Import new Courses in bulk (simplified)

The import tool in your accessplanit platform allows you to bring data into your platform in bulk, saving time and reducing the risk of manual errors! We provide guidance and support to walk you through the import process, ensuring your data is in the right format to be uploaded successfully.

If you are importing data from another system, before you can use your accessplanit’s import tool, you’ll need to get your data out of that system. Every software stores data differently, so you may need to speak to your old provider or check their guidance on how to download your data into a spreadsheet.

Once you have your data in a spreadsheet, you will then format it to match our platform’s requirements. All the guidance you need for this, including templates and instructions, is available on our Knowledge Base (including this page), and our team are on hand if you have any questions.

If you need a little extra help making small adjustments to match your data to the platform’s requirements, for example changing country names from "UK" to "United Kingdom" or adjusting gender values from "Female" to "F", we can complete this work for you as a chargeable service.

There are two files to download to support your import, there is a reference spreadsheet which you can look at to understand the import options, and there is an import template which you will edit and fill with your import data.

1. Please download our reference Import Profile here to view all of the options for your import file:
   

   1. All mandatory fields are shown in Red

   2. This file is a reference file only
      
      

2. Please download our blank Import Template here (this is the file you will add your import data into):
   
   

1. Using the 'EXAMPLE Course Import Template’ file as a reference, add your Course data to your 'Course Import Template’ file

2. The table below outlines each column that you can include in your import file:

Column	Description	Format	Rules
CompanyID  Mandatory	The Course Template ID This can be found by adding the ‘Course Template ID’ column to your Course Templates DataGrid Open	Text	This must match to an existing Course Template ID in your platform If you haven't created your Course Template, please refer to our Helpguide pages here: Create a New Class Course Template Create a new Webinar Course Template
CourseLabel Mandatory	The Course Template Label This can be found by viewing the ‘Label’ column in your Course Templates DataGrid Open	Text	This must match to an existing Course Template Label in your platform
StartDate Mandatory	The date and time that your Course will be starting Open	Date Time	The date should follow the date format used in your platform Make sure that the start time is also included
EndDate  Mandatory	The date and time that your Course will be ending	Date Time	The date should follow the date format used in your platform Make sure that the end time is also included
Status Mandatory	This is the status of the Course i.e. ‘Available’ and ‘OnHold’ Open	Text	This must be formatted exactly as it appears in your platform (with capitalised first letters).
Sessional  (optional)	Whether the Course is Sessional or not Open	Y or N	Sessional Courses = Y Non-sessional Courses= N
TrainerLabel (Optional)	This is the Label of the Trainer as it appears on the platform	Text
VenueLabel (Optional)	This is the Label of the Venue as it appears on the platform	Text

1. Once you have all the information you require within your import file, you can then save it as a .csv file

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2. Within Excel, click the ‘File’ option in the top left-hand corner

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3. Click ‘Save as’

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4. Using the drop-down box under the file name, select CSV (comma delimited) (*.csv) and name your file (for example ‘Summer Course Dates Import’)

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5. Click the ‘Save' button to complete the Save

1. Open the ‘Administration’ menu from the ‘Profile’ options at the top-right of your platform

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2. Scroll down the page until you find the ‘Import Profiles’ menu option
   The menu is in alphabetical order

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3. Click on the ‘Import Profiles’ option to be taken to the Import Profiles page

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4. Click the ‘New Profile’ button at the top right corner of the page to create a new Import Profile

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5. Provide a ‘Profile name’ for your Import Profile
   We advise providing your Profile with a unique name so that it is easily identifiable

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6. Select ‘Course Date’ as your import ‘Destination’, this lets the platform know that you will be importing Course information

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7. The next step is to upload the .csv file that you created and saved earlier, click the ‘Choose file’ button and select the file from your saved location

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8. Leave the ‘Header Label Row’ set to '1', this tells your platform that the column headings of your import are in the first row

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9. Click the ‘Next ->’ option at the top right of your page to proceed to the column mapping step for your Import Profile

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10. In the column mappings step you will match each column in your import file (Source column) to a Course setting in your accessplanit platform (Destination column), this will define where the information in your import file will be imported to and displayed in your platform, a lot of the destination columns will be pre-populated for you!

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11. If you see ‘IGNORE' within the 'Destination Column’, you will need to 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 Import

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12. When running an Import, your platform needs to know which column(s) can be used to uniquely identify each row, this is important as the importer supports both creating Courses and updating Courses, if each row is not uniquely identified by its key columns, there is a risk that the existing Courses will overwritten with the details of the new Courses. Use the ‘Key column' field to select 'Yes’ for your unique identifiers.

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13. Click the ‘Finish’ button at the top right of your page to complete your Import Profile

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14. Click the ‘OK’ button to return to the ‘Import Profiles’ page

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Your Import Profile has now been created

1. Within your accessplanit platform, open the ‘Administration’ menu from the ‘Profile’ options at the top-right of your platform

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2. Scroll down the menu and click ‘Import Jobs’, the menu is in alphabetical order

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3. Click on the ‘Import Jobs’ option to be taken to the Import Jobs page

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4. Click ‘New job’ in the top right-hand corner

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5. Select your Profile from the drop-down menu. This is the name of the Profile created in the step above. In this case, it is ‘Course Date - New Course Dates’

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6. Select the ‘File’ you wish to upload, this is the original import file you created and saved earlier

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7. The ‘Initial State’ option is where you can choose to Import now or put the Import on hold if needed

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8. Click the ‘Upload’ button to start your Import Jobs

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9. Once you have uploaded your Import Job, it will show the Import Job uploading

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   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 been 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.
   
   

10. 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

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11. There is a section at the end of the Import named ‘Actions’. Here you will find the option to ‘Show Errors’, ‘Restart’, ‘Stop’ and ‘Cancel’ your Import

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12. 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

Example of an Import with no errors:

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Example of an Import with Errors:

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The Import Errors page shows you which rows have failed

13. 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

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14. We do not recommend using the 'Delete’ button for your Import Jobs unless absolutely necessary