How to import library accounts via CSV

We encourage readers to create their own Beanstack accounts and profiles from the reader view. This encourages ownership over logging and participation, and also gives you more accurate participation and engagement statistics.

If you still need to add users to your site en masse, you can do so from the admin dashboard by importing a CSV file of all the users' information. Keep in mind that importing accounts this way creates one individual account creator and reader per entry, and does not allow you to create family or group accounts. You can set up your CSV and import a list of accounts by following the steps below!

1. Open a new file or edit a file in a spreadsheet editor like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.
2. Add the following column headers:

   email	username
   first_name	last_name
   library_branch	school
   partner	zipcode
   library_card_number	phone_number
   grade_level	gender
   school_student_id	cultural_pass_number
   age	local_area
   send_recommendations

3. If your site has custom registration questions, you should enter those on the CSV too. The question, worded exactly as you have it for user registration, would be in the header row. In the rows for the user, include the answer exactly as it should be worded. You can check your site's custom question wording at Setup > Registration Fields > Custom Question.
4. Add one individual reader per row, making sure to fill in all the columns for required information on your site. All Beanstack sites require first_name, last_name, age, and email or username, and some sites have additional registration requirements. You can check your site's requirements by logging in with a library administrator account and navigating to Setup > Registration Fields > Display or Require Fields.
   1. For any required fields like library_branch, partner, or local_area, you will need to make sure you only use the options you've added to your site within those registration field's setup pages in the admin dashboard.
5. When you're done editing your file, click File > Save As or File > Download As and select CSV.
6. Save your file using a unique and recognizable filename without any spaces.
7. Log in to your Beanstack site and navigate to People > Add an Account Creator and Reader.
8. Click "Import a Users CSV" and then "Choose CSV."
9. Select your CSV file from your local device and click "Open." 
10. Once the import is done, all readers will be searchable in People > Find A Person. Their passwords will default to beanstack.