Dashbuilder needs three files before anything else works, and the order matters: first your geographies, then your workplaces, then your members. Workplaces look to areas and members point to workplaces, so each must already exist.

All uploads are CSV files, done from Admin › Data › Upload.

You can also upload member and workplace attributes (extra facts about each workplace, such as school type or pupil numbers) to use in tables and filters when building a dashboard.

How to upload a file

1. Go to Admin › Data › Upload and choose the upload type.
2. Pick the type of data you will be uploading from the drop down options.
3. Click on the Upload your CSV button. You can drag and drop or click to select your file.
4. Pick your CSV file. A column-matching panel appears: each column the importer needs shows green when it's found. Columns it doesn't use are shown as not used.
5. If a required column isn't green, choose from the drop down column list to manually match it.
6. Click the Run Import button at the bottom right of the screen. It appears in the imports list and moves from Queued to Running to Completed on its own; you don't need to refresh.
7. Check the tiles at the top of Admin › Data: they show how many areas, workplaces and members you now have.

Files can be .csv or .txt, up to 50 MB. Columns that aren't an exact match are flagged Best guess. Check it. Status runs Pending → Running → Success, Partial (some rows had problems) or Failed (nothing imported). Up to 200 error lines are kept per upload. Uploads stuck for 10 minutes (pending) or an hour (running) are marked failed automatically. On a People upload the leavers option is called Mark missing people as left?; any extra columns in the file become attributes you can use in filters, audiences and tables. Every admin is alerted when member data is uploaded.

Reading errors

An upload with problem rows finishes as Completed with errors. Expand it to see each error with the line number in your file (line 2 is the first data row). Typical errors:

• A workplace code the system doesn't recognise.
• Two rows with the same Member No (counted once).
• A blank email.

Good rows are still imported. Fix the problem rows in your spreadsheet and upload again.

Tips

• Names with accents: in Excel, save as CSV UTF-8. Plain CSV usually works too, but UTF-8 is safest.
• Large files: the server has an upload size limit. If a file is refused for size, the message says so; split the file or contact support.
• Cancelling: press Cancel on a running upload. The counts show what was imported before you cancelled.
• Fixing an area name: areas and workplaces can't be edited in place yet. Correct your file and re-upload it.

Preparing your files for upload

• One header row, one record per row, no merged cells or totals rows.
• Codes must match exactly across files: the workplace codes in the members file must be the codes in the workplaces file, and those must use the area codes in the hierarchy file.
• Keep leading zeros: format code columns as text in Excel before saving, or 0735 becomes 735.
• Save as CSV UTF-8.
• Test with a small file first if you've changed your export.

Troubleshooting uploads