Event import formatting

Event Manager has the capability to import event data using the XML, CSV, or ICS (.ical) formats. Each file type has its own set of capabilities and limitations. The field names and example data for CSV and XML file formats are detailed below. We have not included iCal here, because it follows a defined standard of formatting.

How to correctly format CSV import files

Be sure to follow the rules provided for acceptable values for each column. This will help to ensure that your CSV event import processes correctly. Download a sample CSV file.

external-id: This represents a unique value for each event. *Note: If you use an existing ID, Event Manager will overwrite the existing event with the content in your import file. This field is only required for persistent imports and does not have to be a Global Unique Identifier (GUID).

Example: c9412b30-7b15-4b55-8d60-8fb4c3ab8652

local-start-date-time: This represents the starting date and time (if applicable) for an event. *Note: This must be formatted as MM/DD/YYYY HH:MMAM or MM/DD/YYYY HH:MMPM. For all day events, use MM/DD/YYYY.

Example: 8/25/2019 5:30PM, 8/25/2019 5:30AM, or 8/25/2013

local-end-date-time: This represents the ending date and time (if applicable) for an event. *Note: This must be formatted as MM/DD/YYYY HH:MMAM or MM/DD/YYYY HH:MMPM. For all day events, use MM/DD/YYYY.

Example: 8/25/2013 5:30PM, 8/25/2013 5:30AM, or 8/25/2013

all-day: If the event should not display a start or end time, you can indicate that it is an all day event. *Note: This must be formatted as "Y" or "N".

Example: N

name: This represents the title of the event and is shown in all event views. *Note: This should be plain text only. Event Manager does not support HTML, alt codes, etc. in the event name.

Example: Varsity Soccer Game

summary: This text summary of an event is displayed in the summary view and when sharing the event. *Note: There is a 250 character limit. This should be plain text only. Event Manager does not support HTML, alt codes, etc. in the event summary.

Example: The Varsity Soccer Team will take on our rival team in the opening game of the season.

description: This text is displayed on the event from the Event Details view. *Note: There is a 1000 character limit. This is an HTML enabled field. If no description is provided, the text supplied in the summary field will be copied into this field when the event is imported.

Example: The <b>Varsity Soccer Team</b> will take on our rival team in the opening game of the season.

keywords: These are used to link events that do not share categories. Keywords will be displayed in the Event Details view and are searchable from the event search. *Note: Keywords are only allowed in the CSV Standard Import and should be separated by commas and wrapped in quotes. Event Manager does not support HTML, alt codes, etc. in keywords. This field is not required.

Example: "Soccer, Athletics"

organization: This is the name of the organization that is booking your facilities. *Note: If the text in this column does not exactly match an organization in Event Manager, this field will not be imported as part of the event.

Example: Soccer Stars

contact-name: This is the name of the person who should be contacted for inquiries related to the event. This will display in the Event Details view. *Note: There is a 250 character limit. Event Manager does not support HTML, alt codes, etc. in the contact name. This field is not required.

Example: Jim Larson

contact-phone: This is the phone number of the person to contact for inquiries related to the event. This will display in the Event Details view. *Note: There is a 50 character limit. Event Manager does not support HTML, alt codes, etc. in the contact phone number. This field is not required.

Example: 555-333-1234

contact-email: This is the email address of the person to contact for inquiries related to the event. This will display in the Event Details view. *Note: There is a 50 character limit. This field must be formatted as an email address. Event Manager does not support HTML, alt codes, etc. in the contact email address. This field is not required.

Example: jlarson@yourdomain.com

private: This is a status indicator used to determine if the event is public or private. *Note: This field requires a response of "Y" or "N". In Event Manager, private events require a username and password to be viewed.

Example: N

highlighted: This is a status indicator used to determine if the event should be highlighted. Highlighted events are prominently displayed in the Featured Events area on the calendar. *Note: This field requires a response of "Y" or "N". In order for an event to be displayed in the highlighted events area, it must have an image associated with it. This field is not required.

Example: Y

status: This is an indicator used to determine if the event requires review before being posted to the live calendar site. *Note: This field requires a response of either "A" , "P", or Deleted. Inputting "A" for approved will approve the event when it is imported. Inputting "P" for pending will place the event in the pending status, requiring review before publishing. Inputting Deleted will place the event in the deleted status. If this field is left blank, Event Manager assumes a response of "A" for approved.

Example: A

event-state:

This is an indicator used to determine if the event is cancelled or not. *Note: This field accepts a response of value of Y (for yes), T (for true), or Cancelled. This field is not required and should only be filled in if the event should be cancelled.

Example: Cancelled

last-modified-by: This is a text field associated with the event that provides a value or name of the user who uploaded the file. By default, Event Manager will use a numerated value representing a user in the system. *Note: This field is not required.

Example: AE13177B-068D-4C6B-9DC0-1E1607F940A9 or Jim Larson

last-modified-on: This is the last time this event was modified. When running a persistent import of events, if this value is greater than the value associated with the same event in Event Manager, the event will be updated. If the value is equal to or less than the current system value, the event will be skipped. *Note: This field is not required for non-persistent imports.

Example: 8/5/2013 5:30AM

taxonomy: This column is used to provide the categories associated with this event. *Note: Multiple taxonomy (category) sets are delimited by a semi-colon ( ; ) and multiple levels in a set are delimited by a single bar ( | ). This field is not required.

Example: Athletics|Soccer; Athletics|Varsity; Student Activities

taxonomy-global: This is a text field indicating whether the category is a global or site level category. *Note: This field requires a response of "Y" for Global or "N" for Site level categories. If left blank, Event Manager assumes a value of "N". If the site is set to only use global values, site level categories will be skipped. Likewise, if the site is set to only use site level categories, global categories will be skipped.

Example: Y

facility-name: This is a text field that indicates the name of the location where the event will occur. *Note: If the import uses a facility that is not presently in the calendar database, Event Manager will add the facility to the Locations list. This will occur for any calendar site that has a location scope value of "Site" or "Both". If the location does not exist, the value in facility-name will be added as a parent location.This field is not required.

Example: Soccer Field A

facility-address1: This is a text field that indicates the first line of the address for the location where the event will occur. *Note: This field is not required.

Example: 110 Main Street

facility-address2: This is a text field that indicates the second line of the address for the location where the event will occur. *Note: This field is not required.

Example: Suite 300

facility-city: This is a text field that indicates the city of the address for the location where the event will occur. *Note: This field is not required.

Example: Raleigh

facility-state: This is a text field that indicates the state of the address for the location where the event will occur. *Note: There is a 36 character limit. This field is not required.

Example: NC

facility-zip-code: This is a text field that indicates the 5 digit zip code of the address for the location where the event will occur. *Note: This field is not required.

Example: 27605

facility-county: This is a text field that indicates the county of the address for the location where the event will occur. *Note: This field is not required.

Example: Wake

facility-country: This is a text field that indicates the country of the address for the location where the event will occur. *Note: This field is not required.

Example: USA

facility-phone: This is a text field that indicates the phone number for the location where the event will occur. *Note: This field is not required.

Example: 555-555-1234

facility-global: This is a text field indicating whether the location is a global or site level location. *Note: This field requires a value of "Y" for Global or "N" for Site level locations. If left blank, Event Manager assumes a value of "N". If the site is set to only use global values, site level locations will be skipped. Likewise, if the site is set to only use site level locations, global locations will be skipped.

Example: N

hide-end: This is a text field that indicates if the event should display the end time of the event on the List, Summary, and Event Details Views. *Note: This field requires a response of "Y" or "N". If left blank, Event Manager assumes a value of "N".

Example: N

How to correctly format XML import files

Be sure to follow the rules provided for acceptable values for each node. This will help to ensure that your XML event import processes correctly.

events: This is the opening node for the XML file.

event: This is the opening node for a single event or series of events.

id: This is the system identifier for the event. *Note: If you use an existing ID, Event Manager will overwrite the existing event with the content in your import file. This field is only required for persistent imports and does not have to be a Global Unique Identifier (GUID).

Example: <id>c9412b30-7b15-4b55-8d60-8fb4c3ab8647</id>

name: This is the title of the event. This is shown in all event views. *Note: There is a 255 character limit. This should be plain text only. Event Manager does not support HTML, alt codes, etc. in the event name.

Example: <name>Varsity Soccer Game</name>

Example: <summary>The Varsity Soccer Team will take on our rival team in the opening game of the season.</summary>

Example: <description>The <b>Varsity Soccer Team</b> will take on our rival team in the opening game of the season.</description>

keywords: These are used to link events that do not share categories. Keywords will be displayed in the Event Details view and are searchable from the event search. *Note: Keywords should be separated by commas. Event Manager does not support HTML, alt codes, etc. in keywords. This field is not required.

Example: <keywords>Soccer, Athletics</keywords>

organization: This is the name of the organization that is booking your facilities. *Note: If the text in this node does not exactly match an organization in Event Manager, this field will not be imported as part of the event.

Example: Soccer Stars

local-start-date-time: The Starting Date and time (if applicable) for an event. *Note: This must be formatted as MM/DD/YYYY HH:MMAM or MM/DD/YYYY HH:MMPM. For all day events, use MM/DD/YYYY.

Example: <local-start-date-time>8/25/2019 5:30PM</local-start-date-time>, <local-start-date-time>8/25/2019 5:30AM</local-start-date-time>, or <local-start-date-time>8/25/2013</local-start-date-time>

local-end-date-time: The Ending Date and time (if applicable) for an event. *Note: This must be formatted as MM/DD/YYYY HH:MMAM or MM/DD/YYYY HH:MMPM. For all day events, use MM/DD/YYYY.

Example: <local-end-date-time>8/25/2013 5:30PM</local-end-date-time>, <local-end-date-time>8/25/2013 5:30AM</local-end-date-time>, or <local-end-date-time>8/25/2013</local-end-date-time>

Example: <highlighted>Y</highlighted>

private: This is a status indicator used to determine if the event is public or private. In Event Manager, private events require a username and password to be viewed. *Note: This field requires a response of "Y" or "N".

Example: <private>N</private>

status: This is an indicator used to determine if the event requires review before being posted to the live calendar site. Inputting "approved" will approve the event when it is imported. Inputting "pending" will place the event in the pending status, requiring review before publishing.

Example: <status>approved</status> or <status>pending</status>

external-id: This is a unique value for each event. *Note: If you use an ID that is currently in use, Event Manager will overwrite the existing event with the content in your import file. This field is not required.

Example: c9412b30-7b15-4b55-8d60-8fb4c3ab8652

external-series-id: This is a value assigned to an event from an external system that links it to multiple "Related" events. *Note: If you are importing events of the same series, be sure to give them the same external series id number. While series events that have been imported are linked in Event Manager, they cannot be edited as a series from the Events Dashboard. This field is not required.

contact: This node is for all event contact information.

name: This is the name of the person who should be contacted for inquiries related to the event. This will display in the Event Details view. *Note: There is a 250 character limit. Event Manager does not support HTML, alt codes, etc. in the contact name. This field is not required.

Example: <name>Jim Larson</name>

phone: This is the phone number of the person to contact for inquiries related to the event. This will display in the Event Details view. *Note: There is a 50 character limit. Event Manager does not support HTML, alt codes, etc. in the contact phone number. This field is not required.

Example: <phone>555-333-1234</phone>

extension: This is the phone extension of the person to contact for inquiries related to the event. This will display in the Event Details view. *Note: There is a 50 character limit. Event Manager does not support HTML, alt codes, etc. in the contact phone number. This field is not required.

Example: <extension>1234</extension>

Example: <email>jlarson@yourdomain.com</email>

Example: <last-modified-on>8/5/2013 5:30AM</last-modified-on>

Example: <last-modified-by>AE13177B-068D-4C6B-9DC0-1E1607F940A9</last-modified-by> or <last-modified-by>Jim Larson</last-modified-by>

categories: This is the node that groups all event category information.

category: This is the node for a single category. *Note: Categories can be nested to create a hierarchical structure.

category name: This is a text field indicating the name of the category. *Note: There is a 255 character limit. Event Manager does not support HTML, alt codes, etc. in the category name field. Multiple children listed within a parent node will be viewed by the XML import as child Categories. This field is not required.

Example: <name>Students</name>

global: This is a text field indicating whether the category is a global or site level category. *Note: This field requires a response of "Y" for Global or "N" for Site level categories. If left blank, Event Manager assumes a value of "N". If the site is set to only use global values, site level categories will be skipped. Likewise, if the site is set to only use site level categories, global categories will be skipped.

Example: <global>Y</global>

locations: This is the node that groups all event location information.

location: This is the node for a single location. *Note: Locations can be nested to create a hierarchical structure.

name: This is a text field that indicates the name of the location where the event will occur. *Note: If the import uses a facility that is not presently in the calendar database, Event Manager will add the facility to the Locations list. This will occur for any calendar site that has a location scope value of "Site" or "Both". If the location does not exist, the value in name will be added as a location. This field is not required. If the location is nested, all "higher" levels of the tree must contain a name. Multiple children listed within a parent node will be viewed by the XML import as child Locations.

Example: <name>Soccer Field A</name>

address 1: This is a text field that indicates the first line of the address for the location where the event will occur. *Note: There is a 100 character limit. This field is not required.

Example: <address-1>190 Main Street</address-1>

address 2: This is a text field that indicates the second line of the address for the location where the event will occur. *Note: There is a 100 character limit. This field is not required.

Example: <address-2>Suite 300<address-2>

city: This is a text field that indicates the city of the address for the location where the event will occur. *Note: There is a 100 character limit. This field is not required.

Example: <city>Raleigh</city>

state: This is a text field that indicates the state of the address for the location where the event will occur. *Note: There is a 100 character limit. This field is not required.

Example: <state>NC</state>

zipcode: This is a text field that indicates the 5 digit zip code of the address for the location where the event will occur. *Note: This field is not required.

Example: <zipcode>27605</zipcode>

latitude: This is the latitude coordinate of the facility, if known. *Note: This field is not required.

Example: <latitude>40.6745809</latitude>

longitude: This is the longitude coordinate of the facility, if known. *Note: This field is not required.

Example: <longitude>-75.3839605</longitude>

country: This is a text field that indicates the country of the address for the location where the event will occur. *Note: This field is not required.

Example: <country>US</Country>

county: This is a text field that indicates the county of the address for the location where the event will occur. *Note: This field is not required.

Example: <county>Wake</county>

phone: This is a text field that indicates the phone number for the location where the event will occur. *Note: There is a 100 character limit. This field is not required.

Example: <phone>555-555-1234</phone>

global: This is a text field indicating whether the location is a global or site level location. *Note: This field requires a value of "Y" for Global or "N" for Site level locations. If left blank, Event Manager assumes a value of "N". If the site is set to only use global values, site level locations will be skipped. Likewise, if the site is set to only use site level locations, global locations will be skipped.

Example: <global>Y</global>

images: This is the node that contains all images added to an event.

image: This is the node for a single image.

id: This is the identity field for the image.

Example: <id>81279ec2-d1d6-47ab-a732-4815131ce615</id>

name: This is a text field containing the fully formed path to the file representing the image. *Note: There is a 255 character limit.

Example: <name>https://calendarmedia.blob.core.windows.net/assets/81279ec2-d1d6-47ab-a732-4815131ce615.jpeg</name>

data: This is base 64 encoded image binary and can be used as an alternative to supplying the image URL.

attachments: This is the node that contains all attachments added to an event.

attachment: This is the node for a single attachment.

id: This is the identity field for the attachment.

name: This is a text field containing the fully formed path to the file representing the attachment. *Note: There is a 255 character limit.

Example: <name>https://calendarmedia.blob.core.windows.net/assets/81279ec2-d1d6-47ab-a732-4815131ce615.jpeg</name>

data: This is base 64 encoded image binary and can be used as an alternative to supplying the attachment URL.

customdata: Custom data fields can also be imported for the event. To use custom fields, they must first be defined in a variables node at the top of the file. After that, they can be imported using the customdata node. *Note: This field is not required.

Event import formatting

How to correctly format CSV import files

How to correctly format XML import files

Did you find this helpful?

Sorry about that!

Why wasn't this helpful? (check all that apply)

Want to tell us more?

Great!