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How to Import Mailing List Members (Subscribers)

If you need to import more than a few thousand members to your list, or if you want to add additional values to your list member information, you can add your list members to the server using the import function. The import method allows you to import members from a plain text file or a CSV (comma separated values) file.

A CSV file has the information you would like imported in a CSV format. It also allows you to import members with additional demographic information, such as company name, date, IP address, etc. Please find step-by-step instructions below on how to import your mailing list members to the mail server.

From a CSV file | From a TEXT file

How to Prepare Your List in CSV Format

First, prepare your CSV file to import. It must be in the proper format to import correctly, with the correct header information. The first row of the file tells ListManager which field the data in each column should be imported into. For example:

EmailAddr_,FullName_,UserID_
bob@ge.com,Bob Shelby,General Electric

Here are all the fields which can be assigned values upon import. Of all these fields, the "EmailAddr_" column name is the only field that is required

EmailAddr_
The email address of this person (required).
FullName_
Full name of this person. Note: you can include the either first name or both the first and last name in this field.
UserID_ (included on all service levels, standard, professional and enterprise)
Holds the user-definable 'user id' information, such as a key back to another table.
Comment_ (included on all service levels, standard, professional and enterprise)
Holds whatever comments you wish to put in. Useful as a user-defined 'additional info' field.
Additional_ (included on all service levels, standard, professional and enterprise)
Placeholder for any information you want to store associated with this member.

The list of available fields.

If you are using Microsoft Excel to organize your list, your file may look something like this in Excel:

EmailAddr_ FullName_ UserID_ Comment_ Additional_
bob@ge.com Bob Shelby General Electric client 934-235-9844
ann@aol.com Ann Rivers American Airlines prospect 348-385-4583
fred@hotmail.com Fred Fredericks Ford Motor Co client 656-444-8398

When you are done preparing your list in Microsoft Excel, choose File | Save As under Save as type choose CSV (Comma delimited)(*.csv)

After saving your file in CSV format, your saved file will look something like this below, and is ready for import:

EmailAddr_,FullName_,UserID_,Comment_,Additional_
bob@ge.com,Bob Shelby,General Electric,client,934-235-9844
ann@aol.com,Ann Rivers,American Airlines,prospect,348-385-4583
fred@hotmail.com,Fred Fredericks,Ford Motor Company,client,656-444-8398

Now that your list of subscribers is ready, it's time to run the import.

How to Import Your List in CSV Format

  1. Log into the Lyris control panel with your web browser
  2. Click on the Utilities tab
  3. Click on the Members link
  4. In the drop down box, select Import Members From File
  5. Click on the Go button
  6. Choose the File type
  7. Choose the radio button csv file with first row column names
  8. Choose the radio button and indicate the action you wish to happen when you add your new members
  9. Click on the browse button and select the CSV file on your computer where the emails are stored
  10. Click on the Import button

NOTE: Large lists can take several minutes to import. Please be patient.

How to Prepare Your List in Text Format (.txt)

If all you want to include in your list is name and email address, or just email address, a simple text file import works fine. First, prepare your text file to import. It must be in the proper format to import correctly. Your list members must be in one the following formats below. Each email address and name must be on a separate line.

Note: the server software will automatically remove any duplicate email addresses. Any malformed (bad) email addresses will not be imported. Use one of these formats below:

bob@somewhere.com (Bob Somebody)
bob@somebody.com
Bob Somebody <bob@somebody.com>

So for example, save your text file for import like this:

bob@ge.com
ann@aol.com
fred@hotmail.com

How to Import Your List in Text Format

  1. Log into the Lyris control panel with your web browser
  2. Click on the Utilities tab
  3. Click on the Members link
  4. In the drop down box, select Import Members From File
  5. Click on the Go button
  6. Choose the File type
  7. Choose the radio button "email addresses and optional names"
  8. Choose the radio button and indicate the action you wish to happen when you add your new members
  9. Click on the browse button and select the CSV file on your computer where the emails are stored
  10. Click on the Import button

NOTE: Large lists can take several minutes to import.

Additional Resources