In the Peppered Platform, activity around every opt-in and opt-out is registered, and available for future reference, in case it is necessary to view the original moment and place where the opt-in was given (as prescribed by GDPR).
Opt-ins are linked to email addresses and the entire history of opt-in activity belonging to an email address can be found in the visitor account, in the "visitors" module.
If opt-ins were originally obtained in a different system, the opt-in history (where en when the opt-in was given) needs to be transferred to the Peppered Platform. To do this, you can upload a .csv file with Opt-in import module.
Making a .csv file
The import module requires a comma separated file (.csv file) with the opt-in data. An example of how to fill such a document is shown here:
There are four columns that should each have the exact name as provided in the example document attached to this article;
Columns:
- email: This is for the email address belonging to the opt-in. This field is required.
- opt-in keyname: This is the keyname of the opt-in that needs to be assigned to the email address. Usually it is the keyname "newsletter" but the importer supports other opt-in keynames too. Make sure the correct keyname is used in column 2. If an email address has multiple opt-ins, use 1 row in the document for each opt-in, and just repeat the email address (see rows 2 and 3 in the example above). This field is required.
- opt-in date:This is an optional field, signifying the original date the opt-in was given. If this date is filled in, the importer will compare the given date to the date of the same opt-in in the Peppered Platform (should this exist). The most recent activity will be leading and older activity will be skipped. If no date is given in the .csv file, the opt-in in the .csv file will be leading and any opt-in settings already in the Peppered platform will be overwritten.
- opt-in extra info: Here extra info can be imported, like where the imported opt-in came from and why it was imported. This information will be added to the historical opt-in logs per visitor so you can see that the data was imported and not added by the visitor. This is an optional field
A proper import file should have just 4 columns, named exactly according to the example below:
Check if the .csv is clean in a text editor. It should contain all your data with a comma separating all fields, and if you have used "extra info", the content in that field should be between " "
Example of a proper .csv:
email,opt-in keyname,opt-in date,"opt-in extra info"
ivo@peppered.com,newsletter,2017-11-24,"obtained on old website subscribe form"
Example of a wrong .csv (extra " " use)
"email,opt-in keyname,opt-in date,opt-in extra info"
"ivo@peppered.com,newsletter,2017-11-24,obtained on old website subscribe form"
Importing the .csv file
You can import the .csv file by going to the dashboard and clicking on Marketing > Opt-ins import.
Note: If you don't see this option, ask a Peppered Expert to add it for you in the dashboard.Click on choose file and select the .csv file that you just made.
After importing the .csv file, new e-mail addresses will be added and the opt-in settings and history for each given email address will be updated.
To also add first name, last name, etc, to email addresses, please use the mailing list import feature. It will add new items, and also complete missing fields in existing items.
A typical opt-in history will have a timestamp of when the opt-in was added to the Peppered platform, and the name of the person who performed the import.
In the "Extra info" fold-out, the information from columns 3 and 4 will be logged:
Download .csv
You can download an example .csv file which you could use as a source. Make sure to delete all demo content and just keep the 4 row titles.