Importing records in bulk
Bring an existing list of people, households or establishments in from a spreadsheet, and read the report that comes back.
All three record types can be imported from a spreadsheet. The flow is the same for each, and it starts from the list page rather than a separate screen.
Starting an import
- Open the Individuals, Households or Establishments list and choose "Import".
- Choose "Download the template" first, so your column names and the options in each column match what CommonLynk expects.
- Fill the template in, keeping the header row as it is. You may delete the example row or leave it: it is ignored either way.
- Return to the list, choose "Import" again, select your file and choose "Upload & Import".
The template
The workbook you download is built for your workspace, not a generic sample. Required columns are coloured differently from optional ones, choice columns carry the exact list of allowed values as a dropdown, and a Field Rules sheet explains every column with its format and an example.
If your workspace has a second content language, the name columns appear twice, once for each language, labelled with the language you actually chose.
Column headings are matched flexibly, so differences in capitalisation, spacing or punctuation do not matter. Governorate, district and village names must match locations already set up in your workspace.
How duplicates are treated
- An individual whose ID number already exists in your register is skipped. Existing people are never overwritten by an import.
- A household whose code already exists is skipped.
- An establishment whose name matches one you already hold is updated rather than skipped, and only when the person importing also has permission to edit.
The import report
Every row is checked on its own, so one bad row never stops the rest. A row that fails is not written at all.
When the upload finishes, a report downloads on its own. It has a summary sheet counting how many rows were imported, updated, skipped and failed, and a details sheet naming every row with its outcome and, where something went wrong, the reason. A short summary of the same counts also appears on the list page.