How do I update existing contact data?

Watch the video above for an explanation of the .csv file formatting and a walkthrough of uploading your file.

Manual Data Imports

Data can be updated for existing contacts at any time via a CSV file upload. For more information on creating CSV files, click here.

.CSV File Options

• Export your current data from Message. It can be helpful to begin with an export, to easily start with all contact information in one file. Click here to learn about exporting your Message data file.
• Create from scratch.
• Export from your CRM or SIS (or other data source)

Creating Your Data File 

Start from a Message Data Export

1. Export your Message Data.
2. Delete any contacts who do not need to be updated.
3. If starting from an export, begin by deleting any contacts that don't need to be updated. 
4. Delete any columns that aren't present in Message, or that you do not want to update (note that you can leave unwanted columns present, and simply ignore them in the upload process - this is covered in the next section). Pay attention to the last 4 columns of your file.
5. Complete any data updates in your file.

The customer_id or signalvine_id field must be present in the file, as those are the two fields that can be used to match between files and the platform data.

Create Your File Manually

1. Create a .csv file with either a customer_id or signalvine_id header.
2. Add any additional columns you would like to update. Ensure that the column header matches the variable name in Message (found on the Manage Fields page in the Programs tab).
3. If a column in your file does not yet exist in Message, create the new custom field before you attempt to upload the file. 

Each of your fields is associated with a field type with specific format requirements. Make sure that your data format is correct. For example, Date fields are restricted to YYYY-MM-DD. Learn about field types here.

4. Save the file as a CSV. 

Upload Your File

1. Navigate to the Programs tab.
2. Select your program on the left.
3. Click Import Contacts.
4. Upload your CSV file, then uncheck the Import new contacts box and check the Update existing contacts box.
5. A box will appear displaying the field headers in your file. Select any fields within the file that you would like to update (if there is a field in your file that you do not want to update, simply leave it unchecked and that data will be ignored).
6. Choose an error setting (the default option only runs the file if no errors are encountered; the first option runs the file regardless of errors, but gives detailed information on what rows were skipped and why).
7. Finally, click Start Import. Once the file runs, a summary will appear with the number of newly added contacts and the number of errors. 

Our CSV file is formatted such that the column headers are exact matches to the data field names.

We've selected the file to be imported, and chosen to only update existing contacts. Only the selected fields will be updated, and the system will ignore the data in the unchecked fields. We'll click Start Import to begin our update.