Name: Profyle Digital Business Cards
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People Import Guide This guide provides instructions for importing people data into Profyle Card using CSV files.
Overview The import function allows you to bulk create or update people records in your organisation. The system processes CSV files and validates all data before committing changes to the database.
CSV File Requirements The easiest way to use the import feature is to start with a valid import file.  A valid import file can be generated by using the People Export feature from within Settings > Import/Export.
Format: CSV (Comma-Separated Values)
Encoding: UTF-8
Delimiter: Comma (,)
Headers: First row must contain column names
ID Column: Required for all imports (can be empty for new records)
Required Columns id Type: String
Required: Yes (column must exist)
Description: Unique identifier for the person
Usage:
Empty/blank: Creates a new person with an auto-generated ID
Existing ID: Updates the existing person record
Non-existent ID: Import fails with error “ID does not exist in account”

email Type: String (valid email address)
Required: Yes
Description: Person’s email address
Validation: Must not be empty
Standard Data Columns All standard columns are optional unless specified otherwise.
Personal Information first_name Type: String
Description: Person’s first name
last_name Type: String
Description: Person’s last name
prefix Type: String
Description: Name prefix (e.g., Dr., Mr., Ms., Prof.)
nominals Type: String
Description: Post-nominal letters or certifications (e.g., PhD, MBA, FRICS)
Professional Information position Type: String
Description: Job title or position
department Type: String
Description: Department within the organisation
Contact Information mobile Type: String
Description: Mobile phone number
address Type: String
Description: Physical address
Social Media linked_in Type: String
Description: LinkedIn profile username or URL
Note: URLs are automatically cleaned (removes https://, www., linkedin.com/in/ prefix)
Example:
Input: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johndoe → Stored as: johndoe
Input: johndoe → Stored as: johndoe

twitter Type: String
Description: Twitter/X handle or profile
instagram Type: String
Description: Instagram handle or profile
Profile Content bio Type: String (text)
Description: Biography or about text
Max length: 255 characters
photo_url Type: String (URL)
Description: URL to the person’s profile photo
Group Assignment group Type: String
Description: Name of the group this person belongs to
Validation: Must match an existing group name in the organisation (including capitalisation)
Error: If group name doesn’t exist, import fails with “Group ‘{name}’ not found within groups”
Note: The group name is automatically converted to group_id during import
Location Configuration Locations control how address information is displayed on digital business cards.
locations Type: String (enumerated)
Required: Optional (defaults based on organisation settings)
Allowed Values:
disabled – No location information is shown
group – Show locations assigned to the person’s group
list – Show locations from the person’s location_ids list
custom – Use the custom address field

Validation: Value must be one of the allowed values listed above
Error: Invalid values fail with “Value ‘{value}’ is not an allowed value (disabled, group, list, custom)”
location_ids Type: String (comma-separated location IDs)
Description: List of location IDs to associate with this person
Format: Comma-separated values without spaces (e.g., loc1,loc2,loc3)
Validation: Each location ID must exist in the organisation
Error: If a location ID doesn’t exist, import fails with “Could not find Address ‘{id}’ referenced within location_ids”
Example: d9fg87d09f8g,osd98f7l9sfs
Note: Leave empty for no locations or when using locations: disabled or locations: group
How to Find Location IDs Location IDs are unique identifiers for office locations in your organisation. To find available location IDs:
Export your locations list from Settings > Import/Export  and use the Export Address Data
The id column contains the location IDs you can reference
Use these IDs in the location_ids field, separated by commas
Linked Profyles Configuration Linked Profyles allows you to connect people together, useful for teams, assistants, or related contacts.
linked_profyles Type: String (enumerated)
Required: Optional (defaults based on organisation settings)
Allowed Values:
disabled – No linked profyles shown
group – Show all people in the same group as linked profyles
list – Show specific people from the linked_profyle_ids list

Validation: Value must be one of the allowed values listed above
Error: Invalid values fail with “Value ‘{value}’ is not an allowed value (disabled, group, list)”
linked_profyle_ids Type: String (comma-separated person IDs)
Description: List of person IDs to link to this person
Format: Comma-separated values without spaces (e.g., person1,person2,person3)
Validation: Each person ID must exist in the organisation
Error: If a person ID doesn’t exist, import fails with “Could not find Person ‘{id}’ referenced within linked_profyle_ids”
Example: abc123def,xyz789ghi
Note: Leave empty when using linked_profyles: disabled or linked_profyles: group
How to Find Person IDs Person IDs are unique identifiers for each person in your organisation. To find person IDs:
Export your people list from the People page in the Profyle Card admin
The id column contains the person IDs you can reference
Use these IDs in the linked_profyle_ids field, separated by commas
Custom Fields Organisations can define custom fields to capture additional information specific to their needs.
Custom Field Format Custom field columns must be prefixed with cf_ followed by the custom field ID.
cf_{field_id} Type: Varies by field configuration
Description: Custom field values defined by your organisation
Format: cf_ + custom field ID
Example: If you have a custom field with ID employee_number_a5ffe, the column name would be cf_employee_number_a5ffe
How to Find Custom Field IDs Custom fields are configured at the organisation level
Contact your Profyle Card administrator to get the list of available custom field IDs or simply download a Person Export – it will contains all the custom field columns already.
Each custom field has a unique ID that must be used in the column name
Import Behaviour Creating New Records Leave the id column empty or blank
System generates a new unique ID automatically
Sets initial metadata (created_at, created_by)
Initialises default values for card_id, digital_id, subscription, etc.
Updating Existing Records Provide the existing person’s id in the id column
Only fields included in the CSV will be updated (merge behavior)
Updates metadata (updated_at, updated_by)
If the ID doesn’t exist, the record is skipped with an error
Validation Rules The import process validates data before writing to the database:
File Format: Must be valid CSV with headers
ID Column: Must be present (even if values are empty)
Email Required: Every record must have an email address
Group Names: Must match existing groups exactly
Location IDs: Must reference existing location IDs
Person IDs: Must reference existing person IDs (for linked profyles)
Enumerated Values: Must use exact values for locations and linked_profyles
Allowed Columns: Only standard fields and registered custom fields are allowed
Processing Details Batch Size: Records are processed in batches of 100
Error Handling: If a record fails validation, it’s skipped and an error is logged
Metadata: System automatically tracks who created/updated records and when
Audit Trail: All changes are logged with the authenticated user’s email
Import Results After import, a table will be shown with the status of each line within the CSV file and if that Person has been “created”, “updated”, or “error”.  Errors will also include a description as to why the error has occurred.

Please note that if a row generates more than one error, only the first error will be shown.

Best Practices

Test First: Import a small test file with 2-3 records before bulk importing
Backup IDs: Export existing people first to get accurate IDs for updates
Group Names: Verify group names are spelled exactly as they appear in the system
Location Setup: Create and configure locations before importing people that reference them
Custom Fields: Confirm custom field IDs with your administrator before importing
Email Validation: Ensure all email addresses are valid and unique
URL Cleanup: LinkedIn URLs are automatically cleaned, but other URLs should be properly formatted
Incremental Updates: For large organisations, consider updating in smaller batches

Common Errors

Error Message	Cause	Solution
“id column not present”	CSV missing id column	Add `id` as the first column
“Email address not present”	Email field is empty	Provide a valid email for each record
“Group ‘{name}’ not found within groups”	Group name doesn’t exist	Check group spelling or create the group first
“ID does not exist in account”	Trying to update non-existent person	Verify the ID or leave blank to create new
“Could not find Address ‘{id}’ referenced within location_ids”	Location ID doesn’t exist	Verify location IDs or create the location first
“Could not find Person ‘{id}’ referenced within linked_profyle_ids”	Person ID doesn’t exist	Verify person IDs or import those people first
“Value ‘{value}’ is not an allowed value”	Invalid enumerated value	Use only allowed values (see Allowed Values sections)

Importing People Data

People Import Guide

Overview

CSV File Requirements

Required Columns

id

email

Standard Data Columns

Personal Information

first_name

last_name

prefix

nominals

Professional Information

position

department

Contact Information

mobile

address

Social Media

linked_in

twitter

instagram

Profile Content

bio

photo_url

Group Assignment

group

Location Configuration

locations

location_ids

How to Find Location IDs

Linked Profyles Configuration

linked_profyles

linked_profyle_ids

How to Find Person IDs

Custom Fields

Custom Field Format

cf_{field_id}

How to Find Custom Field IDs

Import Behaviour

Creating New Records

Updating Existing Records

Validation Rules

Processing Details

Import Results

Best Practices

Common Errors

`id`

`email`

`first_name`

`last_name`

`prefix`

`nominals`

`position`

`department`

`mobile`

`address`

`linked_in`

`twitter`

`instagram`

`bio`

`photo_url`

`group`

`locations`

`location_ids`

`linked_profyles`

`linked_profyle_ids`

`cf_{field_id}`