9. Import guests

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9. Import guests

You can import guest details from spreadsheets, databases and other formats, so that you don't have to re-type them. We will illustrate this by importing some guest details from Excel. The principles are similar for other applications and file formats.

Note The user interface of Excel may differ between different versions.

Create a simple Excel spreadsheet like the one below and save it:

import excel guest list

If you have Excel installed you can import directly from your Excel .xls/.xlsx file. Otherwise you will have to save to a .csv (comma separate value) file, as described below.

Creating a .csv file in Excel

Select File>Save As and save it as the .csv file guests.csv (do not just rename a .xls file to a .csv file). Click OK on any windows warning you about changing format.

excel_2_w

The data is now in a format PerfectTablePlan can read.

Create a new plan by selecting File>new_16New.

Select File>import_16Import. The import_16Import window will appear.

import guest list window

Ensure Excel/CSV/text file is selected and click the OK button. An Open window will appear. Navigate to the .xls/.xlsx/.csv file you just created and click Open. If a .xls/.xlsx file has multiple tabs you will be asked to choose one. You should now see the contents of the Excel file in the Import Data window.

import guest properties

Tell PerfectTablePlan which columns correspond to which guest properties and to ignore the first row, as shown below.

ignore rows

Note that you can edit the data in the table before you import it. This will not affect the original .csv file.

Click the Next> button (if you want to change anything you can then click <Back ).

Click OK. If you are prompted to Save this import mapping to use again? click Don't save. The guests should now be imported as below.

guest list imported

If it has imported anything incorrectly you can easily change it in Edit mode or Edit>undo_16Undo the import.

edit guests

The email address has been added to the guest Contact information.

It has also placed guests into groups.

guest groups

If you don't like how they have been grouped you can easily drag guests between groups in Drag and drop mode in the couple_16Groups pane. E.g. You can drag Miss Erica Black into the same group as Mr Alan Black.

If you look in the heart_16Proximity pane you will see it has set smile_16 proximity for the guests in each group.

If you are importing data in a format PerfectTablePlan already knows about you can select the format from the File type menu:

import file types

Click on the more_button_w button in the import_16Import Data window to show additional options. These options give you full control over how the import file is interpreted. For example you can specify that columns in the import file are separated by Tab characters, rather than commas:

input file format

Note If your spreadsheet contains non-ASCII characters (e.g. Chinese or other Unicode characters) these may be lost if you save your Excel .xls file to a .csv file. To avoid this problem save as Unicode text (*.txt) and import using Custom format and a TAB delimiter.

PerfectTablePlan can import complex guest lists with multiple guests per row in one multiple columns, including addresses, meal choice, VIP status, RSVP status etc. . See example import formats for more details.

You can also import guest name data using the simpler (but less flexible) Quick Add Guests window.

You can also import guests from any application that supports vCard format. This includes many email and address book applications. Just drag the guest vCard(s) onto the PerfectTablePlan unknown_adult_16Guests pane.

Next: 10. Check-in guests >>