*Importing Events and Registrations

Simultaneously Importing Events and Registrations

For Events that Require Login 

The first consideration in importing registration data is whether the registrations should be linked to Database records. 

• If your account does use the Database feature, the individual must exist in the database or be imported into the database using the Database Import option before they can be imported as a registrant in an event. 
• If your account does not use the Database feature or require individuals to login to register, please jump to the “Registration and Event Import” section of this article. 

Importing Individuals to the Database 

Only basic Demographic Information can be imported to the Database by default.  Determine if there are additional fields of information needed for reporting purposes that need to be included in the import or if you plan to import registrations into events that require more than basic demographic data.  Any additional fields must be created as Global Questions, then those Global Questions must be assigned to the Database Setup at: 

Application>Database>Database Setup>DB Questions.  After each needed global question is selected, edit it and type in an Import/API Field Name.  This will add the question to the Database Import Template as a new column. 

At Database, select Import Registrants and download the import template to Excel.

• If your account is set for the Login ID to be Email Address, it is recommended that Columns B, C, and I all contain an identical email address.
• Please ignore columns O – R and T.  These are legacy fields that do not apply to the setup of new Learning Stream accounts.  Do not delete these columns, however.  The template structure must stay intact.
• Columns U and V apply if you are importing connections between individuals’ database records.  Please discuss further with your implementation specialist before using these columns.  Do not remove these columns.
• If you have assigned global questions to be imported, those columns will start at W.  The data provided in global question columns must match the expected responses for those questions.  For example, if the questions options are Yes and No, an entry of Y or N will cause the import to fail.

Complete the template with your data leaving all column headers intact as downloaded. Save the file.   Select “Choose File”, then Upload Completed Form Template.

Registration and Event Import 

After all registrants are in the database, then you can proceed with the Registration Import.  Registration Import is a feature which allows administrators to import basic registration data from an external system into Learning Stream events. This import is found at Application>Imports>Registrations.  Download the import template.  Do not modify/remove any of the columns or the headers of the import template.  

Registrant Information 

If the event requires login, the registrant information in this import must link to an existing database record.  The Registrant_id field specified in column A of the import file must match an internal ID of an existing database record. If it does not find a match, the import will fail with errors. This import does not create new registrant database records. If you would like to import registrations for new database registrants, you should first create those database records using Learning Stream’s Database Import functionality described above in this document. 

The following demographic information can be imported for a Registration.   

Demographic information  

The following information can be included as part of the registration.  

Email Address (required)  

First Name (required)  

Last Name (required)  

Phone Number  

Address Line 1  

Address Line 2  

City  

State  

Zip Code 
*Column P is a legacy field that does not apply to the setup of new Learning Stream accounts.  Do not delete this column, however.   

*Note - If there are any additional registration fields that need to be included to be reported on, that information cannot be imported through the Registration Import.  Those fields must be created as Global Questions, those Global Questions must be associated with the Database Setup and set to be a part of the Database import template.  This data would then be uploaded during the Database import.  See section “Importing Individuals to the Database” described above in this document. 

Additional Information

Supplying a value (1 for Yes, 0 for No) in the attendance_confirmed column will record in the system if the registrant attended this event. You can also automatically issue a certificate for a registration by specifying a certificate in the certificate_name column. The value you place here must match exactly the name of an existing certificate in Learning Stream. If you would like to assign the same certificate to all the registrations in your import file, you can leave this value blank and select a certificate from a drop down list when you are prompted to confirm your import settings. You can also configure whether you would like to issue certificates to all your imported registrations, or only registrations where the attendance is confirmed.

Event Data  

The import file can contain registration data for multiple events which should be specified for each record. If you are importing data for a single event, you may find it easier to leave the event related fields blank and specify a default event at the import confirmation screen.  

There are two ways to create the data for the event that a registration record is associated with. The first is to create or copy an event in Learning Stream so the event exists before running the import. The second is to specify an existing event to use as a template to create a new event from and provide a name and date for that new event that will be created. The following is an example of how you would layout the import file for each approach.  

Using existing events for registration import  

If you are importing into an existing Learning Stream event, identify the existing event(s) you would like to use, and be sure to note the Event Code and Event Start Date. When you create your import file, place those values in the event_code (B) and event_start_date (C) columns for each registration record that should be imported into that event.  

Creating a new event from an existing event when running the import  

If you would like to have the import create a new event for your imported registrations, you will need to identify an existing event in the system which has settings that would serve well as a template for the new event you want to create. When you’ve identified that event, be sure to note the Event Code and Event Start Date of that “template” event. When you create your import file, place those values in the template_event_code (X) and template_event_start_date (Y) columns. You will then also need to specify values for the event_code (B), event_start_date (C) and event_title (G) columns so the import knows what new event to create from your template. 

Running the Import  

The import process takes place in three stages:

1. Validation
2. Confirmation
3. Processing

1) Validation  
 After your file is uploaded, the import will inspect the contents of the file and make sure that all records are valid and able to be processed. If any errors are found, a list of them will be displayed and you will be prompted to fix those errors and upload the file again. Examples of errors that can be found during validation are missing name or email, registrant ID that doesn’t match an existing record, or template event that doesn’t match an existing event. If there is conflict between the registration and the event (such as the event requiring a database login and the registration not matching a database record) that will be displayed as well. 

2) Confirmation 

If your import file is valid, you will be taken to a confirmation screen which allows you specify default options for any event or certificate data that may be missing from the file. You can also select whether certificates should be issued to all registrations or just those with confirmed attendance. The options available on this screen can vary depending on if any event data is missing from your import file. 

If you have any records that do not have a value provided in the event_code or event_start_date columns, you will see this section prompting you to either select an existing event or define a new event as the destination event for those records. 

If you have any records that require a new event to be created and either the template_event_code or template_event_start_date columns for that record are empty, you will see the following section prompting you to specify an existing event as a template. 

If you have already picked an event above as the “Existing Event”, you do not need to select a Template Event here. Note that the events available in your list could be limited to events that match your registration configuration. For example, if you have registrations that are not linked to the registrant database, you will not see events that require a database login. 

The final section will always be displayed and allows you to issue a default certificate to all records that do not already have a value supplied for the certificate_name column. You will also have the option to either issue certificates for all records in your import file, or only those registrations where the attendance_confirmed column has a value of 1. 

3) Processing  
 After you have clicked “Process Import” on the confirmation screen, you will be taken to the following wait screen while the import creates all the event and registration data, and issues certificates. Once the import is finished, you will be shown a summary of the events/registrations created. Note that no email notifications will be created for these registrations.