Here we gather links to useful resources and tips that will help you with your use of SmartIMPORT.
Firstly, we have an overview of the system in this video demo:
Tips
Custom fields - multiple values and bespoke comments and dates
When specifying custom fields, you can specify the value (or values) for each category. Let's say you want to add two custom field values to the Interests category. You would select the Interests custom field category, then in the values you could enter Golf|Fishing - the | is the separator and allows you to specify more than one value.
You can also specify a comment and date to add as default to all your custom fields but you can go further and specify the comment and date for a specific value i.e. Golf^2026-01-02^Plays at Royal St. Georges|Fishing.
Text-based dates and date maths
If you have a date in your incoming data and you wish to add or subtract an interval from it, you can do this easily using our date maths feature.
[date] +1 month => Add month to the date
[date] -7 day => Take away 7 days
[date] +4 years => Add 4 years
You can also specify dates using text, i.e.
tomorrow
next Monday
yesterday
Guides
Data 'Mapping' guide - Mapping data values so they can be used in Raiser's Edge (also known as Dictionaries)
Transforms guide - Transform data so it is ready for use in Raiser's Edge (Uppercase, email format, transform dates, gift aid start dates etc.)
Custom code - For programmers only - allows you to manipulate data at various points within the import process usign PHP code