Uploading faculty images in bulk

Faculty profile photos can be bulk-assigned to Constituent Manager profiles using the Faculty Photos datasheet template and the Import Data uploader. Images must be uploaded to File Manager first (not Resources), then linked to profiles via ImportID in the datasheet.

In this article

• Step 1: Optimize your images
• Step 2: Name your files
• Step 3: Bulk upload photos into File Manager
• Step 4: Download datasheet template
• Step 5: Locate each user's ImportID
• Step 6: Complete the spreadsheet
• Step 7: Save your datasheet with the correct file name
• Step 8: Upload datasheet 

Use a datasheet template to automate the process of adding profile photo(s) into Constituent profiles.

Here's how to get started! 

Step 1: Optimize your images

Please refer to the article, "Managing constituent profile photos" for more information about optimizing your faculty photos before you upload them into File Manager.

Step 2: Name your files

• Use standardized filenames: This simplifies the connection and management of these files. 
• We recommend labeling your photos with either of these formats. 

•  
  • firstname.lastname (+ file type, e.g. john.smith.jpg)
  • lastname_firstname

• Are you replacing existing photos? 
  • Save new images in the same folder as the current ones.
  • Use the same filename and extension (e.g., .jpg, .png) as the existing image to auto-replace.
• No photo? Use placeholder or school logo that is the same size as other images. 
• Duplicate names? Add a number or importID to each name to create unique files.
  • For example, john_smith_importID.extension or john.smith01.extension.

Step 3: Bulk upload photos into File Manager

Here's how to bulk upload all of your faculty and staff profile photos into a common folder in File Manager. 

• Navigate to File Manager in the module menu in left navigation. 
  
• Open the folder titled faculty or click +new folder to create a new folder if one doesn't already exist. 
  
• Once the folder is open, click +upload files to open up the bulk uploader. 
• Basic Uploader will be open by default. Select Bulk Uploader. 
  
• Click +Add Files or you can drag the folder holding the files you created in Step 2. 
• You might receive a message if any of your file types are in error. 
• Click the ->Start Upload button to upload your new files into the selected folder.
  

Step 4: Download datasheet template

Step 5: Locate each user's ImportID

Step 6: Complete the spreadsheet

Open template 

Open the template in your favorite spreadsheet software, such as Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel.

Here are guidelines for each column from left to right: 

• IMPORTID (required): Paste the importID from Step 4. 
• IMAGE COLUMNS: Choose either SMALL or LARGE image sizes and complete the appropriate column (only one required). 
  • IMAGESMALL: If using small images, paste the name of each image, being sure you followed the Naming Guidelines in Step 1. 
  • IMAGELARGE: If using large images, paste the name of each image, being sure you followed the Naming Guidelines in Step 1.
  • Include filename only (not actual photo).
• FIRSTNAME (optional): Enter the faculty member's first name or leave blank. 
• MIDDLENAME (optional): Enter the faculty member's middle name or middle initial, or leave blank. 
• LASTNAME (optional): Enter the faculty member's last name or leave blank. 

Step 7: Save your datasheet with the correct file name

Download FIRST as .tsv format

If using Google Sheets, select Download As in the File menu and Download your datasheet as a Tab Separated Values file (.tsv) into a location where you can access the file. 

Rename SECOND as .txt format

Once you have the .tsv file, rename the file manually so that the new file extension is .txt. 

Step 8: Upload datasheet 

Here are some instructions on how to upload your datasheet into Constituent Manager. You can also Submit a Request to Finalsite Support including your .txt file in the request if you prefer going this route. 

With your datasheet saved and ready, go to Constituent Manager > Settings > Import Data > Constituent Profile Data, and click “Continue” to open the upload utility.

Click Choose File to select the Unicode .txt version of your datasheet.

Click Import to begin the import of the datasheet.

Select the correct items from the dropdown menus:

• Constituent Role: For this example, we’ll use Faculty & Staff. When uploading, select the appropriate role for the datasheet you’re using. Choose Student as the role when uploading the relationships.
• Match Criteria: Use the importID option whenever possible. Using the FirstName LastName option isn’t always accurate, because you may have more than one John Smith at your school.
• Constituent Origin: Because we’re using Finalsite’s datasheet template, we’ll put Finalsite System Default as the source for this data upload. If this data was coming from an export from another student information system, we would indicate that here.
• Constituent Feed: Because Finalsite System Default is the constituent origin, the only option here is finalsite.

Make sure the Uploaded Columns and the Database Columns match. This will go a long way toward preventing errors in the upload.

Ensure that the checkboxes under New and Update are both checked for the columns you are uploading. You can determine which rows are imported on the following screen.

Once you have verified the columns, click Confirm Data to move to the next step.

On this screen, you can confirm that all the data appears the way you expect it to. If any of the column headers don’t match the data that’s below it, click Redefine import fields to go back to the previous step and select the correct field(s) from the dropdown menu. If everything appears correct, click Import Data Now.

The import may take a few minutes to process. Once the import has completed, you’ll see a table of your new and updated Constituent Manager profiles with OK next to each row.

After you have finished uploading, always check the profiles in Constituent Manager to make sure everything looks correct!