Topic:

I have a mailing list on my PC that I want to upload into my RegOnline account. How do I upload a mailing list?

Solution:

Before you attempt to upload a mailing list to RegMail (the RegOnline email system), you’ll need to make sure that your mailing list meets the following set of parameters and considerations:

• Supported file formats – Your mailing list file must be in one of two file formats:
  • CSV (comma separated values) file format. On most Windows PCs with Microsoft Office installed, this type of file opens in Excel. This is the most common file format for upload, so this format is used in the examples below.
  • Comma-delimited TXT file. This is a text file that uses a comma to separate each column of data.
• Header row – This is the first row of data in your file and it indicates to the RegMail system that the data below it (in subsequent rows) is an email address or first name, for example. The data in the Header Row must be valid and in the correct order.
  • See the About the Header Row section below for details.
• Email – All rows of data in your file must have an email address.

If any of these considerations are not followed or are invalid, the mailing list will not upload. See the information below for details about each of these considerations.

About the header row –

When a mailing list is uploaded, RegOnline will look at the header (first) row in your file to indicate where that information should be stored in the database. For example, the header ‘Email’ tells the RegMail system that the data in the rows below it (rows 2 through your last row of data) is the user’s email address. RegMail then inserts that data into the Email field of the database.

Because the header row is used to identify what piece of data follows, the header must be an exact match for our database, including the use of capital letter(s) and the order of the rows. For example, if the first header field is called E-mail (with a dash), Email Address, email, etc., then RegMail will not upload the mailing list because it can’t correlate this header with the database field.

Below is a complete list of header row entries that are valid for your mailing list. While you may not have all of these fields in your list, the ones that you do have must exactly match the names of the valid header rows.

Example: Suppose your list has just an email address, first name, and last name. In your header row, the cells from left to right should be as shown below:

Email     FirstName    LastName

Note that the Email field must be the in the first column, but the FirstName and LastName can be in any order. See the Sample Files section below for a sample file that contains the properly formatted header information and data.

Complete list of valid header row entries –

The list below contains the valid entries for the header (first) row fields that you can upload into a mailing list. As mentioned above, these headers must be in the first row of your CSV file, and the Email field must be the first column (other fields can be in any order). If you don’t need a field (such as OptOut, etc.) just skip it and go to the next one that you do have.

Email
CCEmail
OptOut
Password
Prefix
FirstName
MiddleName
LastName
Suffix
Title
Company
AddressLine1
AddressLine2
AddressLine3
City
State
Zip
Country
WorkPhone
WorkExtension
HomePhone
CellPhone
Fax
SSN
MembershipId
CustomerId
BadgeName
ContactName
ContactPhone
ContactEmail
EmergencyContactName
EmergencyContactPhone
CustomField1
CustomField2
CustomField3
CustomField4
CustomField5
CustomField6
CustomField7
CustomField8
CustomField9
CustomField10

Other considerations –

• The email address is required for all records, so every record in your file must have an entry in the Email field.
• Each record must be on a separate line. If your data file does not have a specific field (such as CCEmail or OptOut), just skip that field and go to the next field that you do have.
• If you’re using Excel to create/modify your mailing list, you can go to the end of the file by clicking Ctrl-End on your keyboard. If the end of the file is past the last record in your list, you'll need to delete the extra lines. Go to the first blank line after your last record, click the row number (to highlight the row), drag downward to beyond the end of your file, then click Delete. This will delete all extra characters in these rows. Do the same thing for any extra columns in your CSV file, save the file, and upload again.

Sample files –

View our sample mailing list file for an example of how your mailing list must be formatted in order to upload properly.

Download a “starter” CSV file that has all of the headers in place for you. You can delete the columns you don’t need, and then copy your data into the appropriate columns.

To create a new mailing list:

1. In the Manager screen, click on the RegMail folder and select Mailing Lists.
2. Click the Create a New Mailing List button. A new window displays where you can enter the information about this list.
3. Make the following entries:
   • Name – The name to display in the Mailing Lists window for this list.
   • List Type – Custom List
4. Click OK to save your mailing list and return to the Mailing Lists screen. Your new list is shown here, but the list itself is still empty, so follow the steps below to populate this list with your data.

To upload your data into your mailing list:

1. In the Mailing Lists window, click the Upload icon. The Upload List Members window displays.
2. Click the Browse button and select the file on your computer.
3. Click OK to upload your data. If the upload was successful, a window displays indicating how many records were added.

Additional Information:

Download the detailed mailing list upload instructions.

Click the image at the top of this page to watch a short training video on this topic.

The field headers "CustomField1" through "CustomField10" do not correspond to the Custom Fields in the Event Registration Form. These fields are used to upload data into a mailing list so that they can be used as merge fields in an email content. See the related links below for further assistance using Merge Codes.

Related Links:

• How do I create email content or templates in RegMail?
• How do I schedule a job in RegMail?
• How do I create an invitation email for my event?
• What do the various merge fields do?
• What is the Master List, and what is it used for?
• How do I opt-out people from RegMail?
• User's Guide - Manager - RegMail - Mailing Lists
• User's Guide - Manager - RegMail - Create a New Mailing List
  

Keywords: mail, email, , Regmail, Regmail, email list, e-mail, mailing, Excel, CSV, XLS, list, lists, upload, up-load, uploading, load, members, member, Reg mail, Regmail, customfield1, Import, Importing, Import, Import, Import RegMail, RegMail, RegMail, RegMail, RegMail, correcting email address error

Was this article helpful?
Send us your feedback.