Import New Course Templates in bulk
Steps to import New Course Templates in bulk
Related Help Guide Pages
Learn how to add or update multiple Course Templates in your platform in bulk from a spreadsheet, using your in-built platform import tool!
This guide will walk you through how to import Course Templates into your platform.
For this import, you'll create two Import Profiles:
One for the Course Template
One for the Course Company
First, you’ll import your file using the Course Template profile, then, import the same file again using the Course Company profile.
Why do this twice? The first import creates the Course Template, and the second assigns it to the right Training Provider. This makes sure that your Course Templates are correctly set up in your platform, ready for these Course Templates to be scheduled as Courses!
Follow this page to learn the steps to import Course Templates.
Please note
The Import tool is available to Super Administrators, if you are not able to access the Import options please speak to a member of the accessplanit team.
Create and format your Import File
This step will show you how to create a .csv file that contains all of the information needed for your Course Template import
To create and format your Import File, you will follow these steps:
Download the Course Template Import Template File (included in this guide)
Format the Course Template Import Template File
Populate the Course Template Import Template File
Save as a .csv file
Download the Import Template File
In this step you will download our template file for Imports.
Format the Import Template File
This step will take you through setting up your import file with the columns that you want to import data for, ready for populating it with data!
You will remove the columns you don’t need, and you can add additional columns if you want to import any custom field data.
Please Note
For the examples below, we will be focusing on Importing Class and Web Course Templates however, the same process works for Importing eLearning Course Templates and Knowledge Document Course Templates
Open the relevant ‘BLANK Import Template’ file (download available above), this will open an Excel file which will only contain column headings, these will be listed in the first row.
This is the file that you will be working from, amending, and adding data to.Open the relevant ‘EXAMPLE Import Template’ file (download available above), this will open an Excel file with further information and example data for each available import column
This file is a useful reference, to understand what data is required in each columnReview the optional columns in the ‘EXAMPLE Import Template’ file, then within the relevant 'BLANK Import Template’ file, remove any optional columns that you do not plan to import data to.
Ensure that all columns marked as mandatory are not deleted
If you plan to import any data into your Custom Fields for the Course Templates you will be importing, edit or add the additional column names in your relevant 'BLANK Import Template’ file.
Progress to the next step, to fill your import file in with your Course Template data
Populate the Course Template Import Template File
This step will take you populating your import file with your Course Template data, ready for importing it into your platform!
Save as a .csv file
This step will take you through saving your Course Template Import file into the file format needed for the import tool
Once you have all the information you require within your import file, you can then save it as a .csv file
Within Excel, click the ‘File’ option in the top left hand corner
Click ‘Save as’
Using the drop down box under the file name, select CSV (comma delimited) (*.csv) and name your file (for example ‘New Course Template Import’)
Click the ‘Save' button to complete the Save
Your Import file has now been saved, ready for importing!
Please Note
If your organisation/business operates using other Languages, when saving a .csv file, ensure that the document is saved with ‘,' rather than ';’ as this can prevent the document from Importing
Create a Course Template Import Profile
This step will run through how to create an Import Profile in your accessplanit platform, to use when importing Course Templates.
You will be able to reuse this profile each time you import Course Templates using the same file structure (i.e. the same columns of data are included in the same order).
Open the ‘Administration’ menu from the Profile options at the top-right of your platform
Scroll down the page until you find the ‘Import Profiles’ menu option
The menu is in alphabetical orderClick on the ‘Import Profiles’ option to be taken to the Import Profiles page
Click the ‘New Profile’ button at the top right corner of the page to create a new Import Profile
Provide a ‘Profile name’ for your Import Profile
We advise providing your Profile with a unique name so that's its easily identifiableSelect ‘Course Template’ as your import ‘Destination’, this lets the Platform know that you will be importing Course Template information
The next step is to upload the .csv file that you created and saved earlier, click the selecting the ‘Choose file’ button and selecting the file from your saved location
Leave the ‘Header Label Row’ set to '1', this tells your platform that the column headings of your import are in the first row
Click the ‘Next ->’ option at the top right of your page to proceed to the column mapping step for your Import Profile
In the column mappings step you will match each column in your import file (Source column) to a Course Template setting in your accessplanit platform (Destination column), this is where you define where the information in your import file will be imported to and displayed in your platform, much of this will be pre-populated for you!
Your Profile will look different if Importing eLearning or Knowledge Documents
If you see ‘IGNORE' within the 'Destination Column’, you will need to click this and select the correct column from the drop down option
Leaving it as IGNORE will mean that the Platform will ignore this column in the file when running the ImportWhen running an import, the platform needs to know which column(s) can uniquely identify each row. This is crucial because the importer supports both creating new Course Templates and updating existing ones. The platform uses these key columns to either match the data with an existing Course Template or determine that no matching Course Template exists yet, which will prompt it to instead create a new one. If each row is not uniquely identified by its key columns, there is a risk of overwriting existing Course Templates when new ones are required. Use the ‘Key column’ field to mark your unique identifiers by selecting 'Yes'.
Key Columns for Courses Templates
Key column(s) are used to identify Course Templates, enabling the platform to differentiate between them.
For example, if you have two Course Templates with the name ‘First Aid at Work,’ the platform needs a way to distinguish between them. For example, you could set the key columns to ‘Label’ and 'External ID', as this combination will uniquely identify each template. This means you will need to enter a unique value in the External ID column for each Course Template.
Click the ‘Finish’ button at the top right of your page to complete your Import Profile
Click the ‘OK’ button to return to the ‘Import Profiles’ page
Your Import Profile has now been created
Please note
The columns within your Import Profile MUST match the columns within your .csv file exactly otherwise your Import will not work.
Create a Course Company Import Profile
This step will run through how to create an Import Profile in your accessplanit platform, to use when importing Course Company records.
You will be able to reuse this profile each time you import Courses Company using the same file structure (i.e. the same columns of data are included).
Open the ‘Administration’ menu from the Profile options at the top-right of your platform
Scroll down the page until you find the ‘Import Profiles’ menu option
The menu is in alphabetical orderClick on the ‘Import Profiles’ option to be taken to the Import Profiles page
Click the ‘New Profile’ button at the top right corner of the page to create a new Import Profile
Provide a ‘Profile name’ for your Import Profile
We advise providing your Profile with a unique name so that's its easily identifiableSelect ‘Course Company’ as your import ‘Destination’, this lets the Platform know that you will be importing Course information
The next step is to upload the .csv file that you created and saved earlier, click the selecting the ‘Choose file’ button and selecting the file from your saved location
Leave the ‘Header Label Row’ set to '1', this tells your platform that the column headings of your import are in the first row
Click the ‘Next ->’ option at the top right of your page to proceed to the column mapping step for your Import Profile
In the column mappings step you will match each column in your import file (Source column) to a Course Company setting in your accessplanit platform (Destination column), this is where you define where the information in your import file will be imported to and displayed in your platform, much of this will be pre-populated for you!
If you see ‘IGNORE' within the 'Destination Column’, you will need to click this and select the correct column from the drop down option
Leaving it as IGNORE will mean that the Platform will ignore this column in the file when running the ImportFor this profile, you may have a few columns that will be ‘IGNORE’, you can still process your Course Company Import with this
When running an import, the platform needs to know which column(s) can uniquely identify each row. This is crucial because the importer supports both creating new Course Templates and updating existing ones. The platform uses these key columns to either match the data with an existing Course Template or determine that no matching Course Template exists yet, which will prompt it to instead create a new one. If each row is not uniquely identified by its key columns, there is a risk of overwriting existing Course Templates when new ones are required. Use the ‘Key column’ field to mark your unique identifiers by selecting 'Yes'.
Key Columns for Course Companies
Key Column(s) are used to identify Course Companies, so that your platform to differentiate between one and another.
For example, if you have two Training Providers that offer the same Course, you could not use ‘CourseID’ alone as this would cause the second Training Provider to be overwritten on the first Training Provider’s Course Template. In this case you could set your key columns to both ‘CompanyID’ and ‘CourseID’, because this combination will be different on the two.
Click the ‘Finish’ button at the top right of your page to complete your Import Profile
Click the ‘OK’ button to return to the ‘Import Profiles’ page
Your Import Profile has now been created
Please note
The columns within your Import Profile MUST match the columns within your .csv file exactly otherwise your Import will not work.
Run a sample Course Template Import Job
Before you import your full Course Template file into the platform, we recommend that you first run a test to check that your Import Profile has been set up correctly.
This involves only importing a small sample of Course Templates and checking that they have imported correctly.
To run a test Import Job, you will follow these steps:
Create a sample import file
Run an Import Job
Create a sample import file
This step will show you how to import your sample Course Templates using your Import Profile
Open the .csv file that you created for your import earlier and delete data so that you only have 3-4 rows of data remaining in the file
Go to ‘File’ in the top left hand corner
Click ‘Save As’ to save this as a new import file
Do not click ‘Save’ as this will overwrite your import fileRename this version of your import file so that you know if it is the test import file, for example 'New Course Company Template Import - Test File', and make sure that the format is still CSV (Comma Delimited) (*.csv)
Click the ‘Save’ button to create your Test import file
You are now ready to run your test import
Please Note
If your organisation/business operates using other Languages, when saving a .csv file, ensure that the document is saved with ‘,' rather than ';’ as this can prevent the document from Importing
Run an Import Job
This step will show you how to import your sample Course Templates using your Import Profile
Click ‘Profile’ and then ‘Administration’ in the top right corner of the Platform
Scroll down the menu and click ‘Import Jobs’, the menu is in alphabetical order
Click on the ‘Import Jobs’ option to be taken to the Import Jobs page
Click ‘New job’ in the top right hand corner
Select your Import Profile from the ‘Profile’ drop down menu. It will be prefixed with ‘Course’
From the File option, click on the ‘Choose File’ button and upload the Test file that you created in the previous step
The ‘Initial State’ option is where you can choose to Import now, or put the Import on Hold if you would like to set the import off to run later
Click the ‘Upload’ button to start the Import Job
Once you have uploaded your file to start the Import Job, your page will show the Import job being processed
a. ID - This is the ID number of the Import Job
b. Profile - This is the name of the Profile used for the Import
c. Filename - This is the name of the Import file uploaded
d. Status - This is the status of the Import Job, it will begin as ‘Queued’ but will change to ‘Completed’ once the Import has finished
e. Due - This is when the Import is due to run
f. Started - This will be blank to begin with, once the Import Job has started, the Start date and time will populate.
g. Completed - This will be blank and will populate once the Import has completed
h. Row Count - This shows how many rows are to be imported
i. Processed - This will show the number of rows that have been imported and will change as the Import runs.Your Import will have the status of ‘Completed’, the Completed time and date will be populated and the Processed' column number will match the same number as the ‘Row Count' column
You can use the ‘Show Errors’ button to see if anything has stopped your Import from working correctly, if the Import Errors page is blank, this means the data in your import file hasn’t failed any validation checks
Please note
You can download the errors file to view more information about any failures from the ‘Import Errors’ page
If you do not understand what any of the errors mean, please reach out to the support team and they will be able to provide further guidance and help you with your import
Example of an Import with no errors:
Example of an Import with Errors:
The Import Errors page shows you which rows have failed
The ‘Stop’ and ‘Restart' buttons can be used while your Import Job is processing, to pause and restart your import, please note that it can take a few seconds for these to be actioned after you have clicked them
Run a sample Course Company Import Job
Before you run your full import into the platform, we recommend that you first run a test to check that your Import Profile has been set up correctly.
This involves only importing a small sample of Course Companies and checking that they have imported correctly.
To run a test Import Job, you will follow these steps:
Run an Import Job
Check the Course Templates are now showing for the Training Provider
Run an Import Job
This step will show you how to import your sample Course Companies using your Import Profile
Click ‘Profile’ and then ‘Administration’ in the top right corner of the Platform
Scroll down the menu and click ‘Import Jobs’, the menu is in alphabetical order
Click on the ‘Import Jobs’ option to be taken to the Import Jobs page
Click ‘New job’ in the top right hand corner
Select your Import Profile from the ‘Profile’ drop down menu. It will be prefixed with ‘Course Company’
From the File option, click on the ‘Choose File’ button and upload the Test file that you created in the previous step
The ‘Initial State’ option is where you can choose to Import now, or put the Import on Hold if you would like to set the import off to run later
Click the ‘Upload’ button to start the Import Job
Once you have uploaded your file to start the Import Job, your page will show the Import job being processed
a. ID - This is the ID number of the Import Job
b. Profile - This is the name of the Profile used for the Import
c. Filename - This is the name of the Import file uploaded
d. Status - This is the status of the Import Job, it will begin as ‘Queued’ but will change to ‘Completed’ once the Import has finished
e. Due - This is when the Import is due to run
f. Started - This will be blank to begin with, once the Import Job has started, the Start date and time will populate.
g. Completed - This will be blank and will populate once the Import has completed
h. Row Count - This shows how many rows are to be imported
i. Processed - This will show the number of rows that have been imported and will change as the Import runs.Your Import will have the status of ‘Completed’, the Completed time and date will be populated and the Processed' column number will match the same number as the ‘Row Count' column
You can use the ‘Show Errors’ button to see if anything has stopped your Import from working correctly, if the Import Errors page is blank, this means the data in your import file hasn’t failed any validation checks
Please note
You can download the errors file to view more information about any failures from the ‘Import Errors’ page
If you do not understand what any of the errors mean, please reach out to the support team and they will be able to provide further guidance and help you with your import
Example of an Import with no errors:
Example of an Import with Errors:
The Import Errors page shows you which rows have failed
The ‘Stop’ and ‘Restart' buttons can be used while your Import Job is processing, to pause and restart your import, please note that it can take a few seconds for these to be actioned after you have clicked them
We do not recommend using the 'Delete’ button for your Import Jobs unless absolutely necessary
Check the Course Templates
This step will talk you through the process of checking your new Course Templates have imported correctly and are now showing for the Training Provider
Navigate to ‘Course Templates’ from the Main Navigation Menu
This will open the Course Template DataGrid
Using the search bar, search for each of your Course Templates that you have just imported
One Course Template at a time, right-click on each imported Template and select ‘Edit’ from the context menu options
Check that the details of the Course Templates have been imported as expected, for example:
The label is correct
The correct Training Provider has been assigned
The cost is correct
+ any other information you have imported
If you are satisfied that all the sample Course Templates have been imported correctly, your testing is now complete
Run your Course Template Import
Once you have run your test import and you are happy that everything imported correctly, you are ready to import your Course Templates!
Go back to the original .csv file that you created earlier within Excel and open the file with all your data showing and check you are happy with the file
Within your accessplanit platform, open the ‘Administration’ menu from the Profile options at the top-right of your platform
Scroll down the menu and click ‘Import Jobs’, the menu is in alphabetical order