Import Members

In this article you will learn how to add and update your contacts in Rule. With our import tool you can add or update your members in Rule. Import via file or by copying and pasting fields directly in the tool. If you want to import the data from another system, check out our integration guides.

Before you start

• Customers with Rule Free can import your contacts and send 1000 emails in total per month. To find out more about our other subscription types, visit our pricing page.
• To make importing your members easier, we recommend that you work with a program like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets, and save these documents as a CSV or XSL file.
• When you add phone numbers to your CVS or XSL file, they must be in the correct format for them to be imported correctly - check out how to format phone numbers.

Start importing

1. Click on the"Members" icon
2. You will be able to choose two options, either to upload a file (txt, csv, xls, xlsx).
3. Or"Cut and paste", see picture below how to add single members. 

For file import, it is important both for readability and simplicity to import member data in the correct format. Examples such as Mail address, Phone number and Language are important to ensure that they are correctly formatted and spelled correctly.

Below you will find an example of an import file with the most common fields with examples of formatting, proper landsnummer for telephone numbers and the right ISO-kod for languages.

For a few recipients, you can import the members manually, double checking that you write the members in the way shown in the example below.

To continue importing your members, click on " Next step" in the top right corner.

In the next step you will see this view. Here you should select the tag(s), läs här om du är osäker vad taggar är. In short, the tag is the name of the "list" where your members will be located. If you don't have one already, you can make your first tag in the field that comes up when you click on "Select tags", name it for example "Newsletter", "Onboarding" or "New members". Just make sure to click the save button. After that, proceed to the next step.

If you have set up "Preferences" already, you can activate it while importing your new members. Otherwise, skip to the next step.

If not, you can read about how to kommer igång med Preferenser i denna artikel.

1. Click on"Opt-in"
2. If you do not want to use preferences in this particular import, check"Override subscribers' choices".
3. If you have clicked"Opt-in", choose your preferences

The next step in " Matcha columns" we will make sure that the right columns from your file are matched with the right medlemsfält. By default the obvious fields are matched, but please check that the imported value is linked to the correct group and member value.

1. Here we can see that the first member field is correctly matched from the file.
2. When there is no match, it says"Ignore this field", where you click on the dropdown menu and select the correct custom field. There is always a series of default fields, in this case there was"Phone number" and then click on it. If it is a field that does not exist, just click on create new at the top of the dropdown menu. 

Please note that if you upload an import file that includes languages, make sure that the member field is correct, otherwise the members will automatically be in Swedish. 

We use ISO-standard 639-1 for languages and it is worth mentioning that it is important that the code is written in lower case.

The last step gives you the option to block members from " Promotions" and"SMS" mailings. If you don't want to do that, click on"Finish import".