Administrator Guide

Ensure that you first understand the structure of your import files and then close the file before beginning. Launch the Importer.

1. Click Select Source File:

2. Browse and locate the file that is to be imported.
3. Once you have selected the file the number of rows and columns in the file will be presented on the screen.

4. Click Next and enter the Site address and Login particulars. If your site is SSL please check the box as shown. Use Current Windows Credentials as an option.

Note: the SharePoint Site URL doesn’t include the “default.aspx”. Copy your address in the same format as the one shown below.

5. Click the Test button to verify the credentials. If there any issues with the login details the following rejection form will be presented. Although the message may say an invalid license key it is most likely the login details which are incorrect. Carefully review the details and try again.

6. The following message will be received when the credentials are valid.

7. Click OK and the next screen will appear.

8. If the import is a single Parent list such as an Account or a Lead, only complete the item shown. There is no requirement to complete the list to relate and link fields as shown below.

9. If the import is a Child list – such as a Contacts or Opportunities that are connected to an Account (or other parent item) then the following highlighted sections must be completed.

10. There are a number of options to be reviewed and used depending on your situation:

1. “Purge list first” option will delete all records in the selected list first before carrying out the import. This is most commonly used during an update process rather than an import process as it is faster to use the Datasheet list to remove records from a list.
2. “Update only – do NOT create new records” option is used if the import is to update data only. By selecting this option, all related items will blank out as shown here to prevent records from being created.
3. “Do not Create Orphans” is a good option to stop items without parent links being created. As an example when importing Contacts if there is no Account item to connect to, the Contact will not be created.
4. “Create Document Folder” is only relevant for Accounts and is useful if a Customer list is imported. Rather than having to create document folders for each one manually the import process will do it at the same time.
5. The import matching function “Prompt before updating existing item” will find duplicates and present a screen prompt for action. This feature adds the ability to prompt the user before updating an existing item.

Note: If the Importer is set to autorun (scheduled task) and this option is specified, the Importer will automatically skip this step.

11. The next screen manages the Update process during the import procedure. If the “Option” “Update only – do NOT create new items was selected on the previous screen then the following options must be completed.

Note: when selecting this option any previous parent selections are removed because this process is only Updating and NOT adding new items.

12. If the above “Update only” selection is made then you will define the update details in the following screen.

Note: This process will most commonly used with Accounts. There must be a key field selected where duplicate items can be matched against, such as Company Account #. However, you may use the second section to further define the criteria for a contact where one designation, such as Last Name, may find duplicates.

Note: Pass this step if you are NOT updating existing records. Do NOT select any options.

Note: If you are performing the INITIAL import (first time) the importer will flag any duplicate contacts and automatically remove them.

13. Next is the field mapping configuration screen. If the Excel header names are the same as the file names in Flex the Importer will automatically map the items. Select <ignore> for fields to be ignored.

14. If there is a need to map user fields click the “Map user columns” button as shown below. This will be in the example that you are importing an Account list that has an Account Manager and the objective is to have the Account details imported with the Account Manager mapped to the Active Directory people field used in SharePoint.

15. Now the Mapping page is launched (as shown below) select a mapping file which will simply contain one column with the name as entered in the import file and one column with the SharePoint name (see below for an example).

16. Once the Mapping file has been selected it will populate the Mapping file as shown below. By default the Mapper will match the Import Column field name to the SharePoint Column field name as well as the Import Username Column and the SharePoint Username Column. Click OK if these details are correct.

17. Now the screen will look like this.

18. Click Next when all mapped fields are completed.

19. As the import runs, it will display its progress. It can be stopped at any time by pressing the “Cancel & Exit” button.

Note: Canceling will NOT remove any records that have been imported so far.