Prepare a student file that will import cleanly
Check the columns, school values and student IDs in your register before importing students.
Your student file supplies the school-wide list used by your carnivals. Check the file against your Houseplay settings before uploading it, especially if you will use the same register to update students next year. You need to be an organisation admin to import students.
Start with the right columns
In Settings → Students → Import Students, you can download a sample CSV, but you do not need to follow the column headings exactly. After upload, Houseplay suggests mappings for the columns; check each Suggested mapping, change any that are wrong, and map the remaining columns in Map Columns.
| Houseplay field | What to put in your file |
|---|---|
| Student ID | Your school’s identifier for that student. Optional for a first import, but strongly recommended for later updates. |
| First Name, Last Name | A value for every student. |
| Gender | A gender already available in Houseplay, such as Male, Female or Other. |
| Grade | Your configured grade or year-level name, such as 8 rather than Year 8 if the grade is named 8. |
| House | A house or faction already set up for your organisation. |
| Date of Birth | Optional, but required if you plan to group carnival events by age. Supported formats include 25/12/2012, 2012-12-25 and 25 Dec 2012. Use one format throughout the column. |
| Notes | Optional free text. |
Two-digit years and dates with a time after them can also be read. Check the preview to make sure Houseplay interpreted them as you intended.
Set up the grades and houses you use in Houseplay before importing. The importer accepts differences in capitalisation for gender, grade and house, but the words and numbers still need to match a configured value. Check local names such as Reception, Prep or Kindergarten against your actual Grades list; do not substitute a different name in the CSV.
Keep student IDs consistent
On a later import, Houseplay first looks for a matching Student ID. If it cannot find one, it tries the student’s first and last name. Use the same school ID each time so a changed name still updates the right student. If a name matches an existing student but the IDs conflict, the preview marks that row as Error for you to resolve. Do not change an ID merely to make an error disappear; check the school register and the existing student first.
If you omit an optional column on a later import, existing values in that field are left alone. A blank cell in a mapped optional column clears that student’s existing value. Review those blanks if you are updating a roster.
Save and check the file
Upload a .csv, .xlsx or .xls file. For Excel files, Houseplay reads the
first sheet, uses row 1 for headings and skips blank rows. If you export a CSV,
prefer UTF-8 so names and punctuation survive. Keep text containing a comma
or line break in a single spreadsheet cell and let the spreadsheet application
quote it in the CSV. Check a few names with apostrophes, accents or other
special characters after exporting. The upload limit is 10 MB.
Before importing, compare the number of student rows with your register and check a few dates, IDs, grades and houses. Then follow Import students from CSV or Excel. On the preview, check How dates were read and the displayed dates. If slash dates remain ambiguous, Houseplay assumes day-first and asks you to check them. Use Change Mapping to correct a column without losing your other choices. Compare each change count with your plan. Leave Delete students not present in the import file off unless you are replacing the complete school list.
If a row is marked Error, use A student row failed to import before confirming the import.