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Prepare User Import/Update CSV File

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CSV File Format

In order to successfully bulk upload/update users, the uploaded file must be in .csv format. CSV files can be generated by many programs. For example, save an Excel sheet as a .csv file. Student Information Systems (SIS) often have a method for generating reports in CSV format that can be modified to fit the format CN requires. If you do not know how to save a file in a CSV format, please check the documentation for the program you are using to create your CSV file.
 

CSV Field Format

There are many fields that can be included in your CSV file (please refer to the table below). Among these fields, only five of them are required:

  • institution_id
  • primary_email
  • first_name
  • last_name
  • status
Please note: whatever fields you decide to include, you must add the name of the fields in the first row of your CSV file. They can be listed in any order.
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Two example CSV files have been attached to this article: one only includes the five required data fields, and one includes all possible fields. Please download them and take a look. You can even use these as a template for your own CSV file by removing the example data and any unnecessary fields.
 

Data Fields in the CSV file

The table below lists all of the possible fields that can be included.

All Date/time values should follow the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601 standard
 
Field Name
Required
Data Type
Value Range
Description
institution_id 
Required
String
 
A unique identifier used to reference users in the enrollments table. This identifier should not be changed and must be globally unique.
first_name
Required
String
 
 
last_name
Required
String
 
 
primary_email
Required
String
Valid Email
should be unique for each user
status
Required
Enum
active
deleted
alumni
inactive
parent
This status would be matched to the status of the user in CN. The “deleted” value equals to "dropped off" in CN.
password
Optional
String
 
This field sets the password for users. This field is optional and users can create their CN Password on their own. 
user_label
Optional
String
 
Institution admins need to create user labels from the Manage User Labels tab first. For adding multiple labels you would need to separate them using “|”. For example, “FirstYear|Staff” will associate two labels, “FirstYear” and “Staff” to the assigned users.
login_id
Optional
String
 
This value can be used to match the user with an external server such as LDAP or CAS as external authentication server
sis_id
Optional
String
 
A secondary unique identifier is useful for more complex SIS integrations. This identifier should not be changed and must be globally unique.
full_name
Optional
String
 
 
birth_date
Recommended
DateTime
e.g. YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ
CN will not display this information on the website. It will only be recorded internally for permission granting purposes. For example, younger students' ePortfolio page will not be public facing based on their institution's setting.
gender
Optional
Int
0 = not known,
1 = male,
2 = female,
9 = not applicable
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO/IEC_5218
creation_date
Optional
DateTime
e.g. YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ
 
admission_date
Optional
DateTime
e.g. YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ
This creation date is the date of creation for the user record on the student information system of the institution.
 
CN may use this data to label the start date of the certified institution logo on user ePortfolios. 
major_minor
Recommended
String
 
This data will be used to fill the Major/Study Area field and to automatically generate skill  tags on user ePortfolio/profile page. You can use "|" to seperate multiple terms. 
secondary_email
SR
String
Valid Email
 
grade_level
Recommended
String
Description => Code
Infant/toddler => IT
Preschool => PR
Prekindergarten => PK
Transitional Kindergarten => TK
Kindergarten => KG
First grade => 01
Second grade => 02
Third grade => 03
Please go to Description
 
Complete list of codes and Description:
https://ceds.ed.gov/cedselementdetails.aspx?termid=8267
 
 
CN will not display this information on the website. It will only be recorded internally for permission granting purposes. For example, younger students' ePortfolio page will not be public facing based on their institution's setting
country
Recommended
String
 
Country of current residency. 
This will be used to fill the Country/Region field and to display the flag on user ePortfolio/profile page. 
state
Optional
String
 
This will be used to fill the State/Province field on user ePortfolio/profile page. 
city
Optional
String
 
This will be used to fill the City field on user ePortfolio/profile page. 
nationality
Optional
String
Country Name
 CN will not display this information on the website. It will only be recorded internally.
primary_language
Optional
String
 
This will be used to fill the Primary Language field on user ePortfolio/profile page. 
institutional_role
Optional
String
Student
Faculty
Member
Instructor
Mentor
Staff
Alumni
ProspectiveStudent
Guest
Other
Administrator
Observer
Parent/Guardian
None
This role is basically the role of the user within the institution which is different than the role within the course.
 
 
This will be used to fill the Role/Status field on user ePortfolio/profile page. 
mobile_phone
Recommended
String
Valid Phone Number 

 CN will not display this information on the website. It will only be recorded internally.
bio
Optional
String
Any text without carriage return (new line, Enter)
This value would be shown as Introduction under the About section on user ePortfolio/profile page.
Once the CSV file is ready, you can proceed to import the CSV file.

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