Knowledge Base/List Features: Frequently Asked Questions/Loading Your List
How to prepare your contacts for import into BombBomb
Matt Ahern
posted this on February 07, 2011 14:02
Saving Spreadsheets as a CSV
When importing a list from a spreadsheet program you must select a certain "Save As" type for the CSV to be properly formatted.
We recommend that you view the companion article, "I'm Having Problems Uploading a CSV File". It tells you which "Save As" type you need to select according to the software you are using, whether on a Mac or PC.
Keep file names simple, i.e. mycontacts.csv.
Header Rows
All CSV files must have a header row.
In your spreadsheet program, a header row is the first row which contains the name of the type of data that follows below. For example, the first row, first column has the text "first_name", the second row, first column has a first name.
The first row, second column has the text, "last_name" while the second row, second column has the the last name of the contact.
The first row, third column has the text "email" while the second row, third column has an email address. Viewing a typical spreadsheet program view you would see,
When importing your CSV file you will be presented with a screen which you can match the BombBomb data field, whether an email or a city, to your data that you are importing. If you don't want to have to set the data being imported every time you do a CSV import, you can do that by naming the headers with the names BombBomb will recognize, automatically matching to its data fields. These field names are:
| Data to Import | Data Example | Name Your Header... |
| First Name | Conor | first_name or firstname |
| Last Name | McCluskey | last_name or lastname |
| Email Address | wecare@bombbomb.com | email or emailaddress or email-address |
| Mailing Address | 11 South 25th Street | address_line_1 or address1 |
| Extra Address Info | Suite 230 | address_line_2 or address2 |
| City | Colorado Springs | city |
| State | CO | state |
| Zip Code | 80904 | postal_code |
| Country | United States | country |
| Phone | 866-209-4602 | phone_number |
| Company | BombBomb, LLC. | business_name |
| Title | CEO | position |
| Occupation | Entreprenuer | occupation |
| Gender | Male | gender |
| Education | Ph.D. in Businessology | education_level |
| Comments | Wine maker | comments |
| Naming headers with these names will auto-match to BombBomb fields when imported. | ||
What Will Not Be Imported
The following items will not be imported.
- Duplicate email addresses
- Invalid email address
- Any data not matched to a BombBomb field.
Exporting a CSV From a CRM or Other Customer Management Tool
Many CRM or customer management software applications have the ability to export contact data into a CSV formatted file. If you can set the field names to the names shown above you will save yourself some extra steps.
These tools usually accommodation custom value separators. You may have choices for Tab, Quotes, etc. You want to choose "comma", or "comma-separated" (or "comma delimited" as mentioned above), hence, the meaning of CSV - comma separated values.