Linee Guida per importare e gestire facilmente e con successo le liste di invitati
1. FILE UPLOAD: FORMATS
You can add a guest list to your event by importing data from Excel files with extensions .xls and .xlsx. If you want to upload a .csv file, you need to convert it first into .xls or .xslx.
2. OPTIMIZE LIST: FIELDS
The Excel sheet should contain only the fields you want to use to manage your guests and your event workflow. If you are going to upload a file created for other purposes, remember to keep in the file only the columns you need for:
- creating the event registration form,
- filtering recipients for customized email messages,
- customizing check-in app (information displayed in the main list or the detailed record),
- creating notes that you think are helpful to enhance the guest’s experience during the event.
Moreover, if you remove columns with non-relevant data before importing the file, you will get the best performance (especially for big lists).
3. FILE STRUCTURE
a) Header
The first row in the Excel sheet is the “header” of your guest list and must be used for field names. First name, last name, and email are mandatory fields and must be always included in the header of your guest list.
Please note that:
- all fields in the header must be named: if a column has an empty header, Eventboost won’t import it in the guest list
- you must avoid duplicate field names in the header of your Excel file: otherwise Eventboost won’t import it in the guest list
b) Content
All the other rows must contain the details of your guests. Even if first name, last name, and email are mandatory fields in the header of the guest list, Eventboost requires just one information to add your contact as a guest (either the first name or the last name or the email address): if neither first name, nor last name, nor email fields have been filled out, the row won’t be imported.
IMPORTANT: Your Excel file must not contain pivot calculated values to be imported in Eventboost.
4. FIELD TYPES
There are 10 different types of fields you can use in your guest list: First name, Last name, Email, Text, Single choice (drop-down menus, radio buttons), Multiple choice (checkboxes), Date, External code, File, Country (also Province and Region for Italy only).
Multiple choice and File fields cannot be imported from an Excel file and must be created and managed directly on the platform. All other fields can be imported directly from your Excel sheet.
Eventboost automatically recognizes some of these field types based on:
- the field name in the header of your Excel sheet
- a particular syntax you have to use in the field name
- the cell format in the Excel file
When importing, the system ignores case, spaces, “-” and “_” signs (email is the same as e-mail and E-mail, etc.).
4.1 First name and Last name
First and last name must have a maximum length of 150 characters. Eventboost automatically recognizes these two fields during import process based on the field name in the header of your Excel sheet (see 5. for a complete list of allowed names).
To work correctly, first name and last name must be two different fields in your Excel file. If first and last name are both in a single column, you have to manually split them into two separate columns before importing the list.
4.2 Email
The Email field uniquely identifies the guest in the system. It must have a maximum length of 150 characters and is automatically recognized during the import process based on the field name in the header of your Excel sheet (see 5. for a complete list of allowed names).
Eventboost won’t import incorrect email addresses with forbidden characters such as spaces, commas, semicolons, etc..
4.3 Text fields
Text fields can be used in your list to provide any information related to the guest (address, phone, company, role, etc.). They can have a maximum length of 500 characters. This is the default type of field, so you don’t have to use any particular field name or syntax in the header or cell formatting (just avoid using field names reserved for other field types like First name, Last name, Email, etc., putting the field name in square brackets or formatting the column as date).
4.4 Single choice fields (drop-down menus, radio buttons)
Single choice fields are recognized when the field’s name in the header of your Excel sheet is in square brackets: i.e. [Gender], [Language], [Category], [Club Member], etc.
Eventboost will recognize these fields as Single choice field types and add the information in the rows as values of the field (Figure 1).
Fig.1
Single choice fields are displayed in lists and registration form on Eventboost as drop-down menus or radio buttons (Figure 2).
Fig.2
Single choice field values can be pretty long, due to the particular use you can do of these type of fields (they have a maximum length of 4,000 characters).
4.5 Multiple choice fields (checkboxes)
Multiple choice fields cannot be imported from an Excel sheet. They must be created and managed directly from the platform, in the Manage fields section.
Eventboost displays multiple choice fields as checkboxes both in the guest list and in the event registration form (Figure 3).
Fig.3
4.6 Date fields
Date fields are automatically recognized when the column in your Excel sheet is formatted as “Date”. Eventboost displays date fields as calendars windows both in the guests lists and in the event registration form (Figure 4).
Fig.4
4.7 External code fields
Eventboost automatically assigns an ID number for each registered guest that can be used to generate QR codes or barcodes for the check-in process. If you want to use an external code instead of the internal ID, you have to use this field. The maximum length of this field is 50 characters.
4.8 File fields
File type fields cannot be imported from an Excel sheet. They must be created and managed directly from the platform, in the Manage fields section.
You can use this kind of fields to upload a file in the registration form (like an ID or another kind of document).
4.9 Country
This field is automatically recognized during import process based on the field name in the header of your Excel sheet (see 5. for a complete list of allowed names).
This field is displayed in the event registration form as a drop-down menu with a complete list of Countries.
5. ALLOWED FIELD NAMES
Other recognized fields are regione, regioni (for Italian Regions), provincia (for Italian Provinces), code, codice, código (if you want the platform to generate QR codes based on an external ID).
6. FIELD TYPES OVERVIEW
Here below an overview of all field types and characteristics:
7. GUEST LIST CHECKLIST: is your file ready to be imported?
8. THE IMPORT PROCESS
When your list is ready for import, upload it in the Manage Guest section --> Invitee list --> Import file.
Before importing your list, you have to declare you have permission to send email messages to all your contacts, checking the corresponding box. Then click “Browse”, select your guest list Excel file on your computer and click “Upload”.
At the end of the import, Eventboost will show a window with the results of the import process. Otherwise, the system will warn in case of errors during the import process. If the platform couldn’t upload some rows of your Excel file, the error will be reported in the pop-up window visible after the import. You can download the excel file to see all errors.
9. SUBSEQUENT IMPORTS
Eventboost allows you to append new guests to the database, update their information already in the system, or overwrite the Invitee List.
a) Update & append
With this option you can:
- Add new guests to the database. Based on email recognition, it is a bulk action to add new guests and their information to the Invitee List. You can use a new Excel file with the new guests only. However, you must always use a list with the same field structure. If the Excel file contains new columns, the system will ignore them.
- Update guests’ information already in the System. Based on email recognition, it is a bulk action to update guests’ information. You must always use a list with the same field structure. If the Excel file contains new columns, the system will ignore them. If the Excel file does not contain email addresses, Eventboost will operate a control on First and Last Name to update guests’ details.
b) Append only
If you choose this option, guests are imported only if their email address is not already existing in the system. Existing guests (based upon email address) are not modified in any way.
c) Overwrite
If you select this option, the existing list is deleted and overwritten with the new list. You can even use a list with a different field structure because the original list is deleted from the system.
Important: if the values of a single choice/drop-down field are different from the ones in the system (including the Country field), Eventboost won’t allow you to upload/update that information.
10. DUPLICATES
When you upload a list of guests with same email addresses, Eventboost imports the first email found in the invitee list and flags the others as "Duplicates". These duplicate emails are not automatically added to the invitee list but can be displayed in the Duplicates section to be fixed (either added to the list or canceled from the database).
If Eventboost finds duplicates, you will see a red “With Duplicates” lettering at the top-right of the list, above the buttons.
You can visualize the duplicates by clicking on “With Duplicates” or clicking the duplicate button and then selecting the option “Show duplicates email only”.
You can find all Invitees with duplicate emails in the table below. The number next to each Invitee represents the number of identical emails found during the file import. If you click the small arrow button on the left, you can expand the section and see in red all duplicate emails.
In this section you can:
- Fix the duplicate by clicking the "Fix or add the duplicate to the list" button (man and + sign icon). To fix the duplicate, enter a different email address and then click to the "Add invitee" button to add the guest to the invitee list.
- Delete the duplicate by clicking the "bin" button. Then click "Ok" to delete the duplicate from the database.
You can also add a duplicate to the list without changing the email address, but if you do so, you will have two guests with identical emails in your invitee list, and if you send a message (invitation, reminder, save the date, etc.), that guest will receive the same email twice.
11. EXPORT YOUR LIST
Eventboost allows you to export any list (Invitees, Registrants, Attendees, Master List) available on the platform to an Excel file. To download it, access the list from the Manage Guests section and click the green X button on the top-left of the list. The download is fast, and it will start immediately. However, if you are exporting a vast and heavy list (20,000+ guest), the platform can take a couple of minutes to conclude the download.
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