How to create user accounts from a CSV file using User Import

We'll be focusing on the Import part of the tool since this is where most of your work will be done.

When you first start an import, you are asked to map the CSV columns to the correct fields.

In this example my CSV was simple, it only contained three columns (first name, last name, email address).

Reminder: The grey help text is always helpful in explaining all the options you have available to you when matching your CSV columns to fields in the CMS; don't overlook it.

In this example, I wanted to make a username that was a combination of my first and last name so I assigned them values in the Username column. I also mapped the Email Address to the correct field.

You also have a number of options available to you regarding the imported fields:

• Ignore First Line - If your table has table headings, you'll want to check this box so this first row is skipped.
• Contact - Do not check this box as it is not applicable to your website.
• Send Email - If checked, the website will send users an email message when their account has been created. You'll have the option to customize this email message before you perform the import.
• Username Space - Check this box if you want to add a space between the values you are using to create the username. In this example my username will be cole lafrance. If I didn't check the box my username would be colelafrance.
• Activate Accounts - Check this box if you are importing usernames and passwords for users that already know their login credentials.
• Import Key - Pick a field that will be primary way you differentiate the user accounts - on subsequent imports, this key will be used to determine any account duplication.
• File Delimiter - CSV stands for comma separated values, if you are using a TSV replace the comma with /t.

In the Role Assign section, you can choose what roles the new members will be assigned:

All imported users will be assigned these roles. If you need to assign different roles to different users, import them with separate CSV files.

Next, you can customize what you want the email message to say. Since I didn't assign a password as a part of the import, users will need to click on the one-time link to set their password.

Remember that grey text is your friend here as it provides great contextual help.

You can save any of these email messages as templates to user for subsequent imports.

The example I created is simple but effective. I used a couple variables and the message looked like this:

Once a user clicks on the one-time login link, they will be prompted to update their password. The process looks like this:

Clicking the Log in button takes them to a page where they can easily create a password.

If you're importing users that already have accounts (from a previous import or were added manually) you'll want to decide how to handle the existing users.

If you used the email address as the Import Key, you can't select Replace Data for this field as it is the primary identifying value for the user.

You can save all of these import settings to be used again. This way you don't have to remember the settings or re-write the email message each time you perform an import.