Upload Categories in a .CSV File

How to upload categories  in a .CSV file.

Also see:

Upload Locations in a .CSV File

If you need to add multiple categories at one time, it may be easier to upload the categories instead of setting them up one at a time manually.  As with locations, categories can be uploaded in their own .CSVfile. 

Add Categories via .CSV File using the Import Template

1. Download the category template from your account via Settings > Tools. Click on the Import button, then select the option Use Import Template. You’ll see the screen below.

If this is the first time you are uploading, you'll need to use our template with the spreadsheet column headers.  Once you upload for the first time, you can keep the template you downloaded and keep adding categories to it as needed every time you need to upload.

Click on Download Template and you will be prompted to download the file. Once you obtain the Bullseye Category Import Template, you’ll have the correct file type to upload (.csv) with the correct column structure. You will need to enter the category Name at minimum.  You don't need to have data in columns you are not going to use, but the column headers need to be spelled correctly, or you will receive an errors when you upload. 

2. Enter your category data into the downloaded Bullseye Category Import Template .csv

Assuming you have your categories in a database or spreadsheet, you can copy and paste the data from your internal file into our file, on a column to column basis.  For instance, you may have a column called “Products” or something similar which contains the name of all your categories. Data from this column  would go into the “ Name” column on the downloaded template.

The Bullseye Import Template requires specific values for column headers.  If column headers do not match, the entire column will be ignored.  There is one specific column header that is required:  Name.  CategoryTypeID can be either "Location" or "Territory" - if nothing is entered or the column is not included, the default value is "Location".

Most often, clients use the Location option.  This configuration satisfies the typical scenario, when categories are assigned to a location (when a location carries your products or services).  The Territory is sometimes used, if clients define their product sales by a geographic territory, instead of assigning them simply to locations.  

3. Check the data for formatting

Certain data elements require specific formatting. For instance, Image requires the fully qualified URL to the image file.  Look through your database and identify and fix and data that is not formatted appropriately.  Once you are done entering the data, save the file.

4. Upload the data

To upload the data, go to Upload File, and browse to the file. 

Under Choose Upload Action, select Append or Update (which works like Clear and Append).

• Append: Adds the categories in your .CSV file to the categories already in Bullseye.
• Update:  Replaces the data in Bullseye with the categories in your .CSV file. If you use this option, report data will lost on categories that existed previously in Bullseye and will be included in your update.

There is also an option to enter an email address to receive notification of completion of the upload.

After you have chosen the upload action, select Import Categories. Bullseye will attempt to import.

5. Fix Upload Errors 

Often there will be some issues with the data even if you check for errors before you import.  The larger the data file, the more likely this becomes.  After you upload the file, you may get error messages.  

To view specifics on the error, select Details on the right. You'll see more details on the error so you can address the issues:

You will see a screen that looks similar to above, though your errors may vary. 

Format Instructions for your .CSV file