Import clients from a CSV file

An import adds many clients to your hubHub Your law firm's own client portal, with its branding, its team and all of its cases in one place. at once, from a spreadsheet saved as a CSV file. Importing doesn't contact them.

1. 1

   Prepare the file

   Put one client on each row, under these column names in the first row:

   • username: their email address, or their mobile number with its country code, such as +12035556677.
   • given_name and family_name: their first and last names.

   To give each client your own ID, such as a client number, add host_ref_id; you can then name them by it when you put them on their cases. For the other columns, such as language and time zone, see Look up the columns each import needs. Save the file as CSV UTF-8.

2. 2

   Start the import

   In Integration › Imports, choose NEW, and pick Add users under Import Type. The preview lists the columns, and Download Sample CSV gives you a file with them.

3. 3

   Name it and add the file

   Type an Import Name, such as July clients, using letters, numbers, spaces and dashes. Left blank, it's the file's name. Drag the file onto Upload File, or choose Browse file.

4. 4

   Create the import

   Choose Create Import. The import is listed as Queued, then Processing. Once every row has been tried, it reads Completed, or Partly failed or Failed if rows failed.

5. 5

   Check the result

   Stats shows how many rows were imported out of how many were in the file, or, if any failed, how many succeeded and failed. Choose View Import to see why, and see Fix an import with failed rows.

What happens next

Each client joins your hub and appears under Users, in English and on US Eastern time unless your file says otherwise. Nobody is emailed or texted. If an address already belongs to an account elsewhere, that account joins your hub.

To invite your clients, put them on their cases with the invitation switched on; see Add people to cases in bulk.

You can import team members the same way, with host_default_role set to role::staff. An import adds everyone as a User; to give someone the Admin Panel afterwards, see Give a team member access to the Admin Panel.

If something goes wrong

• "Imports must use a CSV file" Save your spreadsheet as CSV UTF-8 and add that file.
• A row fails with "User with username already exist." That person is already in your hub, and nothing about them changes.
• A row fails with "This person is already in the hub but disabled. An Admin or a Manager can turn them back on from the Disabled tab in Users." They're on the Disabled tab under Users, where an Admin or a Manager can enable them again.
• A row fails with "User reference ID is already in use. Please choose a different one." Another member has that host_ref_id. Give the row a new one.