I want to use the function to upload an excel spreadsheet to populate address, phone, etc. of classmates. We have a 10 years old excel file from our previous reunion and it is not configured in the same way that the classmate profile is. Two questions:

1- Does the excel spreadsheet have to be configured with all the same fields in the same order as the classmate profile? If not, will the classmate profile "recognize" which information should go where?

2- Some classmates have already entered "new" information on their profile which would make info on the 10 years old spreadsheet obsolete. If I upload the old spreadsheet, it would replace the new info, right? So I should start by taking info from the website and updating the old excel file before I then upload the old file? Or should I just eliminate entries on the old file of people who have already registered on the site knowing that they will be added to the old file once it is all integrated?

Thank you for the direction and advice,
Sue Hall

I can tell you my experience with a similar situation. I exported an Excel spreadsheet from our old Access database used on our old website and was able to convert it for creating the Classmates website.

When you say you have an existing Excel spreadsheet, I am going to take that literally and assume the file name ends in .xls. If so, what you must do is convert that spreadsheet to a .csv (comma separated values) file and use the .csv file for uploading. To convert, open the existing Excel file, then use File -> "Save As" and select .csv format. This will not replace your Excel .xls file, but will create a second file.

If you haven't already downloaded the template, do that so you can see the correct column order. Open your converted .csv file and rearrange the columns as needed to match the template, then save it for uploading. As mentioned in the FAQ, make sure your spreadsheet doesn't have any commas in a field, as this will change the column order in the .csv file and the resulting classmate record. In general, be wary of any special characters, as some can cause unexpected results (the ' in names like O'Brien seems to be fine though).

The upload of classmate information using the .csv file will not change any records that has already been updated directly on the web site, or at least that was my experience. However, to be safe you might want to first download the existing classmate information. Your best bet it to review each record after upload to make sure it looks right, I found a few skips which I couldn't explain. When doing manual edits, it's easy to spot those that have already been updated by the classmate because the password field shows a series of asterisks (************************).

Thanks Bill! Couldn't have said it better myself! And, yes, just to confirm, any existing Classmate records will not be overwritten at all regardless of what you put in your excel spreadsheet. Once a Classmate is in the system, you have to edit their record manually from that point forward.

Thanks for the help!!!

One more thing: is there going to be a problem if the names don't match up exactly? I have > 500 names in my database but I noticed small discrepancies between the old excel sheet I have and the names entered on the website. Do I have to reconcile them perfectly before integrating the lists or will the names be recognized and "match up"? I don't want to scramble everything up and get incorrect info into the website and have to clean it all up. I'm scared to just push that upload button!!!

Without seeing your list I can't know exactly what you're dealing with. But generally, yes, you want to reconcile. If our system thinks a Classmate is a new record you could wind up with two entries for the same Classmate.

I had the same situation, minor differences between the existing names and list I was working from. It's sort of painful to reconcile, I don't know any way except comparing one by one. What I ended up doing was processing 20 names at a time, in alphabetical order, double checking each name on the web site (I also uploaded senior photos at that time). It ended up taking me a couple of weeks to get through all ~280 class members. Some days/nights I could get several "batches" completed, other days I had no time at all to work on it. A few times I ended up with 2 entries for the same person (Bill and William for example), and had to delete one of them, but working in alphabetical order made these easy to spot. This was the least fun part of creating the web site, for sure.

I finally finished that work this past weekend and sent the first classmate mailing last night. There was quite a favorable response from that mailing today, making all the work seem a little less of a chore.

I don't have Excel on my pc and it's outside of my budget to purchase.
Is there no other way?

This can be used for downloading and reading Excel data:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=c8378bf4-996c-4569-b547-75edbd03aaf0&displaylang=en

Thank you! I've downloaded, and now I'll play!! (I know, you're saying "Oh no, she'll be back!") LOL

You are super!

Okay, like I said, I now have the excel. I went to manage classmates, hit the download and the excel is telling me that it cannot open this type of program. (xls). I put it on *all files* and also tried the cvs and got the same message.
Pooh! Going to bed!

Oops, that was an older one! Crap, try this one instead: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=1CD6ACF9-CE06-4E1C-8DCF-F33F669DBC3A&displaylang=en

Sandi Baker wrote:

How about FREE! Does that fit in your budget? I use OpenOffice which is a open source version of Word and Excel programs. It can both read and write Word and Excel documents. And it is FREE. http://www.openoffice.org/

I have open office, so will try that as even that newer version of Excel didn't work for me either.
It still says it can't read that type of file. The file is classlist.xsl or something like that and excel spreadsheet 97-2003.

I am ready to upload my file to the website but I can't figure out how to save an xls file as a csv file. I wrote "csv" but it saved it as "csv.xls". Will it work if saved as an "xls" file??

Another quick question: I have reconfigured the list I am going to upload with the In Memory section at the end. Is that the way it should be?
Thanks

When you go to save your xls file, in the File Type dropdown you need to save the file as a csv file instead. It will NOT work if you save the file as an xls.

Note, you need to manually add each deceased classmate to your in memory area. There is no import utility for importing deceased classmates currently. So you do need to include deceased classmates on your import file, but you will have to mark each one of them as deceased after your import has concluded.

When I look at my file type drop down menu, "csv" is not one of them, or I would already have done that! Does that mean I have an outdated version of excel?

Regarding the In Memory group, does that mean that I re-integrate them in the alphabetical classmate list to upload? I have all my classmates' names on my site already and the In Memory ones are already designated as such. I'm just trying to upload address info, etc. about other classmates. So again, do I make the list to upload in alpha order of ALL classmates whether dead or alive???

The list can be in any order, but it should definitely include all classmates whether deceased or alive. Here's the thing though: If a Classmate already exists in the system, any additional details you add to your import for that Classmate will be ignored. Once a Classmate exists on the site, you have to add any additional information to the record manually. I.E. you can only import a Classmate one time. Everything after that point must be done through the system.

What version of Excel do you have? Even Excel versions from many years ago could save files as a csv. Try hitting Save As instead of Save, if you have that option.

So first I entered all the names of classmates. Now people have joined (75 out of 500). I have old address info on many classmates. I was under the impresssion that I could upload this and it would only populate fields that didn't have stuff in them already, that info on classmates who had joined would be left as they had entered it. Is this not accurate?

Okay now I have found "csv" further down on the dropdown menu under "save as". But again can I do this? I thought I could upload and download with changes as time went on...????

No. If you've uploaded a Classmate to the system, regardless of whether that Classmate has actually joined your site or not, if you try to upload the Classmate again via the batch import mechanism the system will ignore the entire record because that record already exists in your site.

What you can do, though, is go into Manage Classmates and click reset class list. Then you can UNCHECK the 75 people who have already joined. If you do that, you'll be removing all records for those who have not yet joined. And then if you upload your new class list again, it will ignore the 75 existing records, while populating once again all of the classmates on your list who have not yet joined. That's what I'd do.

If I uncheck classmates that have registered and click reset class list will I loose all the classmate images? If so is there a way to keep the images from being lost?

You would not lose any images for Classmates who have registered if you uncheck them, no. If you've uploaded images on behalf of Classmates who have not registered, and you leave those names checked when you reset your class list, yes, those images would be deleted. However, you can download them in advance by doing this:

1) Click on Manage Classmates
2) Click on the Download Classmate Photos option at the bottom

This way you'll have all Classmate-uploaded images should you need to reupload them after resetting your class list.