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Formatting files for a CSV 2.0 sync

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Veronica D. Joseph
Customer Support

For administrators with a Remind plan using CSV format 2.0.

Follow the instructions below to properly format the 5 CSV files that are required every time you share rostering data with Remind via SFTP.

In this article we will also cover: 

Tips to Avoid Common Problems

  • Always send all 5 CSV files for every transfer, not just the ones with changes.
  • Include all column headers in all files, even if you leave the cells below the header blank.
  • Make sure class IDs are unique across the district; they can’t be shared with other classes or missing.
  • Quotations and commas inside cells cause errors. To avoid errors:
    • Remove quotes inside cells
      (Ex. 1: Robert “Rob”,Smith should be Robert Rob,Smith)
    • Wrap names with commas in quotations
      (Ex. 2: Rob, Jr. should be "Rob, Jr.")
  • Make sure that file names and column headers are spelled correctly, and that you do not have any spaces.

Include the following 5 CSV files every time you send new rostering data to Remind via SFTP. Every column header is a required part of each CSV, but for some columns, the cells below the header can be left blank.

1. schools.csv

This required file establishes school_ids which are used in subsequent CSV files to associate users and classes to the correct school.
See example file or download template

first_image.png

school_id

  • Unique ID used in subsequent CSV files to match users and classes to schools.
  • Must be unique for every school in the district; there cannot be multiple schools with the same ID.
  • Can include any combination of characters and numbers.

school_name

  • Name of the school, used internally to match the CSV data with the correct school on Remind.
  • Can include any combination of characters and numbers.

2. classes.csv

This required file is used to create classes and associate them with a school in Remind.
See example file or download template

second_image.png

class_id

  • Unique ID used in other CSV files to match users to classes.
  • Must be unique for every individual class in the district.
  • Class IDs cannot be re-used between years, they must always be unique.
  • Can include any combination of characters and numbers.

school_id

  • Must correspond to a school_id in the schools.csv file.

class_name

  • This is the class name that will display in Remind, which class owners will be able to edit via their own Remind account later.
  • It’s recommended to have unique names for each class period to help class owners differentiate between their classes.
  • Can include any combination of characters and numbers.

semester

  • This will be used for future features on Remind. For now it can be used to help internally troubleshoot and differentiate between classes.
  • Can include any combination of characters and numbers.
  • The header is required, but adding data to this column is optional.

3. enrollments.csv

This required file is used to enroll people in classes. Classes can have multiple owners. 
See example file or download template

third_image.png

class_id

  • Must correspond to a class_id in classes.csv file.

user_id

  • Must correspond to user_id in users.csv file.

class_role

  • This determines who in the class is the owner — the person who has permission to send announcements (usually the teacher).
  • Each class must have at least one owner.
  • Classes can have multiple owners. You can assign a maximum of twenty owners per class. 
  • Accepted values: "owner", "participant"
  • If this section is left blank, the default role will be participant.

4. users.csv

This required file is used to create Remind accounts for teachers, students and parents.
See example file or download template

IMPORTANT: Do not include emergency contacts. Only include students, parents and teachers.

fourt_image.png

fifth_image.png

user_id

  • Unique ID used in other CSV files to create enrollments and parent relationships.
  • Must be unique for every user in the district.
  • Can include any combination of characters and numbers.

first_name

  • User’s first name.
  • Be sure to remove apostrophes and quotes, or wrap the cell in quotations.
  • Can include any combination of characters and numbers.

last_name

  • User’s last name.
  • Be sure to remove apostrophes and quotes, or wrap the cell in quotations.
  • Can include any combination of characters and numbers.

preferred_language

  • This feature is in development, and won’t affect how people receive messages yet. We recommend that you input languages if you can so that it is ready for when preferred languages go live.
  • Messages that users receive will be translated into their preferred language. If the preferred language is updated by the user, teacher or administrator, it will take precedence over the data in the CSV file.
  • Accepted values: any ISO-639-1 Code listed here: https://cloud.google.com/translate/docs/languages.
  • The header is required, but adding data to this column is optional. If no data is provided, the default language will be English, and users can update it at anytime.

contact_point_1

  • Contact point is either an email or phone number.
  • Must be unique between users. For example, students and parents cannot share the same phone number. If they do, it will not hold up the sync, but the phone number will be given to the user with the highest role (teacher -> parent -> student). If users have the same role, the contact device will be assigned by alphabetical order according to their source id.
  • Phone number can be with/without brackets, with/without hyphens and with/without international area code.
  • Phone numbers must be from the US or US territories, including Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
  • Emails must be formatted as "_@_._"
  • Teachers must have at least one email.
  • Parents must have at least one phone or email.
  • Students may not have contact points, but without them, their accounts will be informational, not contactable.
  • To add a phone number to students under 18, it is required for the student to be connected to a parent with a different phone number. This helps to prevent accidentally rostering students with the same phone number as their parents.

contact_point_2, contact_point_3, contact_point_4, contact_point_5

  • Can be left blank, or used to provide additional contact points for a user.

role

  • This determines the role and permissions that a user will have on Remind. We recommend choosing the “teacher” role for any staff or coaches you need to roster. 
  • "Student", "parent", "teacher", "parent,teacher" are the accepted values.
    • If a Teacher is also a Parent and the data cannot be place in one row of data, simply add a row for the second role but be sure to have the same user_id. If the user_id will be different, please ensure that both rows have the same email or phone so they can be merged.
  • To add administrators, follow these instructions.

dob

  • Student date of birth.
  • Required for all students, but can be left blank for parents and teachers.
  • Accepted formats: MM/DD/YYYY or YYYY/MM/DD.

grade

  • Student grade level, which can be used to filter students on the people list.
  • Recommended for students, but not required — can be left blank.
  • Accepted values: PK, KG, 01 through 12, and Other.
  • A student can only be associated with one grade.

student_number

parent_id_1, parent_id_2, parent_id_3, parent_id_4, parent_id_5

  • Forms the student-parent relationship, which makes it easier for teachers to identify parents and students.
  • Must correspond to a parent in the users.csv file.
  • Strongly recommended for students (especially for advanced messaging), but not required — can be left blank.

5. school_enrollments.csv

This required file can be used to associate a user with a school without associating them with a class, such as support staff or specialists.
See example file or download template

IMPORTANT: If you do not need to use this file, you still need to upload it with the column headers; just leave the rows below blank.

sixth_image.png

school_id

  • Must correspond to a school_id in schools.csv file.

user_id

  • Must correspond to user_id in users.csv file.

school_role

  • This column is for a feature in development. For now, just put "participant" for every row.

NOTE: To add a user to multiple schools, add a row for that user for each school.

Examples and templates to download

Example files

  1. schools.csv
  2. classes.csv
  3. enrollments.csv
  4. users.csv
  5. school_enrollments.csv

Blank templates to download

  1. schools.csv
  2. classes.csv
  3. enrollments.csv
  4. users.csv
  5. school_enrollments.csv

Once you have properly formatted all 5 CSV files, you are ready to transfer your CSV files using SFTP. Follow steps 3-6 on this resource: Transfer CSVs to Remind.

 FAQ

Can a user have multiple roles?
The only roles that can be shared are parent and teacher. To do this, put "parent, teacher" under role in the users.csv file.

What happens when phone numbers and emails get updated in the SIS?
When you add new contact points to your SIS, to ensure they get added in Remind, upload five of the updated CSV files. Please note that Remind currently does not remove contact points that have been removed from your CSV files. If you update the phone numbers associated with a user's account, please contact Remind support and we’ll remove the old number(s).

What’s the difference between user_id and student_number?
Students, parents and teachers have a user_id, where as only students can have a student_number. You can make user_id and student_number the same if it’s easier to format.

Can a class have multiple teachers?
Yes, just list each teacher as "class owner" instead of "participant" in the enrollments.csv file.

 

 

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