Help Center & User Guides

Importing Contacts & Custom Mappings

Ingesting external data is effortless using the specialized Import Data interface accessible from the Settings view.

• File Formats: Supports standard CSV files alongside Excel spreadsheets (.xlsx, .xls).
• Column Assignment: Map incoming headers directly to standard table columns such as Name, Phone, Email, or Program ID.
• Extra Fields: Any remaining non-standard headers can be checked as Extra Fields, which are preserved cleanly as miscellaneous record properties.
• Registrations Import (Recommended): For faster setup, use the Registrations option. This allows you to import contacts, courses, and their associations from a single spreadsheet in one step. The system automatically creates or updates records based on the data provided.
• Constant Default Values: If your import file is missing specific data (e.g., all contacts are from "India" but the file has no Country column), you can set a Constant Value in the mapping screen. This value will be automatically applied to every record.
• Mapping Profiles: Save customized configurations as layouts to prevent repeating assignments in the future.
• Default Art of Living Presets: If you haven't configured any unique profiles, the system automatically seeds professional Art of Living default mappings (e.g., TAOL:Registrations, TAOL:leads->course) directly into storage upon initial launch.
• Sharing Layouts: Use the Mapping Profiles manager to multi-select configurations, export them to portable .json files via native share sheets, and import external bundles with comprehensive conflict handling.

Recommended Import Workflow for The Art of Living (India)

Your CRM platform provides two key data exports:

(Make sure you click Search and select appropriate filters to retrieve more than 10 records)

To fully populate your database with interlinked associations, choose one of these methods:

• One-Step Setup: Select the Registrations table and import your exported Registrations List. The system will automatically create/update Courses, Contacts, and Registrations in one pass.
• Legacy/Advanced Setup: If you prefer to manage data separately, you can import to the Courses or Contacts tables individually.

Direct Program Sync & AEF Exporter (Teacher Portal)

For Art of Living teachers, Anubandha provides a premium, direct synchronization pipeline under Direct Teacher Portal (/generate/taol). This integration completely eliminates manually downloading and mapping spreadsheets, allowing you to fetch live CRM data, enrich records, and share them directly into the mobile app in seconds.

Step-by-Step Data Integration Guide

1. Secure Authentication: Open /generate/taol and enter your standard Teacher Code and Password. Anubandha proxies the connection server-side to the Art of Living CRM, preventing credential exposure and CORS errors. A high-security 10-Minute Autodestruct Timer starts instantly to wipe all data when you're done.
2. Fetch Live Programs & Filter Duplicates (.aid): Select your target dates (defaults to the current calendar year) and click Fetch Programs. The browser sequentially pulls consecutive pages of programs from the CRM, showcasing real-time progress, and constructs a chronological program catalog.
   Pro-Tip (Avoid Duplicates): You can export a .aid (Anubandha Import Descriptor) file from the mobile app's Settings screen and upload it here. When you check the Hide Imported Programs toggle, the portal will hide all programs you've already imported, letting you focus only on new schedules.
3. Inspect & Enrich Roster Data: Tap any row in the programs catalog to slide open a detailed interactive drawer. Click Retrieve Details & Participant List to fetch complete venue details, designated teacher profiles, instruction languages, registration links, and the full student/leads roster.
4. Sequential Bulk Ingestion: To enrich multiple programs at once, check the checkboxes next to target rows and click Retrieve Details for Selected. The pipeline sequentially fetches and caches rosters, spacing hits automatically to respect CRM server rate-limits.
5. Compile Combined AEF Package: With one or more enriched programs selected, tap Export AEF Package. The exporter merges contacts, programs, and enrollment states into a single unified .aef data structure, formats starting dates to strict ISO YYYY-MM-DD formats, and groups leads separately.
6. Direct Native Sharing or Fallback:
   • On Mobile: The browser invokes your phone's native share menu. Select Anubandha from the app list to import the dataset instantly.
   • On Desktop: The browser triggers an automatic direct download for a secured local file named anubandha_export_YYYY-MM-DD.aef.
7. Import Preview Verification: Open the Anubandha application and navigate to Settings → Import Data. Select the AEF file. The app opens a comprehensive Import Preview Screen showing courses, participant lists, and registration changes side-by-side before you save them to your secure local database.

Custom Spreadsheet Data Mapping Importer

If you have custom contact lists, courses, registrations, or communication history in custom CSV or Excel files, you can use the interactive Custom Importer (/generate/custom). This tool runs entirely in your browser, parsing and mapping your spreadsheet structures locally and privately. Follow this step-by-step process flow to convert custom spreadsheets to standard .aef packages:

1. Step 1: Upload Your Spreadsheet File
   Drag and drop a .csv, .xlsx, or .xls spreadsheet file into the uploader dropzone, or click to browse. A raw preview showing the first 5 records of your spreadsheet is loaded instantly under Section 1. If you need to map a different sheet, tap the Change File button.
2. Step 2: Select the Import Target
   Under Section 2, select one of the four supported import targets matching your data structure:
   • Events: Map course schedules, dates, and locations. Required field: courseid.
   • Contacts: Map contact details, numbers, and tags. Required fields: name and phone.
   • Registrations: Map student enrollments linking contacts to courses. Required fields: name, phone, and courseid.
   • Interactions: Map check-in details, logs, and touchpoints. Required fields: name, phone, and interaction.
3. Step 3: Load Mapping Presets (Optional)
   Under Section 3, you can use the Load Profile selector in line with the card header to load default presets (e.g. TAOL:leads, Pathfinder:leads, or Journey:leads) matching standard Art of Living layouts. Selecting a profile automatically configures mapping triggers.
4. Step 4: Configure Column & Constant Mapping
   Each schema header contains a search-enabled dropdown. You can map columns or constants as follows:
   • Multi-Column Concatenation: You can select multiple spreadsheet columns for a single field (e.g. mapping First Name and Last Name to Full Name). The importer concatenates cell values with a single space.
   • Tag List Merging: Multiple columns mapped to tags (e.g. contact.tags) are parsed, split by comma, and merged into a deduplicated flat array.
   • Constant Value Injection: Type a hardcoded text value inside the "Or enter constant..." box and tap Add to apply a static value (such as Country = India) to all imported records. Constants appear as green badges.
   • Removing Mapping: Click the × inside any badged pill to remove it.
5. Import with Tags Feature
   When importing spreadsheets, you can categorize and group contacts dynamically:
   • Dynamic Column Tags: Map any of your spreadsheet columns (such as Organization or City) directly as tag sources. The importer will automatically extract cell values from these columns and assign them as tags to the corresponding contacts during import.
   • Fixed Tag Injection: You can add one or more static/fixed tags (e.g., a specific campaign name like Spring2026 or organization name like ArtOfLivingBangalore) that will be applied to every single contact or group included in the import file.
6. Step 5: Preview, Export & Ingest
   Verify that your mapped values align correctly in the dynamic preview table. Once all required schema fields are mapped, the Export AEF Package button is enabled. Tapping it will invoke the native mobile share sheet (if supported) or download an .aef package locally. Import this file under Settings → Import Data in the Anubandha application.