Updating Projects from Spreadsheet

Note: This feature is only available to Project Owners and Administrators and in the Business and Enterprise editions.

In this article, we will discuss how to update your projects using data from a spreadsheet. We will cover:

• Mapping Fields to Spreadsheet Columns
• Mapping Projects
• Mapping Users
• Mapping Project Status
• Modifying Drop-Down Custom Fields

Administrators can update any project they have access to, other users can update only the projects where they are the designated owner.

To start using this feature, select Projects in the left navigation and select Update Projects from Spreadsheet from the menu next to the Projects headline. This will open a dialog where you can select or drop a file containing a spreadsheet, such as a CSV file.

On the first screen you’ll see the imported data. You can choose whether the first row is a header. It is recommended that you use a spreadsheet with a header row, that makes it easier to perform the mapping from spreadsheet columns to BasicOps fields.

Mapping Fields to Spreadsheet Columns

The next part is to map the spreadsheet columns to BasicOps fields. The spreadsheet must contain a column that is mapped to the project name - this is how rows in the spreadsheet will be mapped to specific BasicOps projects.

Depending on the header names in the spreadsheet, some of the columns may already be mapped to BasicOps fields, but you may change them in the drop-downs on the right. Any column mapped to None will not be imported.

If your data cannot be mapped to a BasicOps field, you may choose to add a custom field representing one of the spreadsheet columns by choosing the Add custom field option.

BasicOps will use the data in the spreadsheet to guess the data type for the custom field, but you may choose another type in the dialog. See Custom Fields for more information about custom fields.

Mapping Projects

Once you’ve mapped your spreadsheet columns to BasicOps fields, the mapping is used to map spreadsheet rows to specific BasicOps projects. If a one-to-one mapping cannot be determined, we’ll show a dialog where you can perform the mapping. If there are rows you don’t want to import, choose the Discard option in the drop-down on the right. NOTE: You can only map to projects in BasicOps that are also in your spreadsheet. You are not able to add new projects to BasicOps. 

Mapping Users

The next step is to map any users in the spreadsheet to BasicOps users. If a user is not present in BasicOps, you can choose to discard the user or invite the user, using the Discard or the Invite option in the drop-down on the right. If you choose to invite a user, an email address must be present. If your spreadsheet does not contain an email address, you can supply it in the form.

Mapping Project Status

If a spreadsheet column is mapped to the BasicOps project status, you will have to specify the mapping of the values in the spreadsheet to the Basicops project status values.

Modifying Drop-Down Custom Fields

If you are mapping data to custom fields of the drop-down type, we’ll check the imported values against the values defined in the BasicOps custom field. If there is not a one-to-one correspondence between the values, you’ll be asked to perform the mapping. You can choose to map values to existing custom field values, discard a value, or update the options in the BasicOps custom field.

If you choose Update options, you will see the custom field dialog with any new value already added at the bottom. You can then edit the list, change the order of the values, and optionally add colors to the option values.

Finally, a review of the data that will be imported is displayed. If you see any issues, you can use the Previous button to go back and update your choices. Otherwise, click Import to update your projects.