In our current system, bulk import exists for only first name, last name, and email address of patrons. Our new bulk import workflow uses an embedded tool called Dromo which can intake files and map data to all existing OTS patron profile fields, plus any custom fields the user has configured.
Noteworthy: Custom field configuration is only available to our Platinum plan users!
The current functionality for bulk importing is as follows:
The Bulk import tool can intake csv, tsv, xls, xlsx, or xml files
The tool lists out all available patron profile fields that the user can import
For Platinum users, this is all CRM fields plus custom fields
For Empower users, this is only First Name, Last Name and Email (parity with current feature)
In the upload workflow, users map fields within their uploaded file to existing fields within the patron profiles
Users can preview data in the import to make sure they are mapping fields correctly
The tool provides AI-enabled text matching so that if a user is uploading a field that is similar to an existing field, it will automatically map them
The tool performs data validation to ensure that all data in the file adheres to the data types and structures OTS can intake
I.e. If a custom field is configured to intake text, any numbers in this column will not be imported
The tool identifies errors within the import that users can correct within the modal
Users can input or override information within the modal before upload
This includes inputting data into empty cells or overriding data - the tool ensures all new data being entered adheres to the validation requirements
Users can download an export of their entire CSV or of only the rows with errors to fix issues outside of the tool
Upon successful import - all patrons profiles will be created and updated