong excel data types before throwing an error.

Most common errors when importing attendees

Here we list the main errors that may take place when importing the attendee's list:

1. Changes in the spreadsheet structure: deleting or inserting new columns or editing any of the spreadsheet’s headings makes it not recognizable by the platform. To fix it, download the Demo file and do not change its structure.
2. Spacing at the e-mail column, formulas or special characters on the cells: when filling the e-mail column, check if any spacing or special characters like semicolons were not copied to the cell. This can also happen in other cells, when formulas are inserted (like VLOOKUP). The platform will not recognize the info and will import the file. To fix it, clean the spreadsheet (paste the values) before uploading it to the platform. Eliminate all spacing and special characters from the e-mail field. Also, eliminate special characters from the name field.  

1. Badges and Accreditation functionalities enabled: certain plans have the Badges and Accreditation features (My QR Code, Access control, Check-in) available. These features require the filling of the Role and Company fields in the attendee’s spreadsheet. Therefore, you should disable these features at your event tools previously to the importing of the spreadsheets if you do not wish to send this info to the platform. You can also properly fill in these data when building your attendee's spreadsheet to prevent this importing error from occurring. 
2. Confirmation e-mail disabled and no password filled at the spreadsheet: when you choose to disable the confirmation email in your event, it is necessary to set a password on the spreadsheet before importing it to the platform. This is a security measure from our side since it would not be possible for the attendees to access their individual accounts without a confirmation email or password. 
3. Registration date of the event hasn't begun or has ended: before importing an attendee's spreadsheet, make sure to check the begin and end of enrollment date at the event details. For further information, check the event details article to learn how to set the enrollment dates.

Importing tags, sponsors, and speakers to activities

When adding tags, speakers, and sponsors to activities' spreadsheets, you can separate it by using commas.

Also when adding tags, speakers, and sponsors to activities' spreadsheets, if the provided tag, speaker, or sponsor hasn't been previously added to the platform, the system will create it automatically.

How do I export a spreadsheet?

The InEvent platform also offers an export function for you to extract data from the platform. Click here to learn how to extract and view reports.

Is it possible to have a report displaying which activities the attendee is enrolled in?

Yes, you can see all the activities in the spreadsheet reported from the Attendees and Leads page. To do that, make sure you enable at the Extra section the following tool:

Once you activate this feature, you will see a column on the report sheet with all the activities, separated by a comma.