Guardian Import Overview
Note: Importing Guardians requires Students to be added first. Click here to access the help document for Student importing: Student Import Overview
Note: If you're a current CutTime Classic user and you're looking to migrate your existing Student records from Classic to Next Gen, see our walkthrough videos here:
Classic Export Guide & Classic Imports to Next Gen
Note: If you're a current Charms Music Office user and you're looking to migrate your existing Student records from Charms to Next Gen, see our walkthrough videos here:
Charms Export Guide & Charms Imports to Next Gen
To import your Guardians into CutTime, you will first need to populate an import template containing the formatting accepted by our system. See the screenshot below for a list of the available fields for Guardians, the type of data accepted, and limitations on what the system will accept data.
| Column Header | Data Accepted | Example/Limitations |
|---|---|---|
| Student last name (required) | String of Text (freeform) | example: "Smith" |
| Student first name (required) | String of Text (freeform) | example: "Jimmy" |
| Student ID (required) | String of Text (freeform) | Helps match an existing CutTime Student Record to the guardian |
Step 1: Access the import template
Click the link below to access our import template. This is a read-only link, so you will either need to make a copy into your own Google Drive (recommended) by clicking File>Make a copy or download and edit the sheet in excel or another spreadsheet editor (not recommended) by clicking File>Download.
Please note that our support team highly recommends that you complete this process in Google Sheets - Excel and other spreadsheet editors can apply automatic formatting that may not be compatible with our importer.
Step 2: Populate your data
Copy and paste (values only - see note below) your guardian data from your current spreadsheet into the CutTime import template. The column headers in the import template should not be edited.
Please note: The import template is pre-formatted to help you ensure your data matches the formatting that our importer will accept. This formatting will be broken if you paste your data into the template normally (CTRL+V/Command+V). To ensure the template's formatting is not overwritten, please Paste Values Only (CTRL+Shift+V/Command+Shift+V in Google Sheets, right click>paste special>text in Excel) when pasting data into the template.
Step 3: Save as a CSV
When you have finished populating your import template, you are ready to save and upload it to our import helper for verification. The file will need to be in CSV format for our importer.
- In Google Sheets, click File>Download>Comma Separated Values (.csv)
- In Excel, click File>Save As and change the format from Excel Workbook (*.xlsx) to CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) (*.csv)
Step 4: Upload and import
Once you have your CSV file saved and ready to import, navigate to your Program Settings page and click the "Import Guardians" button. Click "Choose File", select the CSV file you just saved, and click "Preview" to open the import helper.
The import helper will generate a table displaying the data from the file that you just uploaded. From this screen you can make any final edits necessary before completing the import.
Valid records will appear in the table without any highlighting. These records can be imported as-is, but you can also edit them as necessary (see below for help editing a guardian).
Invalid records will be highlighted red in the table. These records cannot be imported and must be either edited or skipped before the import can be completed (see below for help editing a student). The field(s) that are not accepted will appear with a help tip in the edit form so you can see why it is invalid and make the necessary adjustments.
Skipped records will be highlighted dark gray. Skipped records will not be imported, so if an invalid record is skipped, it would not prevent other valid records from being imported. Both valid and invalid records can be skipped. If you mistakenly skip a record, you can click the edit form again to "Unskip".
To edit a guardian:
- Locate the guardian in the table and click on that row to open an edit form
- After you open the edit form, you can make adjustments to any of the fields that were originally imported. Note that the edit form will display Original value so you can always reference the data that was imported with the file
- When you're finished editing, click "Save" to save the guardian's new record with the data you just edited. Even after you save a record, you can still open the edit form again and see the Original value if necessary.
- If you'd like to exclude a guardian from the import, you can click "Skip" instead of "Save". Skipped records can also be unskipped. See above for more information about skipped records.
When you have verified all of your guardian records, click the blue "Import" button on the top right of your screen to finalize the import. If the button is greyed out, that means you have at least one invalid record that must be either edited or skipped before the import can be finalized - check for any rows that are highlighted red.
Once you click the blue "Import" button, you're done! Any guardian records that were not skipped should now appear in the student details of your Students page.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
I have some guardians in my program that need to be associated with more than one student. How do I handle this in the import?
Our importer will allow you to add guardians to more than one student by creating a new row for each relationship you're trying to establish. See screenshot:
John Smith is the father of both Jimmy and Emily. John can be linked to both Jimmy and Emily by giving each Student/Guardian relationship its own row.
What if I don't know cell phone numbers for my guardians?
- CutTime currently uses SMS messaging for all guardian communications, including to provide guardians with a login "magic link". Guardian records without a cell phone number are not supported at this time.
If you have other questions during the student import process, don't hesitate to reach us at support@gocuttime.com for assistance.