Populating your Own Database

This section covers details about:

• Importing participants into Own Database from a file
• Manually adding participants
• Exporting existing entries from your Own Database
• Supported file formats for the mass imports

Importing participants into Own Database from a file 

Importing participants works a little differently depending on whether you are doing it the first time, or if you are updating existing entries with new data. During the first import, you initialize the structure of your Own Database, while during the update, you map the data to an existing structure or add new data columns.

First import of participants 

When participants are first added into the Own Database (whether via import or manually) you also need to determine the structure of the database – what kind of data you want to store about participants. The structure remains flexible after the first import – you may add more columns to the data later in future updates.

Step 1 – Upload CSV or XLSX file 

Choose the file you would like to import (CSV or XLSX). You can use data export from your CRM or any other file which you’re using to store and manage details about your current users. When you insert your file, its type will be automatically detected. Make sure the file contents adhere to the standardized format described in Supported file formats.

Step 2 – Select type and name for each column 

Your Own Database of participants is a table where the individual participants are rows while their properties appear as columns. When starting from scratch, you need to define how each of the columns from the import should be represented in the database. For each column, you need to select a name and data type.

You can edit column names to any text containing characters from UTF-8 encoding. If you are using a file that already includes a header row with column names, enable the option First row contains column names to have the column names automatically loaded. Every column has to have a name.

Each column has one of several data types. Data types determine how the data is interpreted for purposes such as filtering and sorting (e.g., you can filter entries for text that contains a specific word, or for a date that is after a specific milestone). Read Filters and Segments to learn more. To learn how data in columns of specific type needs to be represented read Supported file formats.

Tag is a data type useful for marking participants with a value that often repeats itself and does not require full text search. (For example, a property Country with values such as USA, UK and Canada works well as a tag, while a property Description where you keep verbal notes on the participants works better with the text data type.) Filtering with tags is faster than with text, which is a more complex action that takes longer to process, especially if you have many entries in your database. Use the option Assign tags to everyone imported if you would like to add a specific tag or tags to all participants from the currently uploaded batch (e.g. the channel that the participants came from). More on Tags here.

By unchecking checkboxes, you can omit specific columns from being imported into the database (except for the email column, which is required).

Step 3 – Review imported participants 

In this step, you get the chance to amend the data you are about to import into your database. If you have any duplicate rows with the same email address in your data file, you will be prompted to choose if you would like to keep the first or the last occurrence of every participant. The email address is supposed to be a unique identifier.

You will be presented with all of the entries you are about to import and how their properties are bound to the columns you set in your Own Database. You can see the summary of how many entries do you have in each of the specific states:

• All – The full list of unique entries in the current import batch.
• Invalid – Since the email address is the only required column, the entry will be denoted as invalid only if the email address is missing or in an invalid format. If your batch includes any invalid entries, you won’t be able to finish the import. To fix this you can either manually amend the problematic entries by adding or repairing the email addresses, or you can decide to simply delete all the invalid entries.
• Changed – How many entries were amended manually. If you change or delete anything in an entry, it will be added to this count. Changed fields are shown as blue. So for example as we can see in the picture below, the First Name value for the second entry has been changed to “Otto”. If you change multiple columns in one entry it won’t increase the changed number multiple times.
• Existing – Since you are doing the first import this number will always be 0. It shows how many of the entries we are about to import are already existing in your Own Database.
• Incomplete – Some details about participants may be missing from their entries (e.g., you may not know the first name of every person in your database). This does not prevent you from importing them. If everything about an entry is okay (e.g., the email address is valid) but they are missing some information, they are listed here so that you may review the missing details.
• Deleted – The entries you have marked for deletion. So far they were only soft deleted and can be recovered.

After you have dealt with all the invalid entries, all that remains is clicking on “Finish import” and you are done. Now your Own Database is ready for recruiting. Learn more about Recruiting with your Own Database.

Additional imports of participants 

When you already have your Own Database populated with participant information, importing more participants should be easier than the first time since your database already has a defined structure. However, there are some things to keep in mind.

• You already have a structure in place from your earlier imports. You will need to decide if you want to map properties from the new entries on these existing columns or if you would like to add new columns.
• There may be duplicates in your new import – entries which are already present in the database (decided by the same email address). You will need to choose if you want to merge these entries or replace them.

If you have never done an import into Own database, you can find a detailed guide below, specific for the additional imports.

Step 1 – Upload CSV or XLSX file 

The beginning is the same as with the first import. You need to choose the file you would like to import (CSV or XLSX). You can use data export from your CRM or any other file which you’re using to store and manage details about your current users. When you insert your file, its type will be automatically detected. Make sure the file contents adhere to the standardized format described in Supported file formats.

Step 2 – Review imported participants 

This is where it veers off from the initial import. You already have some structure in place from your earlier imports. You can either try to map the properties from your new import file on the existing columns present in your Own Database, or you can create new columns.

If you are adding new entries, you should be able to map at least some of the properties on the existing columns. If it’s not possible, that’s okay, the key thing is that you don’t create additional columns for the same data. If you are mapping new data on existing columns, make sure they are in the same format as the old data, for example make sure that dates are in the same format.

When creating a new column, you must select a name for it and a data type. You can select the text data type for any column. The number data type for any numerical column. Other data types have to follow the structure described in Supported file formats to be properly imported. Any column can be imported as a tag. If data you are trying to import doesn’t have a representation in your database yet, you can create a new column for it or omit it. The only required column is the email address. You can also add an additional tag or tags to all the participants imported in this batch. This will help you with differentiating between the different import batches. The import date might be a good idea for this tag. More on Tags here.

Each column has one of several data types. Data types determine how the data is interpreted for purposes such as filtering and sorting (e.g., you can filter entries for text that contains a specific word, or for a date that is after a specific milestone). Read Filters and Segments to learn more. To learn how data in columns of specific type needs to be represented read Supported file formats.

If you have any duplicates in your data, you will be prompted to choose if you would like to keep the first occurrences or the last. Duplicate entries are entries with the same email address, since the email address is supposed to be a unique identifier.

Step 3 – Review imported participants 

In this step, you get the chance to amend the data you are about to import into your database. If you have any duplicate rows with the same email address in your data file, you will be prompted to choose if you would like to keep the first or the last occurrence of every participant. The email address is supposed to be a unique identifier.

You will be presented with all of the entries you are about to import and how their properties are bound to the columns you set in your Own Database. You can see the summary of how many entries do you have in each of the specific states:

• All – The full list of unique entries in the current import batch.
• Invalid – Since the email address is the only required column, the entry will be denoted as invalid only if the email address is missing or in an invalid format. If your batch includes any invalid entries, you won’t be able to finish the import. To fix this you can either manually amend the problematic entries by adding or repairing the email addresses, or you can decide to simply delete all the invalid entries.
• Changed – How many entries were amended manually. If you change or delete anything in an entry, it will be added to this count. Changed fields are shown as blue. So for example as we can see in the picture below, the First Name value for the second entry has been changed to “Otto”. If you change multiple columns in one entry it won’t increase the changed number multiple times.
• Existing – Because you are doing an additional import now, it is possible that some of the entries will already be in the database. The presence of the entry is decided upon the email address, since it has to be a unique identifier. You can choose if you want to merge these entries or replace them.
  • Merge – When you select this option the entries already present in the database and the ones with the same email address will be combined. If there is a property for a column present just in the database or in the new import this property will be used for the entry. If there is a value present both in the database and in the new import, the one in the database will be overwritten by the new incoming value. This option is designed for cases when you are either adding new information to the participant entries or if you are filling missing values.
  • Replace – if you choose this option the old entry will be completely overwritten by the incoming data. This will be true even in cases when there is a missing value for a column in the incoming data, which is at that time present in the database. This option is best used when you need to amend the data for existing entries.
• Incomplete – Some details about participants may be missing from their entries (e.g., you may not know the first name of every person in your database). This does not prevent you from importing them. If everything about an entry is okay (e.g., the email address is valid) but they are missing some information, they are listed here so that you may review the missing details.
• Deleted – The entries you have marked for deletion. So far they were only soft deleted and can be recovered.

After you have dealt with all the invalid entries, all that remains is clicking on “Finish import” and you are done. Now your Own Database is ready for recruiting. Learn more about Recruiting with your Own Database.

Manually adding participants 

Sometimes you just need to add one or two new participants to your database or you simply don’t have a file available for import. That’s why you can add respondents to your database manually as well. If you have a structure set up in your database already, you can simply fill out the fields (and add new columns) to add a new entry into your database. f you are using existing fields, make sure you are adhering to the correct formats. If your database is empty, you will need to create the structure.

When creating a new column, you must select a name for it and a data type. You can select the text data type or tag for any column. The number data type for any numerical column. Other data types have to follow the structure described in Supported file formats to be properly imported.

Each column has one of several data types. Data types determine how the data is interpreted for purposes such as filtering and sorting (e.g., you can filter entries for text that contains a specific word, or for a date that is after a specific milestone). Read Filters and Segments to learn more. To learn how data in columns of specific type needs to be represented read Supported file formats.

Each time you create a new entry, simply click on the check mark button at the end of the line you are currently creating. After clicking on this button your new participant will be added to your current import batch. Once you are finished with creating entries for all the participants you are looking to add into your database in this batch you need to click the Finish Import button to actually add them into your database.

Exporting existing entries from your Own Database 

All your current entries along with column names can be exported in a .csv or .xlsx format. Exporting them in this manner will assure full compatibility with the Own Database if you decide to use these files for later imports and it will also preserve any data format you have chosen for your columns. An export like this can be especially useful in a process of doing an en masse edit of your entries, such as changing a date format, or adding a new value based on values present in existing columns. Simply export your data from your Own Database, edit the file outside the UXtweak and then re import them.

Supported file formats for the mass imports 

UXtweak’s Own Database supports batch import of potential participants from your own participant pools. Import is done via a direct file upload. Currently, Own Database supports two import formats: .csv and .xlsx.

CSV files can be used with any standard separator – comma (,), semicolon (;), tab key (t), space ( ) or pipe (|).

These are the rules for the import files:

• Each user row needs to contain a valid email address – A valid email address consists of an email prefix and an email domain separated by the @ symbol. Email addresses will be used to contact participants. So make sure the ones you insert are valid and operational, otherwise your audience can’t receive invitations.
• Files have to adhere to UTF-8 encoding. Make sure that you choose this encoding when saving your file. UTF-8 is a universal format that covers most characters including special ones used in various global languages. Using any other encoding may result in the data not being possible to interpret.
• Including a header row with column names is recommended, though not required. However it makes import easier and quicker.

Columns are imported in one of several data types. Some of the data types have a format that needs to be followed in order for the data to be interpreted correctly. Supported formats:

• Date:
  • M/D/YYYY – example: (12/7/2022)
  • MM/DD/YYYY – example: (12/07/2022)
  • YYYY-MM-DD – example: (2022-12-07)
  • YYYY-MM – example: (2022-12)
  • D/M/YYYY – example: (7/12/2022)
  • DD/MM/YYYY – example: (07/12/2022)
  • D.M.YYYY – example: (7.12.2022)
  • DD.MM.YYYY – example: (07.12.2022)
  • DD-MM-YYYY – example: (07-12-2022)
  • TIMESTAMP – example: (1670401284824)
  • EPOCH – example: (1670401285)
• Text: Any text in UTF-8 encoding
• Number: Any number
• Boolean:
  • True and False
  • true and false
  • If you import data in other formats, you will be prompted to decide for each entry if a value should be bound to “true” or to “false”