Sapling - Bulk Data Upload (Self Service Upload)

Introduction

With Self Service Uploads, you can accurately and efficiently upload your own data files to insert or update team member records.

With this feature, you can:

• Download a sample CSV template to insert your information into
• Mass create new pending hires
• Mass create profiles for existing team members
• Mass update field values on current team member profiles
• And create or update other data (we're continuously adding new upload options)

Important to note: Only users with Super Admin permissions can view the Self Service Upload feature on their account.

This article covers the following topics: 

• How to use Self Service Upload?
• Create profiles for existing team members
  • Use Sapling template
  • Upload a CSV file
• Update values on current team member profiles
• 💡Pro Tips

How to use Self Service Upload?

From the home page, navigate to Administration Tools > Platform Settings > Upload Data. Under the Upload Team Member Data, please select whether you want to:

1. Create profiles for existing team members
2. Update values on current team member profiles

 

How to create profiles for existing team members

Select the Create profiles for existing team members and choose how you'd like to upload the data:

1. Download the Sapling profile data template
2. Upload a CSV file
3. Fill it in directly in Sapling

1. Use Sapling template

Here, you are prompted to first download the Sapling template. If required, click on Download template and review the in-template instructions to learn how to fill it in.

Pro Tip: delete any fields or columns that you are not updating the data for to reduce time spent mapping data fields once you upload.

2. Upload a CSV file

Once you’ve filled in the CSV template, return to this page and upload the data by selecting the “Upload a CSV file” option.

A new browser tab opens. To bulk add user information, upload the CSV file.

You can upload any .csv, .tsv, .xls, .xlsx, .xml file with any set of columns as long as it has 1 record per row.

The next step allows you to match your spreadsheet columns to the right Sapling data points. You're able to clean up or remove any corrupted data before finalizing your report.

Pro Tip: Make sure all the users who appear in the file you’re uploading already exist in Sapling. Otherwise, you’ll get an error message.

After confirming the mapping, click Review. On the next page, data can be edited straight from the upload tool without having to upload a new spreadsheet.

Then click Continue and Yes to Submit.

Your uploaded data will be processed and you will receive an email when the data has been successfully uploaded to Sapling.

How to update values on current team member profiles

The process for updating values on current team member profiles is the same as described above but affects a single type of data instead of multiple. Please select the data type you want to update and select the method (CSV upload or manual input).

You can bulk update data in Job Details tables, Full profile, upload PTO balances, upload PTO requests on current team member profiles.

You may choose to use either email addresses OR user IDs to map onto user records. If you want to bulk update email addresses, choose to use user IDs. 

💡Pro Tips

• What values are rolled forward?

  • Sometimes you may upload a .csv that does not contain all columns present in the original table. If any column from a table is not present in the .csv or not mapped, the value for that column will be rolled forward from the chronologically previous row in the table. If there is no chronologically previous row, then the value is left blank.

• What special characters can cause issues if their part of the header?

  • These characters cause issues with the data to upload if their part of the headers/column names:  /, %, + , =, ?.

• What happens when the .csv file includes all columns in a table and some columns are ignored during mapping?

  • The ignored columns for the rows that are inserted will be populated with rolled-forward data from those columns in the chronologically previous rows in the table.

• What happens if the option/value chosen for a group type doesn’t exist in Sapling?

  • The group type value is created in Sapling and the new value is assigned to the team member in Sapling.

  • For example, You upload a CSV file that has 'Location' as ‘New York’ for a team member. If the location 'New York' (exact spelling match) doesn't exist in Sapling, after the bulk upload, 'New York' will be added to the 'Location' group in Sapling and will be assigned to the team member in Sapling.  The new value 'New York' will also be enabled (toggle on) to further show up in the 'Location' dropdown for you to select.

• How do I update a coworker field like Manager and Buddy?
  • To update fields like Manager or Buddy, you'll need to provide at least a company email address, as it serves as our unique identifier in Sapling. Be sure to enter the correct email address rather than the coworker’s name.

• The list of ISO Standard country codes (alpha-2 & alpha-3): https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/country_code_list.htm