We’re excited you’ve chosen to partner with TalkingPoints! Your school/district has decided to set up your TalkingPoints staff and family accounts through .csv file uploads. (Note: .csv stands for comma-separated values.) This guide will provide instructions, tips, templates, and other resources to support each step in the data upload process.
Integrating data using the .csv uploader requires manual formatting and the manual work increases with the number of students being integrated. We recommend using the .csv uploader for up to 500 students.
NOTE: After your initial data upload you can refresh your data with a new upload as many times as you’d like, in order to show the most up-to-date data as information changes throughout the school year.
Get set up in just 3 steps!
Step 1: Creating and Formatting Your School Spreadsheets
In order to upload your data into TalkingPoints you must first format the data into a separate 5-tab spreadsheet for each of the schools you wish to upload. We have provided a Spreadsheet Template to ensure your data is properly formatted.
Make a copy of the Spreadsheet Template for each school.
Name each copy “District Name_School Name | TalkingPoints .csv SY24-25” and share each google sheet with your TalkingPoints Partner Success Manager (PSM).
Use this Pre-Populated Example Spreadsheet as a guide for filling out the first four tabs of the spreadsheet(s).
Important! .csv stands for comma-separated values. When you are setting up your spreadsheet, it is essential that any single cell that has multiple values needs a comma to separate each value in that cell in order for the data to upload properly. You do not need a comma after the last value. (See column E of the “Student List” tab from the Pre-Populated Example Spreadsheet, for an example of this.)
If you would like to upload any additional non-rostered staff (which is optional), see directions here.
Class List Tab
Tips for formatting the Class Tab
Tips for formatting the Class Tab
The way you name classes in the class tab is how staff will see them in their accounts. It is important to ensure you use names your staff will be familiar with. It is also important that you keep class names consistent across all tabs. Ensure that the classes listed on the first page are identical to the classes that you list on the student tab + staff tab of your spreadsheet.
In addition to the classes from your SIS, you have the ability to create classes by grade levels if you’d like. Ensure that the name is consistent across the classes, students and staff tab.
TalkingPoints will automatically create an “All Students” class with each upload that will include all students listed under the students tab.
For this tab, you will need an ID for each class. If you don’t have a specific ID to use, feel free to assign them manually, just be sure to use the same IDs for future uploads. IDs can include letters and numbers.
NOTE: Class list names and class IDs must be unique. Class names are the unique identifier in the UI. If there are multiple classes with the same name, consider adding the teacher name or class period, etc.
Student List Tab
Tips for formatting the Students Tab
Tips for formatting the Students Tab
For students with multiple contacts, use a new row for each unique contact. Copy the student information in columns A - E from one row and paste in the following row. Enter the unique contact information in columns F - J for each row.
NOTE: In column I, select from this dropdown list of languages. If you do not see a language you need, please select “English” and reach out to your Partner Success Manager for assistance.
ELL Status is completely optional. Feel free to include if you would like access to messaging + analytics by ELL status. (If you enter ELL status, you'll be able to send a school message to all ELL students' families and see analytics related to messaging with ELL students' families.)
TIP: For this tab, you will need an ID for each student. If you don’t have a specific ID to use, feel free to assign them manually, just be sure so use the same IDs for future uploads. IDs can include letters and numbers.
Staff List Tab
Tips for formatting the Staff Tab
Tips for formatting the Staff Tab
Include all staff members on this page who you would like to create an account for along with their school/district email address. Exclude school admin from this tab, they’ll be included in the next tab.
Classes column: The classes you list here must have consistent naming conventions as the class list on the first tab of the document. If a staff member needs access to multiple schools, please list the names of the schools (as seen in cells C2, C3, and C4) separating each name with a comma and a space (, ).
Email Address column: All email addresses must be from your school or district's email domain. This is a security precaution.
Non-Rostered Staff column: For any staff that doesn't have a roster assigned to them, you can mark them as "Y" in this column to give them access to all scholars at the school. This is ideal for secretaries, nurses, etc.
Admin List Tab
Tips for formatting the Admin Tab
Tips for formatting the Admin Tab
Include all staff members on this page who you would like to give school admin privileges to along with their school/district email address.
Users with school admin access will be able to send messages on behalf of the school + edit information in your account. We recommend keeping your admin list to 10 people or fewer.
FYI: Language List Tab
Tips for using the Language List Tab
Tips for using the Language List Tab
This list is provided to show the languages that TalkingPoints currently supports. Reach out to your Partner Success Manager with any language-specific questions.
NOTE: You do NOT need to format or download this tab. It is here only for your reference.
Adding Optional Non-Rostered Staff to TalkingPoints
Tips for adding Optional Non-Rostered Staff
Tips for adding Optional Non-Rostered Staff
Non-Rostered Staff definition: staff who should have access to all students at a school, but often do not have classes rostered to them in the school district Student Information System (SIS). This category often includes nurses, counselors, etc.
An “All Students” class will be automatically created for each school when uploading data into TalkingPoints.
Every student that appears in the Students Tab of the spreadsheet will be assigned the “All Students” class.
Staff will have a column called "non-rostered staff" which is optional. It can be empty, or have a Y or N. If empty, or has an N, nothing happens. If the teacher is marked with a Y in that column they will be imported as "non-rostered" and will automatically also be added to the "All Students" class.
Step 2: Downloading Spreadsheets as .csv Files
You have created your spreadsheets to organize your data and you are now ready to download each of the first four tabs of each spreadsheet as a .csv file.
Downloading Each Tab of Each Spreadsheet
Once all of your data has been filled in, download each tab (other than the fifth tab, “FYI: Language List”) for each school as a .csv file: (The first four tabs in each spreadsheet need to each be downloaded separately. If, for example, you are working to set up seven schools, you will download a total of four tabs in each spreadsheet for each of the seven school spreadsheets, for a total of 28 .csv files)
Open your spreadsheet and click on the Class List tab
Go to File menu and hover over “Download”
In the menu that opens to the right, select “Comma Separated Value (.csv)”
The .csv files will appear at the bottom of your window
Drag the downloaded file from the bottom of your google sheets page to your desktop or save the files in another location to access later for upload
Repeat for the Student List tab, Staff List tab, and Admin List tab
If you are setting up more than one school’s data, repeat steps 1-6 above for each of the other school spreadsheets you have formatted
Step 3: Uploading the .csv Files into the .csv Uploader
You have created your spreadsheets to organize your data and you have downloaded each tab of each spreadsheet as a .csv file. You are now ready to create a TalkingPoints account (if you haven’t already) and access the TalkingPoints .csv uploader.
Preparing for .csv Upload
Tips for giving uploader access to your data lead
Tips for giving uploader access to your data lead
The person* who will be uploading your .csv files into your TalkingPoints platform, needs to create an account. If they have not yet created an account, have them go to https://talkingpts.org/ and create an account by selecting “Sign Up” in the upper right hand corner.
Reach out to your Partner Success Manager with the name and email address of the staff member that will be uploading your files. This person will receive an invite email with a link to access the uploader. For future access to the uploader the following link can be used: https://app.talkingpts.org/uploader.
When they access the uploader, they should see all participating schools on the left hand side of the page. They should also see Classes, Students, Staff, Admins at the top of the page. If they do not see all schools listed on the left or the Class, Students, Staff, Admins at the top of the page, please reach out to your Partner Success Manager.
Uploading .csv Files
Successful Upload Image Example
Successful Upload Image Example
Class Tab - Example of Green Checkmark Data
In the left hand panel, click on the name of the school whose data you would like to import. (If you do not see the school listed, please reach out to your Partner Success Manager).
Click on the “Classes” tab, and select “choose file”. Choose the appropriate school’s Classes .csv from your computer.
If you get a green checkmark, move on to the next step.
If you get any red x’s indicating errors, please read the common error key for support or reach out to partnersupport@talkingpts.org for assistance.
Click on the “Students” tab, and select “choose file”. Choose the appropriate school’s Students .csv from your computer.
If you get a green checkmark, move on to the next step.
If you get any red x’s indicating errors, please read the common error key for support or reach out to partnersupport@talkingpts.org for assistance.
Click on the “Staff” tab, and select “choose file”. Choose the appropriate school’s Staff .csv from your computer.
If you get a green checkmark, move on to the next step.
If you get any red x’s indicating errors, please read the common error key for support or reach out to partnersupport@talkingpts.org for assistance.
Click on the “Admins” tab, and select “choose file”. Choose the appropriate school’s Admins .csv from your computer.
If you get a green checkmark, move on to the next step.
If you get any red x’s indicating errors, please read the common error key for support or reach out to partnersupport@talkingpts.org for assistance.
Once you have all 4 files successfully added with green checkmarks, please click on “Import Roster” in the top right hand corner. You will get a verification screen to check if these are the files you would like to import. Select the blue “Import” button to confirm and submit your files.
Repeat steps #2 - #5 for each school. Please do not hesitate to reach out to your Partner Success Manager if any questions arise.
Refreshing Your Data
Congratulations, you have successfully set up your accounts and uploaded initial rosters for your schools! To initiate another upload for a school, please follow these simple steps:
Tips for refreshing your data
Tips for refreshing your data
Each time you refresh your data with a new .csv upload, please be sure to include all data that you would like to see, including data that was previously uploaded into TalkingPoints.
Adding additional students: Student names that are manually added directly into TalkingPoints will remain, even if the student is added into the updated .csv file and then uploaded into TalkingPoints. If you are regularly adding new students, it is recommended that you do a fresh .csv upload, rather than creating new students within the TalkingPoints platform.
Adding additional contacts to students: New contacts that are manually added directly into TalkingPoints for students that were in the original .csv upload will be replaced if you upload a new .csv file that does not contain that contact’s information. If you are uploading a new .csv file, please make sure that the contact data is added to that .csv file before uploading it into TalkingPoints.
Download student and staff data from the TalkingPoints platform that you want to include in your new upload for each school site.
Use the link https://app.talkingpts.org/uploader to access the uploader page from your district TalkingPoints account.
From the “Approved” list of schools in the left hand panel, select the school whose rosters you would like to update.
Click on the “Update Roster” button in the top right hand corner.
Using the spreadsheet from your most recent upload, add any new data to the spreadsheet. You will need to include the existing data, as well as the new data to ensure a proper upload to your TalkingPoints account.
You can use the self-serve multiple uploads feature as many times as you need to throughout the school year to refresh your data, as you make changes to the data in your spreadsheets.
Uploader access is given to a single account holder to avoid issues that may occur when multiple people attempt to upload data files (upload time may increase, data may not be consistent or accurate).
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I log into the .csv uploader?
The person who will be uploading your .csv files into your TalkingPoints platform, needs to create an account. If they have not yet created an account , have them go to https://talkingpts.org/ and create an account by selecting “Sign Up” in the upper right hand corner.
Reach out to your Partner Success Manager with the name and email address of the staff member that will be uploading your files. This person will receive an invite email with a link to access the uploader. For future access to the uploader the following link can be used: https://app.talkingpts.org/uploader.
What do the error messages mean?
Once you upload your files into the .csv Uploader, it will automatically review the data and flag for errors. When previewing the data, it will display an X on any row where there is an error and if you hover over the X, it will tell you exactly what is wrong. In addition, if you look at the bottom of the screen, it will generate a list of all of the errors for that tab. In order to fix the errors in your spreadsheet, you should use the error messages to adjust the data in the original source (your spreadsheet) before downloading the tab that had the error as a .csv file and re-uploading it using our .csv Uploader.
Feel free to take a look at our error key to look at some of the most common errors that partners run into as well as how to resolve them.
If I'm setting up spreadsheets for multiple schools, do Class, Staff, and Admin IDs have to be unique on each spreadsheet?
When putting together spreadsheets across multiple school sites, the IDs that you include for classes, staff members and admin do not have to be unique - you can use the same ID on multiple spreadsheets for those respective tabs.
How do I know when my accounts are set-up?
Once you have uploaded each tab and resolved any errors that were generated, you will click on “Import Roster” in the top right corner. After a few minutes, you will see a popup appear confirming that your files have been validated and approved. The school will then move from pending to approved on the left side of the screen.
Will my message history stay in my account even if I'm doing multiple uploads?
Yes, your messages and data will remain in your account as long as you re-upload related students, staff, and classes with the same ID numbers as your original upload (the ID numbers are what tie your data together on the backend so need to remain consistent!).
6. Can I make a change to the data in my account once I have uploaded the .csv file?
If you need to make changes to your data, follow the instructions for Multiple Uploads in the .csv help document. When you conduct your new upload, you’ll need to include all data you want to have in your TalkingPoints account (i.e. existing and new students).