Administrators have the ability to submit large batches of ideas through our Brightidea import wizard. We have designed this Submission Import Process to be as seamless as possible so that Admins can get the evaluation process started!
Getting Started
Before Admins begin to import Submissions into Brightidea, it's vital that all information is in place within the Initiative prior to importing. This includes necessary Statuses, Categories, and pre-existing Email Addresses of User(s) in Brightidea.
In order for the import to work properly, all fields and questions must be configured in the Initiative before downloading the import template. If changes are made to the Initiative after the import template has been downloaded, the template will need to be downloaded again in order for all relevant columns to appear.
Initiative
To import Submissions into an Initiative - navigate to Site Setup > Idea Tab > Idea Import:
Pipeline
To import Submissions directly from the Pipeline, navigate to either Step View or List View and select the dropdown arrow next to the Quick Add. Then, select "Import Submissions/Ideas"
The user will be prompted to download the "Submission Import Template"
Note: In order for the import to work properly, all fields and questions must be configured in the Initiative before downloading the import template. If changes are made to the Initiative after the import template has been downloaded, the template will need to be downloaded again in order for all relevant columns to appear.
Submission Import Template
From either Site setup or Pipeline download the "Blank Template" or the "Sample Data Template". The "Blank Template" will populate just the column titles in Row 1 that need to be filled in. While the "Sample Data Template" will provide sample Submissions as an example for Admins to follow.
Note: To ensure proper import of Submission data, do not edit the columns within the template. Altering the columns will cause the data to be improperly imported.
The administrator can then open and fill in the .XLS template in Excel.
Admins can also import answers for Additional Submission Form questions. When Admins setup their Submission Form, the Admin's template will automatically have their questions planned out in the top row of their import .xls file.
For our example, we have a Submission Form using the below question types:
- Check-box format
- Multiple Choice
- Long/Short Answer format
- Dropdown format
Once saved, in the .xls template, the questions will appear at the top row:
An example of a filled out Submission Import template will be as follows:
- For Checkbox, the import template supports applying multiple answers, so the answers "More Money" and "More Time" can be applied for all three submissions. These options will need to be separated by a comma.
- The answer "Yes" will be applied for all three submissions for the Multiple Choice question.
- Any text can be applied for the long/short answer.
- The answer "Evaluation Process" will be applied for the Dropdown question.
The .xls file will then look like this:
Once the Admin has completes the import template, go back to Pipeline or Site setup and select "Upload File".
Brightidea will automatically check the file and will give the Admin the number of Submissions that will be imported (as pictured above). In the case that Submissions cannot be imported, Brightidea will notify the Admin of the Submissions that won't be imported and the reason(s) why.
Once imported, all Submission(s) will be populated with their respective selections on the View Idea page(s):
Important Notes
- Currently, the Submission Import process does not support Team Submittals; it supports individual Submitters only. Team Submissions can only be made through the traditional Idea Submission process.
- To import tags, please separate each Submission's tags with separation of a comma. An example would be "innovation,world,communication"
- Foreign characters are supported.
- Submissions Import cannot be used to update existing submissions; this feature will only create new Submissions.
- If Initiatives use customized date formatting - the format should match the date formatting configured in System Setup > Site > General Settings
- Users do not receive reputation points for imported Submissions at this time.
- The Submissions Import feature does not currently support dependent submission form questions. Check to ensure there are no questions set as 'dependent' on the Submission Form before running the import.
- If a Rule within Rules Engine is configured to trigger an Email when a Submission enters the first Step, this may conflict with the Idea Import process.
- Idea Import will trigger the email to be sent before an Idea URL link has been generated. If you have a Rule configured for your first Step, we recommend disabling the rule before beginning the import process.
- Categories must be included in the Submission Import template. If your Initiative does not use Categories, you will need to enable 'apply 1 Category' and complete the Import.
Is it possible to import images if we have the URL of the image?
Unfortunately, it's not possible to import idea images at this time.
Thank you,
Ron Orlovetskiy
Brightidea Support
Sorry, forgot to add this. Is it also possible to batch upload ideas at different period. So each month, add another x number of ideas (it will follow the template), but other ideas might also be manually added during the period of batch uploading. THanks
Yes, you can use the import functionality at anytime when additional ideas need to be imported.
Thank you,
Ron Orlovetskiy
Brightidea Support
I'd like to import ideas from people who haven't logged on the platform yet, hence their email addresses are not in the system and they ideas are rejected.
Is there a solution to this? can I set up users emails without them manually logging in?
Hello Laurent,
Existing user accounts are required for idea import. The only option is to import the users into the system using the import functionality described below,
https://support.brightidea.com/entries/389266-Everything-You-Need-to-Know-about-User-Import-
Thank you,
Brightidea Support
Is it possible to import a new set of tags for existing ideas? We have 612 ideas that would benefit from having Aero, Auto, NA type tags adding to them but doing this to each idea manually seems quite slow.
Hi Team,
Unfortunately, it's not possible to import on existing ideas. The only option is to manually add the tags as needed.
Thank you,
Brightidea Support
Can we get an update on importing images. I believe it is now possible - how many images can be uploaded and can extra images be added to additional question fields.
Hi Damian,
It's not possible to import images on idea or extra submission form question at this time. Can you please confirm where you seen this information?
Thank you,
Brightidea Support
Hi Ron,
When trying to import ideas with data in Excel column K, we get two possible results (can be tried on the same imprt file):
If data in K is "random", then we get an error saying "Invalid image URL".
If we insert an image URL (from another idea in the same affiliate in my test), then we don't get an error, but there is no image in the outcome.
I think this is what Damian was referring to.
See screenshots attached.
HI Alexandre
I'm just guessing now, but I'd imagine it's because the URL is not publicly visible - maybe if you try with this URL:
http://www.google.com/adwords/express/images/features-1.jpg
as it's open to the public.
Hi Damian/Alexandre,
Damian - thank you for jumping in here!
Alexandre - Damian's point is correct, the image(s) must be hosted publicly in order to be picked up by our server on the idea import.
Please let me know if you have any further questions here.
Thank you,
Brightidea Support
Ron, Damian,
Thank you for the suggestion, it's working correctly this way.
However, my images are not public, I want to copy a bunch of ideas from one webstorm to another, with the images.
(Before you mention it, I'm trying the import option instead of the "Copy ideas" tool from the Pipeline because that one doesn't let me copy withOUT votes and comments - there is a bug currently under review.)
So, I guess I'll have to add picture manually after the import.
Thank you anyways for your correct explanation.
How about updating the import template (+ this help page) with the "Idea Image" information?
Best,
Alexandre
If I upload users and then import their ideas, is there a way I can prevent the users from getting notifications to this effect. The platform is not officially live yet, so don't want them to receive random e-mails based on my importing their data? If this is not possible, can I upload the ideas in my name as an administrator and then reassign them to the original idea submitter at a later time?
kendra
Hi Kendra,
When ideas are imported, no emails are sent out. The idea submission confirmation email only goes out when user manually submits an idea.
Please let me know if that answers your questions.
Thank you,
Ron Orlovetskiy
Brightidea Support
What is the syntax for importing a team submission? I'm able to import individuals, not not ideas from a team.
Hi Adam,
It's not currently possible to import with team submission, that can only be done during the regular idea submission process.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Thanks,
Ron
Brightidea Support
Also, is there a way to import ideas if the person is not yet a User, or do I have to add them first?
Hi Adam,
All the users must exist in the system first.
Thanks,
Ron
Brightidea Support
Hi Ron,
I want to know if it is possible to add in another tab to the form builder, please i.e. a tab not a field i.e. an additional tab next to Description, Attachment, History, Business Impact or amend one of these to suit us...?
Thank you,
Pam
Two questions related to Idea Import
(1) what specifically causes some ideas to be considered "broken"?
(2) how do I know which ideas are broken? If I'm supposed to get an email, I don't. What email address would this come from?