Automate Data File Sync
Setup Data File Sync contact list
Once you have created a Data File contact list, click on sync settings, to configure the settings for this list.
Upload a sample CSV file of the contact file that will be regularly uploaded to keep this contact list up-to-date.
Once the sample file is uploaded, you can map each column to the appropriate type of data. If a column will not be used to fill in information in the contact list, you can set it to "Not Used".
If your data file does not have a header row with column names, then unselect "First row is the header" to treat the first row as data.
The contact list will be immediately updated when a file with the provided file name is uploaded to the Edlio file server, so ensure that file name is correct.
Click save to complete setting up the Data File contact list.
What should be in a CSV file for Data File contact lists?
CSV files for Data File contact lists must contain an email column if you are using this contact list to send emails and a phone number column if you are using this contact list to send text messages or voice calls.
The CSV file can otherwise contain any number of columns containing any data.
The columns do not need to have a specific name. You must instead provide a sample CSV file that contains the set of column header names so that these can be mapped to the appropriate data type. If your SIS or other system that generates these CSV files do not include a header row, then you can map each column position to a data type instead.
The columns in the CSV can be mapped to any standard contact list field. Here is the complete list:
First Name
Last Name
Email 1
Email 2
Email 3
Phone 1
Phone 2
Cell
Contact Type
Additional Info
Any columns that are mapped to "Not Used" will be ignored when adding the data row as a contact.
SFTP file transfer information
You can find the SFTP server information for your CMS site in the Data File contact list details page.
Use the server information here to automate the upload of your CSV file.
The CMS will begin processing any uploaded CSV files as soon as the upload has completed. The contact list will display a sync status indicating the progress.
The contents of the list will be updated and the uploaded file will be deleted as soon as the file processing has completed.
Automate Data File uploads using your Student Information System
Many Student Information Systems provide a scheduled export and upload functionality. You can use this feature that is built-in to your existing Student Information System to automatically generate the CSV file and upload it to our file server.
Ensure that your Student Information System filters out any contacts that should not be included in the contact list before the data file is sent.
Contact your Student Information System provider for more information on how to automate this process.
Automate Date File uploads with a custom process
If your Student Information System does not provide automated export and upload functionality or you are extracting data from another system that does not have such functionality, then you will need to create a process yourself.
Building a custom automated process requires expert knowledge, so make sure that your team is capable of building a scheduled process to extract data from your Student Information System and upload it to our file server.
You may also consider handling this process manually by training a staff member to regularly extract and upload the CSV file to keep the contact list up-to-date.