Importing Data
Overview
To import data go to Admin / Tools / Import. Not all data can be imported, but you can import the following:
- Families
- Family Transactions
- Dayhome Providers
- Staff
There are two basic steps to follow. Upload and import. Uploading refers to moving your data file from your computer to the Timesavr server. Importing refers to moving the data from the file you just uploaded, into the Timesavr database.
Your Data File
Only .csv files may be uploaded. CSV stands for comma separated values, and can be opened by Excel. If you have your data in an Excel file (.xls or .xlsx) you can use the Excel Save as... option to save it in .csv format. Then you can upload your new .csv file to the Timesavr server.
Note: Depending on the data in your import file, a generic CSV format may not work. You may need to save the file in CSV UTF-8 format. See demonstration below.
Each individual file may be no more than 10 MB in size. You can check the size of your file in your file explorer in Windows or in Finder on a Mac. Your file size may be denoted in MB, KB or even B. If it shows KB or B then your file is much smaller than 10 MB so it's safe to upload. 1 MB = 1024 KB or 1048576 K. You can also right click on the file and select "Properties" in Windows or "Get Info" on a Mac, to see the total file size.
Formatting Your Data File
Each import file must have a header row with column names. This is referring to the top row in your .csv file. The data in this top row is not going to be imported, but will be used to tell Timesavr where the data in each column belongs. Without this header row, your import will fail.
Important: In your csv file, an entire family must be on a single row. You can not have mom on one row, dad on a second, and a child on a third row. This will not work. Mom, dad, each child and each emergency contact must be in separate columns on the same row. So for example, you'll have columns for "mom first name", "mom last name", "dad first name", "dad last name", "child 1 first name", "child 2 first name", "contact 1 name", "contact 2 name", etc. You can have up to three children in the import file, and up to two contacts, but not all columns need to have values. For example, if a family only has one child, then the columns for child 2 and 3 will be blank. In the same way, if you have only one contact for a family, then the columns for the second contact will be blank.
Take a look at the sample import file to get a good understanding of what your file should look like.
Note that the column headers in your file do not have to match the column headers in the sample file. You can use whatever column headers you like, as long as they make sense to you because the column headers are what you will use to map your data to the Timesavr fields.
Step 1. Upload Your Data
When your file is ready, drag it onto the upload box on the Upload page.
If your file is successfully uploaded, it will display below the upload box with a green checkmark.
Step 2. Import Your Data
In this step you'll take the data you've just uploaded to the server, and import it into your Timesavr database. First tell Timesavr what type of data you want to import, and then select your uploaded file from the dropdown. This uploaded file is the file you uploaded in Step 1.
The most important part here is mapping the data from your uploaded file to the columns in the Timesavr database. This means that you're telling Timesavr where the data from each column in your csv file belongs in the Timesavr database. For example, in your file you may have a column called "Mom First Name", and you will map this to the Timesavr column "Parent 1 First Name".
The values under "Timesavr Column" are basically the fields in Timesavr where you can store data. The values under "File Columns" are all the column headers in your .csv file, so when you select "Family ID" in the File Column you're telling Timesavr to take the data from the Family ID column in the .csv file and import it into the Timesavr field where you've selected it. All the fields are optional, so you can leave blank whichever fields you don't have any data for, but of course the more data you can import the less work you have to do to fill in the blanks later.
Once you've mapped all your columns, click the Import button at the bottom and bada-bing bada-boom, Bob's your uncle.
Only do it Once
Be careful: Once you've imported a data file, it can not be undone, so be careful to only do this once. You can not just select a couple of columns and do the import, just to try it out, thinking you'll do the real thing later, because it will generate a family for each row in your import file in Timesavr. If you click the import button again, it will import the same data file again, and you'll have duplicates for all your families. ouch. So don't be that guy. Make sure you map all your columns, double check your selections, and then do the import.
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