Self-Serve Contacts Import

If you have a contact list in CSV file format, you can import your contacts into your IXACT Contact database by clicking the Utilities icon in the secondary menu (top right of the screen) and selecting the Import Contacts tab.

Here are a few things to keep in mind before you begin:

  • The file MUST be in CSV (comma separated value) format. If your contacts are in an Excel file, you can save the file to CSV format by using the Save As function and selecting ‘CSV (Comma delimited)’ as the file type.

    • Note Excel will only save the first tab of your spreadsheet to CSV format. If your spreadsheet includes multiple tabs of contacts, you will either need to combine them in one tab or create multiple Excel files.

  • Each column in your file should include a single value to be mapped to a corresponding field on the IXACT Contact contact record. Each IXACT Contact field can be mapped to only once.
  • You can import multiple Contact Groups for each contact. To do so, the groups must be in a single column separated by commas and wrapped in double-quote characters.
  • All date columns must include a month, day and year separated by slashes, hyphens or periods. For each date column being imported, you will need to specify the order of the month, day and year elements.
  • You can import up to 2,000 contact records at a time. If you have more than 2,000 contacts, you will need break your CSV file up into multiple files.
  • Each contact must include a first name, last name or company name in order to be imported.
  • Before starting your import, you should first ensure that the Imported and Synchronized Contacts list in the Utilities tab is empty.

Step 1 – Upload your file

  1. Indicate whether or not your file includes column headers in the first row of data.

    2. Note If possible, you should include column headers in your file, as this will make the import process easier and help ensure the most accurate and complete import of your contacts.

  2. Click Select File and select the CSV file containing your contacts from your computer.
  3. Click Upload.
  4. A summary of the file contents and a preview of the data are displayed at the bottom of the page. When you are ready, click Next to proceed to the next step.

Step 2 – Column mapping

In this step you will ‘map’ each column in your file to the corresponding contact record field in IXACT Contact.

Each row represents a column in your file. For each column, select the IXACT Contact field you wish to map it to. Once an IXACT Contact field is selected, it cannot be selected for another column.

Note If your file includes column headers, the system will attempt to automatically map each of your columns to the appropriate IXACT Contact field based on the column header. You should double-check each column to confirm that it has been properly mapped.

You can click the plus sign to the left of any column in order to see a sample of the data in your file.

Any column with ‘(Ignore)’ selected for the IXACT Contact field will not be imported.

For any selected date fields (birth dates, wedding anniversary, move in anniversary), be sure to select the date format using the list to the right of the selected field. The date format indicates the order of the year, month and day for each value in your file.

Step 3 – Validation & other options

Before executing the import, the system will automatically validate your contact data and mapping selections to confirm that all data can be successfully imported. If any validation errors are encountered, the details of each error will be displayed at the top of the page. You can execute the import by clicking Import Anyway, but some contact records and/or column values will not be imported. We recommend clicking Fix Mapping instead in order to go back to the previous step and fix the validation errors.

Before completing your import, you can assign the following additional values to all of your imported contacts:

  • An initial contact Status (defaults to Unassigned).
  • An Original Source selected from your custom list. (You can add a new Original Source on-the-fly by clicking the Modify List link.)

    • Note This option is only available if you did not map a column in your file to the Original Source field.

  • One or more Contacts Groups selected from your custom group list. (You can add one or more new groups on-the-fly by clicking the Modify List link.)

The Import Label will also automatically be assigned as a Contact Group to your imported contacts so that you can easily find the contacts added during the import.

Assuming there are no validation errors with your data, when you are ready, click Import to complete your import.

Your imported contacts are not immediately added to your contact database. To review your imported contacts in the Imported and Synchronized Contacts list, click the Utilities icon in the secondary menu (see Processing Imported or Synchronized Contacts).