Update Contacts Upon Import

If you forgot to map a field when importing or received new information for existing contacts that you would like to apply in VanillaSoft, you could update your database to apply the changes. To use this feature, your spreadsheet must have at least 1 matching unique field to what is listed within your VanillaSoft database (i.e., phone number, email address, address, etc.). If more than one contact in your spreadsheet has the same information in that field, only the first contact will be imported.

Note: The unique field must be information that only the 1 contact has. If you use something like 'Last Name,' there is a chance that 2 contacts have the same last name. If that is the case, you may lose information from one of those contacts or need to run through the import process again. Phone Number or Email Address is often unique per contact, but this may differ from company to company.

 

Important: It is not possible to 'undo' and update. Once you have updated a contact within VanillaSoft, there is no way to revert those changes. If a field in the import file is blank and mapped, then existing field information for that contact will be deleted. When a match is not found, the information will be added as a new contact. If more than one match is found, the information will not be updated or added.

 

Update Contacts Upon Import

  1. Log in to VanillaSoft as an Admin.
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  2. Select the desired Project.
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  3. Open the Contacts & Reports menu and select the Import Contacts section.
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  4. Select Choose File and browse to your CSV spreadsheet.
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  5. Once found, select the file and click Open.
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  6. Open the Import Mapping drop-down and select the desired saved mapping.
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    • This step is optional. If you do not have any saved mapping, you can skip this step.
  7. Open the Import Method drop-down and select Add / Update Contacts.
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  8. Once your selections have been made, click Next.
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  9. Open the Import File Field drop-down and select a unique field from your spreadsheet.
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  10. Open the VanillaSoft Field drop-down and select the corresponding unique field from VanillaSoft.
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  11. If desired, check the Add New Contact is not already in VanillaSoft checkbox.
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    • This will add any contacts from your spreadsheet if no unique field match is found.
  12. Once your unique fields have been defined, click Next.
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  13. Map all the desired fields you wish to update from your spreadsheet to the corresponding VanillaSoft field.
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    • VanillaSoft will attempt to determine which fields should be mapped together, but it's always recommended to verify all mapping is correct before proceeding.
  14. Once your mapping is complete, select Start Import.
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Once the import starts, you will be brought to a screen showing your import status and all previous imports. At this time, you are free to navigate away from this page, as this will not affect your import.

 

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