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Importing respondents in a manual data collection
Importing respondents in a manual data collection

A guide on how to copy-paste or import respondents from a CSV file.

Mikkel D. Bertelsen avatar
Written by Mikkel D. Bertelsen
Updated over a week ago

When sending out surveys from our system you will be asked to provide information about the respondents, such as email and name.

There are two ways for you to import contacts to a manual data collection. You can choose to copy-paste respondents into the field or upload a CSV file containing emails and names.

In this article, I'll explain how to do both and what format the data should be provided in.


Copy-pasting respondents

Format of the copy-paste

If you have decided to copy-pate the respondents from another program or text editor, it is done by simply using "CTRL+C" on the data and then "CTRL+V" into our import field.

The format should be shown as below, as otherwise, the recipients will be invalid.

family@thomsensedomain.com, Peter Thomsen  ✔️name@anotherdomain.com, Sally Smith        ✔️name@skipperdomain.com                     ❌

This is how it will be shown in the import box, as you can see there are two valid rows and one invalid, as shown above as well.

The valid/invalid row indicator is a great way for you to see if you have correctly added the recipients for the send-out. In the above example, you will not be able to click the "Next" button, as there is one invalid row. Simply delete the invalid row and you will be able to progress.

If the respondents aren't placed on each line, you might have to do this manually depending on where you're copy-pasting from.


Import from CSV file

Creating the file with emails and names

You can choose to import recipients by uploading a CSV file. The format follows the same rules as the copy-pasting. We only accept the format "Email, Name" any other extra data will cause the import to fail.

The format for the file is:

family@thomsensedomain.com, Peter Thomsen  ✔️name@anotherdomain.com, Sally Smith        ✔️name@skipperdomain.com                     ❌name@domain.com, Peter, Thomsen            ❌

This is how it will look in excel

When saving the file, save it as CSV (UTF-8)

  1. Open the file in excel

  2. Click on "File" in the top-left corner

  3. Select "Save as"

  4. Select a location for the file (This PC, could be a suggestion)

  5. Select "CSV UTF-8" as the file format (just underneath the filename)

  6. Select "Save"

Importing it into the data collection

Now that you have created the CSV file, you can import it.

  1. Click the "Import CSV" button on the import page of the data collection creation page.

  2. Locate the file on your computer.

  3. The recipients are now imported, well done! The respondents are shown in the recipient's box and you can edit and remove rows if you need. If you're done you can now continue in the creation process.

  4. There might pop up and a message saying some failed to be imported. If it is just a few that have failed out of a larger set, it is most likely due to wrong formats in the email or missing names. If it is all of your imports that failed, then it is most likely due to extra rows of data in the file (we only accept "email, name").


Common issues when importing


I have a CSV file where the front name and last name are split up, what do I do?

If you have a file that contains three columns instead of two, your imports will fail. Fear not, there is an easy way for you to combine the front and last name in excel.

  1. Open the file

  2. In the fourth column called D, write the full name

  3. Select the cell just below the full name you spelled out

  4. Now click the following "CTRL+E", all of the names will now be converted

  5. Now select columns B and C and delete them.

  6. The file now only contains emails and full names. You are now ready to import it. Remember to save it as UTF-8 CSV.


I have multiple files to import, what do I do?

If you have multiple files to import, we highly recommend you collect all of the recipients into one file. As the format needs to be the same for the files, this is the best way to avoid any possible issues.


Why do some emails and names contain weird characters?

If some of your respondents are showing up with weird characters it is due to your import file being in the wrong format. CSV files should be UTF-8, you can read how to save your file to the correct format here.


Households using the same email

We will only send out emails multiple times to one email if the name provided with the email is different for each occurrence. Below we have given an example where the same email is appearing three times in the import. The first two occurrences will receive an email, as these have different names. The last occurrence will not receive one, as it has the same name as the one above.

Import example:

family@thomsensedomain.com, Peter Thomsen  ✔️family@thomsensedomain.com, Laura Thomsen  ✔️family@thomsensedomain.com, Laura Thomsen  ❌     


I do not have names for my respondents, what do I do?

We currently require you to enter names, however, if you do not have the name of the members, replacing the name spot with "member" is an option.

Please note that by using "member", instead of names there will be issues with households using the same email, as both members names will be seen as "member"

Import example (no names):

family@thomsensedomain.com, member    ✔️family@thomsensedomain.com, member    ❌name@anotherdomain.com, member        ✔️

The name is used as a merge field for the invitation letter, so deleting the merge field from the invitation/reminder letter is also an option, you will still have to enter something in the name field when uploading, but it will not be used if you decide to delete the merge fields in the invitation letters.

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