You’ve arrived here because you want a quick way to update lots of people in one action, like changing everyone’s password, for example.
First, you should familiarise yourself with the structure of a Universal Import CSV file – it’s non-negotiable, so you have to get it right!
For a quick reminder on how to get the best from Report Builder, revisit this guide and then come back here for the specific steps to follow.
Ready to get cracking? Let’s go …
Our goal is to create a csv file with the right headers, in the right order and with the right information:
Open Report Builder and create a new report called “Export active people in Universal Import format” and press Create Report:
Now start picking the right columns in the right order, starting with the User section and Username field. Here is the full list of fields to pick and remember to pick these in the following order and remember to switch to the Location section to pick the Location Name and then switch back to the User section for everything else:
Username | This is what a person will log in to the learning platform with. It is unique to every person in the learning platform. We may interface with another HRIS platform, which will automatically (or silently) log them into the learning platform, but they will still have this unique identifier that exists in both your HRIS platform and the learning platform. |
Type Description
| This describes what type of dashboard a person has and therefore what tools they have access to e.g. Report Builder! |
First Name | A person’s given first name as defined by the HRIS platform or entered manually. |
Last Name | A person’s given surname as defined by the HRIS platform or entered manually. |
Email Address | Useful to request a login reset and for receiving email digests. |
Location Name | This is the actual name of the location where a person works. |
Date of Birth | This is useful if you need to assign content for somebody who's over a certain age for legal reasons, e.g. 18. |
Language | The learning platform is translated into multiple languages. If we know what language they prefer then we can present the learning platform in that language. |
Job Code | As defined within your HRIS platform, a code that defines a job that someone does e.g. “MGR” (a manager). This is aligned with the Job Description and provides a mechanism where we can assign a learning profile so that we give people a list of courses applicable to the job that they do |
Job Description | As defined within your HRIS platform, a description or label that describes a job that someone does e.g. “Manager” This is aligned with a Job Code. |
Joining Date | This is the date that they joined the business. |
Leaving Date | This is the date that they left the business, and it's an important field when automating your new starters, movers and leavers because when we receive a leaving date, we will automatically mark that person as inactive (Account Active=0). |
Temp Exclude | This means is they've been excluded from reporting for whatever reason. It could be long-term sick, maternity/paternity leave, or something unspecified.
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We’ve now done everything we can in Report Builder, and you’ll end up with something like this, so export your report:
You could email this to someone else if you need to, if you’re completing this whole exercise then just export the file to your computer:
Download your csv file from the View Exports option:
You now need to switch to your “spreadsheet editor of choice”; we’ll be using Microsoft Excel to insert some columns and change the header names, but use whatever you’re comfortable with. The process is the same.
The first thing you’ll notice is that the headers are what Report Builder exports (and not what Universal Import needs), and that there are some columns missing; so let’s sort that out first. Insert a new column after the “user_date_of_birth” column (Column G) – this is going to become the Country column:
Next, insert a new column after the “user_email_address” column (E) - this is going to become the Password column:
Next, insert two new columns after the “user_leaving_date” column (N) – these are going to become the Employment Type and Old User Name columns:
You’ll remember that we need to put the correct column headers in for the Universal importer to work; to do this, download the file attached to this guide called Blank Universal Import.csv now. This file has all of the correct column headers for you to copy and paste directly into your report file.
Now right-click on row 1 and insert a new row:
Copy your headers from Blank Universal Import.csv:
… and paste them into row 1 of your report:
Just a quick check to see that the old-named and new-named columns align is all that’s needed before you delete your old headers on row 2:
At this point, you can change whatever data you’d like to in the file! You can delete the rows for people you don’t need to update; you could move people into different locations in the business by changing the Org1 data; or you can give them each a new password – simply enter it in plain text in the Password column – and then save the CSV file!
That’s it, you're now ready to import this file and update everyone in one go.