Import Attendees

Before you start

When the bulk import pays off

Instead of adding every attendee one by one through Manage Attendees, the bulk import lets you take on a whole list at once, for example from a spreadsheet or an email with several addresses.

What you need

Basically just a valid email address per person. First and last name are helpful but not required, planni simply flags a missing name without blocking the import because of it.

Importing data

Supported formats

There is no downloadable template, the format is deliberately kept flexible.

How planni recognizes the columns

There are no fixed required columns, recognition works by content:

• A header row with terms like "First name", "Last name" or "Email" is detected automatically and skipped.
• Of the remaining columns in a row, everything before the detected email column counts as the name (the first as first name, the rest as last name), everything after it is ignored.
• The format "Max Mustermann <max@example.com>" as well as plain email-only lines are also recognized.
• The only strict requirement is a valid email address. If the last name or the whole name is missing, planni flags the row with a warning but still imports it.

Checking the preview

Duplicates and already registered contacts

planni compares email addresses in two ways:

• Within the imported list: if an email address appears more than once, only the first occurrence counts, the rest are filtered out as duplicates and listed in a collapsible note.
• Against the event: contacts already registered as attendees are detected, greyed out in the preview and automatically skipped on import.

Fixing invalid rows

Rows without a recognizable email address are marked in red. As long as such rows remain, the import cannot be started, you either need to fix them or remove them from the list using the trash icon.

Capacity

If the event's free capacity is not enough for the whole imported list and overbooking is not allowed, planni rejects the entire import instead of taking on only part of it. You then see how many seats are free and how many you tried to import. Raise the capacity or allow overbooking on the event, see Create Event.

Workflows and starting the import

Triggering workflows or not

Before you start the import, planni shows you whether any active workflows are set up for new registrations. A checkbox lets you decide whether they should be triggered by the import. If no active workflows exist, planni tells you so explicitly.

What happens after the import

planni reports how many attendees were successfully added, how many were already registered and therefore skipped, and whether individual entries could not be imported. The newly registered attendees are registered for every active module of the event at once, not just for a single one.

Related articles

• Manage Attendees
• Create Event
• Print Attendee Lists