Importing a group

Import is under the group's Settings, labelled Import. It lists what an import will do and the kinds you can bring in: young people, team, events, sections, badge awards, meetings and attendance, the waiting list and equipment.

Choose Download template, fill it in, and drop the CSV on the page. A blank template has no id column, so importing it only adds new rows or updates people it can match. It never clears the group.

Some badges share a name across sections, such as the Cubs and the Scouts Outdoors Challenge. The import picks the one for the row's section, or the young person's own section if that column is blank.

A meetings and attendance file has a row per young person. Add description and programme_notes columns to bring in each meeting's plan: fill them on any one of its rows, and blank cells leave what's already there.

Badge awards are usually history, so Mark them as presented is ticked for a badge awards file: each award is recorded as handed over on its award date. Untick it for badges you still have to give out, so they wait under Badges to present. A presented_on column gives a row its own date. Importing the same file again with the box ticked marks awards that are still waiting as presented.

An unknown team email becomes an invitation; no account is created. The invitations aren't emailed unless you tick Send invitation emails now, so an import never emails anyone by surprise; send them later from the Team page with Resend. Importing young people, contacts and the waiting list never emails parents. The person importing is never removed from the team. An event with sign-ups or attendance, or a section with members or events, is left in place.