All Collections
K12 Edition
FTP Import File Types
FTP Import File Types

BenchmarkONE FTP supports 3 files types for adding, editing and appending data. View the file types and rules for successful processing.

Support Team avatar
Written by Support Team
Updated over a week ago

BenchmarkONE FTP supports 3 files types and each has a set of rules associated with it that need to be followed to ensure proper processing. The naming conventions noted in each of the file sections below are critical to successful import.

Contents:

Supported File Types

  • Add/Update

  • _T

  • _X

Requirements:

  • Maximum file size: 5MB

  • Maximum contacts per file: 200,000

  • Supported file extensions: .csv, .tsv, .txt, .xls, .xlsx

All file types support the following:

  • Add new records for email addresses that do not already exist in BenchmarkONE.

  • Update existing records in BenchmarkONE.

  • Add contact statuses based on a contact status provided in the file name.

  • Add a tag to all contacts in the file from a tag provided in the file name.

Note: any email address with acute accents (like á, é, í, ó, ú, ü, ñ, ç) will be skipped and added to the log file for identification.

File Naming Rules

All file types need to consider the following naming rules:

1) All files MUST contain a Contact Status, preceded by “_CS” in file name:

  • “_CS” denotes the contact status when not given in a column in the import file

  • If a contact status is made up of two words like "Not Interested" use a "." instead of a space in between (example: "_CSNot.Interested")

  • File will be rejected if _CS is not included even if the Contact Status is on the file.

  • Contact Statuses in file names will only apply to NEW contacts. Existing contact statuses will not be updated unless the Status is included as a column in the Add/Update file.

  • Contact Statuses used in the file name MUST already exist in BenchmarkONE. New Contact Statuses will not be created and the file will fail if the system does not recognize the content following the “_CS” in the file name.

  • The order of the Contact Status and tag in the file name DOES matter. The Contact Status must always be first and tag must always be second, separated by two underscores (__).

2) Including a Tag in the file name is optional.

  • A double underscore (__) needs to be included before a tag in the file name. A single underscore (_) will result in an error.

  • Create a different file for every tag. Multiple tag names cannot be in one file name.

3) File names only support alpha numeric values, plus underscore (_), period (.) and dash (-). Do not include any spaces in the file name.

4) File names do not support multiple suffixes. For example, you cannot have an _X and a _T in the same file name.

💡 Tip: File names are very specific and very fragile. It is important that file naming rules are followed for proper processing.

Add/Update File

Purpose:

  • Add rich data for new contacts into BenchmarkONE.

  • Update rich data for existing contacts in BenchmarkONE.

💡 Tip: The Add/Update file is the only file that supports rich data.

File Naming Conventions:

  • If the file name does not include a contact status, the file will not be processed.

  • File names only support alpha numeric values, plus underscore (_), period (.) and dash (-). Do not include any spaces in the file name.

File Formatting:

  • The content of this file needs to be formatted with column headers.

  • This file requires an email address column.

  • If an email address is duplicated within Add/Update files, the first row (from top to bottom) will be imported and the other(s) will be ignored.

Supported Fields/Columns:

  • All BenchmarkONE Standard Fields that have been smart mapped using standard import OR match the Field Mapping Guide.

  • All BenchmarkONE Custom Fields that have been smart mapped using standard import.

  • Add/Update files must contain an email address column, even if email address data is not included.

  • Add/Update files will create new records for rows that do not contain a valid email address IF there is data in both the first and last name fields.

T File

Purpose:

  • Apply individual tags to specific contacts from an import file.

File Naming Conventions:

  • If the file name does not include a contact status, the file will not be processed.

  • Including the tag in the file name is optional. It is important to note that if the tag is in the file name that the tag will be added to all records in the file regardless if the contacts are new or existing.

  • Do not include any spaces in the file name. File names only support alpha numeric values, plus underscore (_), period (.) and dash (-).

File Formatting:

  • Should not include column headers.

  • Email column must be first, followed by tag columns only. You must have at least one tag column in order for the file to process.

  • DO NOT include rich data in _T files.

  • If an email address is duplicated within _T files, each row will be processed as expected. Duplicate records will not be created.

Supported Fields/Columns:

  • Email Address

  • Tag (as many as needed)

X File

Purpose:

This file provides a way to “reset” tags in BenchmarkONE, to make sure specific tags only appear on certain records.

  • All tags from the import file will be removed from EVERY contact in the BenchmarkONE account (regardless of whether the contact appears in the file).

  • Tags that appear in the file will then be added only to the contacts in the file.

File Naming Conventions:

  • If the file name does not include a contact status, the file will not be processed.

  • Do not include any spaces in the file name. File names only support alpha numeric values, plus underscore (_), period (.) and dash (-).

File Formatting:

  • Should not include column headers.

  • Should not have field data.

  • Email column must be first, followed by tag columns ONLY. You must have at least one tag column in order for the file to process.

  • DO NOT include rich data in _X files.

  • If an email address is duplicated within _X files, each row will be processed as expected. Duplicate records will not be created.

  • If you have multiple _X files be sure they do not have the same tags.

  • If you place a tag on a separate row, with no contact associated with it, that tag will be removed from all contacts in the account.

  • When a tag name is included in the file name of an _X file, that tag will NOT be removed from records in BenchmarkONE. Tags provided as part of the file name will only be added to records. The remove function is from data in the tag column only.

Supported Fields/Columns:

  • Email Address

  • Tag (as many as needed)

Did this answer your question?