You can self-import a spreadsheet of guests with tickets.
Ticketed Guest imports are most appropriate:
- for events that do not charge admission but need to generate bidder numbers and/or track attendance; or
- when the software has been introduced late in the planning process, tickets have already been sold and the details are available in a spreadsheet.
If tickets haven't been sold yet, the built-in ticket feature offers more robust (and intuitive) tools for offering tickets online and/or entering tickets internally.
If you decide to manually enter some, or all, tickets, you can avoid having to enter each guest's contact information by self-importing your spreadsheet as "Users", then selecting the desired user record when creating orders for buyers and assigning guests to the tickets.
"Basic"imports create one order per ticket (single or couple) with the guest as their own "ticket buyer". For couple tickets, the first guest listed will become the "ticket buyer".
"Advanced" imports allow tickets that were purchased by businesses (or other hosts) and/or unassigned tickets to be imported. Preparing a spreadsheet for an Advanced import that contains complete Buyer, Guest and Order data is exponentially more difficult and should only be attempted by data gurus. If working with data is not your day job, you WILL find it faster (and more intuitive) to enter Business and Table ticket purchases directly into the software.
Note: The importer does not handle diacritics (accent and cedilla signs) - they should be stripped from your spreadsheet prior to upload.
Note: If you have previously set a maximum number of tickets (seat cap) for your event at Site Settings > Registration > Tickets > Ticket Types & Quantity, that limit will NOT be enforced if your import exceeds your seat cap.
Overview:
Importing is an automated process. Once you have uploaded your spreadsheet, you will "map" each column to the desired field in the software (Instructions for mapping various formats are provided below). The importer can handle all common formats, in any order, as long as each column contains the same type of data and format. For instance, if a column contains both emails and phone numbers, the column can be mapped to the email OR phone field. To import it correctly, you'll need to add a column on your spreadsheet and separate the email vs phone data.
Each row in your spreadsheet will be issued a ticket.
- If your spreadsheet lists one person per row, you can indicate which guests should share a bidder number by providing the same bidder number for both.
- If your spreadsheet lists couples in the same row, a couple ticket (with shared bidder number) will automatically be issued.
- Bidder numbers can be changed/linked/unlinked after the import, as needed.
An order/shopping cart is created for each ticket generated.
- If you want to track and report ticket revenue from the software, each row of your spreadsheet must contain a price, amount paid, and payment method.
- If you don't provide a price, each ticket will be imported as a $0 ticket.
- If you provide a price, but not an amount paid, each ticket will generate a paid order. If you want an unpaid order, you must specify 0 in the Amount Paid column.
- If you do not provide a payment method, any amount paid data will be imported as an "external" payment.
Note: Some gateways require specific data in order to process credit card transactions. If you'll be using Vanco, SchoolPay or WePay as your gateway, this data should be included in the import or it will have to be manually entered before a transaction:
- Vanco and SchoolPay: Full name and complete billing address
- WePay: Zip code and email address
To Self Import Ticketed Guests:
1. Upload Your Spreadsheet for Review
2. Map Your Columns to Fields
Tip: It's a good idea to review the "Skip" messages in the left column and map the required name columns first. If you need to edit your spreadsheet to add required information, you should do that before proceeding to avoid having to map your columns twice.
3. Review and Submit
4. Confirm
How to Map Various Formats
Your spreadsheet columns won't be organized exactly the same as the software fields - so multiple mapping options are provided for names and addresses. For instance, the software uses first and last name fields, but your spreadsheet may list the full name in a single column. Choosing the "Full Name" option from the dropdown will instruct the software to separate your column of names into separate first and last name fields during the import.
Your spreadsheet can be as simple as a list of names (though we recommend importing email addresses if they are available). The examples shown below focus on the name formats and ticket details needed to create the correct orders. For simplicity, we've omitted the common, but straightforward, columns for address and contact info.
You can view a complete list and description of fields/column headers here. You can also import your data into a custom field by choosing "user defined field" from the dropdown. In general, it's better to use existing fields where possible as custom fields have limited reporting tools.
Basic Imports: Each Guest is their own ticket buyer
One Person Per Row (Singles and Couples)
Couples in Same Row; Names Combined in Single Column
Couples in Same Row; Names in Separate Columns
Advanced: Separate Buyers, Tables and/or Unknown Guests
Note: Guests can easily be assigned to sit at specific tables at anytime - regardless of their ticket type. Table tickets, where one buyer hosts multiple guests on a single ticket requires an advanced import.
Advanced Imports require columns, and data for each row, for:
- Ticketbuyer Name (Business and Individual Names in separate columns)
- Ticket ID (unique number for each row pertaining to a specific ticket). Ticket ID determines which rows/guests are associated with each ticket. If the number admitted is higher than the rows of guest info provided, the remainder will be imported as "unassigned tickets".
- Number Ticket Admits - how many guests can gain admission on this ticket type?
- Ticket Price - total price of the ticket (NOT per person). If no price is provided, ticket will be imported as $0 ticket.
Guest Information can be imported using the same formats shown above in Basic examples.
- If you don't know who will use a ticket, all guest fields in the row should be left blank.
- If some guests are known and others unknown, provide a row for each known guest only. The software will generate unassigned tickets for the remainder of tickets (based on Number Ticket Admits).
The image above llustrates these specific import examples:
- ACME Corp purchased a table of 10, but did not provide any guest info. One (1) row is sufficient for this import - the importer will recognize that no other rows contain the same ticket ID (51), so it will create unassigned tickets equal to the Ticket Admits column (10).
- XYZ Co purchased two tables of 10, but only provided guest details for the first table (Ticket ID 52). Note that the guest info for this table illustrates the various ways your spreadhseet may have guest info formatted. This spreadsheet uses 6 rows to provide guest info for all 10 tickets. If your spreadsheet references more guests than the number specified (admitted) for the ticket (ID) - your import will fail. If your spreadsheet references fewer guests than specified, the importer will generate unassigned tickets for the remainder.
- Note that payment info is handled differently for Basic vs Advanced imports. Basic imports create single tickets for all guests, then link couples to share bidders numbers as requested - so ticket price is specified as the per person cost. Advanced imports include a Ticket ID, so the ticket price specified is for the cost of the entire ticket.
- Note that Buyer and Payment details must be provided for every row. The example above illustrates Busines Buyers only. You can also include Individual Buyers on your spreadhseet - but they must be in separate columns from the Businesses and mapped for the appropriate header/field.
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