Importing a spreadsheet
Mapping columns, what happens to duplicates, and how to check the result before it’s written.
Quick answers
6 questions · click to openWill importing the same list twice create duplicates?
No. Each row is matched to an existing person by email address first, and by mobile number if there’s no email match. A matched row updates that person instead of creating a new one.
What if a column doesn’t fit any Cobber field?
Point it at a custom field. The destination list has a Custom field option alongside the standard ones, and anything you genuinely don’t want is set to Don’t import.
Can I import donations and memberships, not just people?
Yes. People, Donations and Memberships are separate import types, chosen on the first screen under What are you importing?
What happens to rows with errors?
They’re reported rather than silently dropped, and the rest of the file still imports. The result screen lists the rows that failed and why.
Can I tag everyone in one import?
Yes. The review screen has an option to tag everyone in the import, which is the easiest way to find the batch again afterwards.
Does the import run while I wait?
No. It runs in the background, so you can close the tab. The import appears under Recent imports with its progress.
The import wizard is four steps: choose the file, map the columns, review, and commit. Nothing’s written to your database until that last one, so you can back out at any point.
Before you start
Get the spreadsheet into one row per person, with a header row. Cobber reads the headers to suggest a mapping, so headers that say what they mean save you the most time.
Import a small slice first. Take twenty rows into a copy of your file and import those. You’ll learn more about your data in ten minutes than from any amount of staring at the spreadsheet.
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Choose what you’re importing
Go to Data Imports. The first screen asks What are you importing? with three choices — People, Donations and Memberships. Pick one, then Choose a file.
Choosing an import type and a file. -
Map your columns
Each column in your file gets a destination. Cobber pre-selects the obvious matches from your header row; you correct the rest. Anything you don’t want is set to Don’t import, and anything Cobber has no home for can go to a Custom field.
The column mapping screen, with destinations for each column. -
Review before committing
The review screen shows a Row preview and the Outcome for each row, so you can see what will be created and what will be updated. This is also where you can Tag everyone in this import — worth doing, because it gives you a way to find exactly this batch later.
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Commit, then check the result
The import runs in the background, so you can close the tab. It appears under Recent imports, and the result screen reports Import complete or Import failed along with the counts and any rows that could not be processed.
How Cobber decides a row is someone you already have
Matching runs in two passes:
- Email address. Any of the person’s email addresses, not just their primary one.
- Mobile number. Only if the row has no email match. Numbers are compared in a normalised form, so formatting differences don’t matter.
If neither matches, the row becomes a new person. This is why importing the same file twice is safe, and why a file with no email or mobile columns will create duplicates every time you run it.
| Symptom | Cause and fix |
|---|---|
| The import created duplicates | Your file probably has no email or mobile column, so nothing could be matched on. Clean up with Merging duplicates, then add an identifying column before importing again. |
| A column ended up in the wrong place | The mapping was wrong on the map step. Fix the mapping and re-import the same file — matched rows update rather than duplicate, so a corrected re-run repairs the damage. |
| Some rows failed | The result screen lists them with a reason. The most common causes are a missing name and a malformed date. |
| The file was recognised as a NationBuilder export | That’s deliberate — the headers matched NationBuilder’s. See Moving from NationBuilder; the mapping is locked because that engine is purpose-built. |