Create, update, and delete users with CSV import

Shanika Wickramasinghe

October 25, 2024 11:56

Version: Kora Courses, July 23, 2023 or later

Permissions required: Administrator

Digication administrators have the ability to utilize CSV import files for batch creation and updates of users, courses, and registrations. These CSV files can be imported either manually through the administration UI or through automated uploads for increased efficiency.

Key features:

CSV imports support user data, course data, and registration data.
Importing user, course, and registration data helps you pre-populate Digication with users and courses before or during the semester. Upon login, users will see their enrolled courses on their dashboard.
If your school has an SSO and/or LMS integration with Digication, CSV imports can be used to create users with accurate account information for successful login via integrations. When auto-account creation is not enabled, CSV imports allow you to limit usage only to imported users.

Digication system administrators can manually import CSV files, or collaborate with your school’s IT department to schedule automated uploads. More information about automating CSV imports is available on our helpdesk.

User import

The user import can be used for many user management tasks:

- Creation of new users.
- Editing existing users, including their basic information and role.
- Deletion of users.
- Adding or editing metadata associated with users.
- Management of group membership.
- Management of admin group membership.

Depending on the task, a different combination of data columns can be utilized in the user import. You have the flexibility to automate certain user management tasks while manually handling others.

In order for the files to process correctly, CSV files for automated imports must use the CSV headers provided in our CSV import templates.

You can download a template for the user import CSV here.

Import and review CSV file using the admin interface

To access the CSV imports, go to the Kora administration area and click the Import (1) option, then Upload.

Once you’ve created your CSV file, import it by either selecting the file or dragging and dropping it into the user import area (2).

Once the file uploads, the system will automatically display a preview of the initial lines of data (3).

During the import process, you have the option to review and map your columns and headers. The dropdown menu (4) in the first row allows you to select the appropriate headers (5) for each column.
If your header row follows the default naming convention, the system will automatically map all columns. However, if your headers have different names, click on the dropdown menu to view all available column headers. You should confirm that the correct headers are mapped to their respective columns before finishing the import.

If there is an issue with any columns in your import file, they will be highlighted in red text (6). To proceed with the import, all highlighted problems must be corrected. The Import button will only be clickable once all issues have been addressed.

If you have opted to send notification emails to newly created users, click “NOTIFICATION EMAIL TEMPLATE” (7) to review or customize the notification email template for your upload.

Review or customize the notification email template in the pop-up window (8).

Click import options (9) to select the date/time format (10) and the unique account identifier (11) for your import file. Administrators can designate the Sync ID (recommended) or another field such as username or email to be used as the unique identifier.

Once your file is ready, click the import (12). Your file will be added to the queue for processing, and you will be taken to the import logs page (13), where you can see the progress (14) of your import file.

A download icon (15) will appear in front of each file name, and you can click it to save the original file to your device.

Check the "Error Entries" column (16); if errors exist, a download icon (17) will appear next to the error count, allowing you to click it and download the error log. If no errors are present, the download icon will not be shown (18).

Data columns

Create New Users

To create new users, the following columns are required:

- Sync ID
- First name
- Last name
- Username

Update or Delete Existing Users

To update or delete existing users, the following column is required:

- Sync ID or field mapped as a unique identifier (such as username or email)

The user import includes other optional columns to import additional information for each user. There is no required order for the columns.

NOTE: In the table below, values denoted with an asterisk (*) in the "Possible Values" column are case-sensitive. Eg:- Add or update, Add or update (Ignore if exist), Add or update (Skip if blank), Update only, Update only (Ignore if exist), Update only (Skip if blank), Delete

User Import CSV
Column Title	Column Description	Required	Possible Values
Action	This column will determine how Digication processes the data in the import file.	No	Add only Add or update* If the user exists, their record will be updated with the data on the file. Add or update (Ignore if exist)* If the user exists, their data will not be overwritten with the data on the file. Add or update (Skip if blank)* If a field is empty, the import will skip that field. Existing fields will be updated with the data on the file. Update only* Update only (Ignore if exist)* Delete* If no value is given, "Add only" is used.
Sync ID	A unique, permanent identifier for the user. This is a required field. Without it, certain functionalities (such as SSO or LMS integration) will not work. If your school has SSO or LMS integration, the Sync ID should match the identified account ID for the integration. This ensures that users are always logged into the same account, no matter how they log into Digication. Admins can also designate the username or email to be used as the unique identifier. Example: 48562739	Yes	Any Unicode characters
First Name	User’s first name. Please capitalize as you want the name to appear. Typically, the first letter for each word is capitalized. Example: David	Yes (for user creation)	Any Unicode characters
Last Name	User’s last name. Please capitalize as you want the name to appear. Typically, the first letter for each word is capitalized. Example: Brown	Yes (for user creation)	Any Unicode characters
Username	Digication username for the user. If your school has SSO or LTI integration, the username in Digication should match what’s been configured for the integrations. This ensures that users are always logged into the same account, no matter how they log into Digication. Example: dbrown_22	Yes	Any Unicode characters are allowed. However, if the string contains a comma(,), it should be double-quoted.
Password	Digication specific password for the user’s Digication account. If your school has an SSO and/or LTI solution for users to log in to Digication, we recommend setting up an SSO and/or LTI integration and not setting up native passwords at all in Digication. If SSO or LTI integration is not available, we recommend that you let Digication email the user with an account setup link where they can set up their own passwords. This link is generated automatically and you will not need to set up any passwords using this column for users to set up their own passwords. Never set up the same passwords for all your users. While it may seem convenient, it is not considered secure at all.	No (Not recommended)	Any Unicode character
Email	User’s email address. Example: dbrown_22@digication.edu	Yes	Any Unicode characters
Personal Email	User’s personal email address. If present, this will be used as the notification email for Digication notifications. Example: dbrown_22@gmail.com	No	Any Unicode characters If no value is given, no change occurs with this information.
Show image	Pertains to profile image, uploaded through User Profile. “1” if you want your profile image to be visible to others in the system, “0” if not.	No	1 0 If no value is given, "1" is used.
Major	The user’s major. Will display in User Profile.	No	Any Unicode characters If no value is given, no change occurs with this information.
Graduation	Expected date of graduation. Example: 2024-05-15	No	Date Format: YYYY-MM-DDT00:00 If no value is given, no change occurs with this information.
Website	The user’s website. This will be displayed in the User Profile. Example: https://www.k-martinez.com	No	Any ASCII characters If no value is given, no change occurs with this information.
Active	You can use this field to activate or deactivate a user. Once deactivated, a user can no longer log in. However, their content is not modified. If no data is entered the default value is “1”. This column should always be “1” when creating users. When updating users, enter “0” if for those to be deactivated.	No	1 0 If no value is given, "1" is used.
COPPA	This column has two options: Age under 13 with parental consent or Age 13 or older. If this column is blank, we will ask the user to confirm they are over 13 on the Terms and Conditions page.	No	Age under 13 with parental consent Age 13 or older If no value is given, user confirms age on login.
License Type	This column identifies the Digication license type associated with this user. Enterprise means that the institution/school pays for the license. Individual means that the student pays for their license.	No	Enterprise Individual If no value is given, "Enterprise" is used.
Enable Notification	This column enables you to send an email notification to new users upon account creation. You can decide on a per-user basis whether or not to send a welcome email. Only newly created users will be notified. There is no way to email existing users through this CSV import If you do not want to email the user, leave this column blank.	No	1 (Enables Notification Email) 0 (Disables Notification Email) If no value is given, "0" is used.
Custom Group	Groups are used specifically for users to share their work with specific groups of users easily. For example, a group called “Writing Program Faculty” may be created if it’s useful to be able to share work with all members of the Writing Program Faculty. Being added to a custom group does not give the user any special privileges. To create a custom group, add a column to the import file with the header Group: Your Group Name. To add users to the group, put “Add” in the cells of the Group column. If the custom group does not already exist, it will be created and the user will be added to the group. If the group already exists, the user will be added to that group. To remove users from an existing group, put “Remove” in the cells of the Group column. There is no limit to the number of Custom Group columns you can have. To create additional custom groups, you would add additional columns with your group titles. You can have multiple group columns in one import file. Example: Group: Writing Program Faculty	No	Enter “Group: Your Group Name” to create the group, enter “Add” to add a user to the group, and “Remove” to remove a user from an existing group. If no value is given, no change occurs with this information.
Admin Group	Admin Groups are different from Custom Groups in that system admins can give specific privileges to each group. For example, the "Instructional Design" group can be given view and edit access to all courses in order to help faculty set up their courses. If the Admin Group does not already exist, it will be created and the user will be added to the group. If the group does already exist, the user will be added. There is no limit to the number of Admin Group columns you can have. Example: Admin: Instructional Design	No	Enter “Admin: Your Group Name” to create the group, enter “Add” to add a user to the group, and “Remove” to remove a user from an existing group. If no value is given, no change occurs with this information.
Metadata: Your User Metadata Category	User metadata is used to categorize students with information that isn’t already in their user profiles. Many schools use metadata to create datasets of specific users for assessment purposes. For example, a department collecting student work from 1,000 students in 50 classes may be interested in specifically assessing student submissions from English minors with fewer than 24 credit hours. A metadata category for “Credit Hours” would enable this type of data collection. This column enables you to create a column for user metadata and add metadata for individual users. Title example Metadata: Credit Hours Cell value example: 20	No	The title of the column identifies the metadata category, and the value in each cell is the metadata being added for the user. If no value is given, no change occurs with this information.
Role: Admin	To change the Admin role for this user, enter “Add” or “Remove”	No	Add Remove If no value is given, no change occurs with this information.
Role: Faculty	To change the Faculty role for this user, enter “Add” or “Remove”	No	Add Remove If no value is given, no change occurs with this information.
Role: Student	To change the Student role for this user, enter “Add” or “Remove”	No	Add Remove If no value is given, no change occurs with this information.
Role: Alumni	To change the Alumni role for this user, enter “Add” or “Remove”	No	Add Remove If no value is given, no change occurs with this information.

Kora User Upload Sample.csv
(3 KB)