Introduction

Managing a large address book can be challenging, especially when entering contacts one by one into a new system. Artshell simplifies this process by offering two efficient solutions for importing your contacts:

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  • Concierge service: our team of experts will take care of the entire import process for you. Click here to learn more about the Concierge service.
  • Advanced Import: a tool that allows you to import contacts in bulk by uploading an Excel file directly into the Artshell database.

Whichever option you choose, it is essential to remember that a well-structured and professional address book is one of the keys to your organisation’s success. Take this opportunity to carefully review the contacts you want to keep in the Contacts section of Artshell:

• remove those you know are no longer active;
• check that there are no typos in email addresses (as these would otherwise be invalid);
• ensure that first name, last name and company details are entered correctly.

The Contacts section of Artshell is closely connected to the Email and Newsletter section, which allows you to send communications to your recipients within the same environment. This is extremely convenient, but it also requires careful attention: if, for example, you use personalised greetings such as Hello #name or Hello #company, you must ensure that the corresponding fields have been filled in correctly. Otherwise, you risk unprofessional results, such as Hello [empty field] (if the data is missing) or Hello Tina instead of Hello Antonia, if the contact was saved inaccurately or too hastily.

This article provides a step-by-step guide for using the Advanced Import feature.

Step 1: Download and fill out the contact import file (Excel)

Below is the Excel template you can download and fill out.

Download the Excel template for contact import below:

The file is also available for download directly in the Artshell platform on the Settings panel (  ) by selecting Import > Contacts > download Excel template.

Once downloaded, follow these steps:

Open the file in Excel.
The file contains a header row (DO NOT edit the headers) and a second row with example data. The header row is colour-coded based on the type of contact information to assist you during compilation.



 

1. Take a moment to review all the columns in the file. If there are any that are not relevant to your needs, you can either leave them blank or delete them entirely.

2. Fill in one row for each contact. Fields that don’t apply to certain contacts can be left blank — they simply won’t be imported. If a field is only useful for some contacts, you can leave the cell blank for the others: it will not be imported into their file. Finally, some fields require specific configuration to be imported correctly.
   Below you will find instructions on how to fill in each field.

   Detailed instructions for each field

   First name	text
   Last name	text
   Company	text
   Contact type	text
   Role	text
   Tags	text – separate with commas
   Email label	text – must match predefined options
   Email	text/number
   Phone label	text – must match predefined options
   Phone number	number
   Address label	text
   Street address	text/number
   City	text
   Postal code	number
   Province/Region/State	text
   Country	text, from the country sheet
   Link label	text – must match predefined options
   Website	URL
   Legal name	text
   Billing street address	text/number
   Billing postal code	number
   Billing city	text
   Billing province/region/state	text
   Billing country	text, from the country sheet
   VAT number	number
   Tax code	text/number
   Billing email	text/number
   Nationality	number, from nationality sheet
   Day of birth	number
   Month of birth	number
   Year of birth	number
   Notes	text/number

3. Save the file in XLSX format, and rename it as needed. Do not save it in any other format — the system will not be able to process it.

Step 2: Import the contact file (Excel)

Once your file is ready and free from filters or formatting, follow these steps:

1. Click the Settings panel icon (  ) at the bottom left.
2. Select Import > then select Contacts.
3. Click Browse and select the file from your computer.
4. Click Import and wait for the upload to complete — the time depends on the number of contacts and your internet connection. 

At the end of the import, the system will show a summary:

• Contact imported:
  Number of new contacts successfully added.
• Contacts merged: 
  Number of contacts matched with existing ones in your database. New data is added to existing profiles. Learn more in the next section in this article.
• Errors:
  Number of rows not imported due to errors in the file.

If merged contacts or errors are detected during the import, a Download report button will appear, allowing you to download an Excel file with a summary of the merged contacts and any errors.

Subsequent imports

Bulk import via Excel file is an operation you can perform multiple times in Artshell to expand or update your contact database. During subsequent imports, Artshell checks whether the contacts in the Excel file match existing contact records in the database.
The system applies multiple levels of validation to correctly handle contacts even when an email address is not available (for example, records used as Locations within artworks or events).

How Artshell identifies and merges contacts

Artshell applies the following checks, in order of priority:

Primary email (Email 1) If the Email 1 field is filled in, the system checks whether a contact with the same primary email already exists. If a match is found, the data from the Excel file is used to update the existing contact record. First name and Last name If the Email 1 field is not filled in, the system checks whether both First name and Last name are provided. If a contact with the same First name and Last name exists, the system proceeds with the update. If multiple contacts share the same First name and Last name, only the oldest contact record (i.e. the one created first) will be updated. Company If neither Email 1 nor First name and Last name are provided, the system uses the Company field as the matching criterion. In this case as well, if multiple contacts share the same Company name, the oldest contact record will be updated.

How data is handled during the merge

When a contact is recognised as already existing, Artshell updates the record according to the following logic:

1. Empty fields: are filled with the values from the Excel file; 
2. Tags: new tags from the Excel file are added if they are not already present in the contact cards; 
3. Email, phone, addresses: any additional data is added if not already present 
4. Existing fields: are overwritten with the values from the Excel file (except for tags, email addresses, phone numbers and addresses, which are always added and never replaced).

Quickly update multiple contacts

If you need to update a large number of contacts already present in Artshell, we recommend not manually filling in the fields used for matching (such as email, name or company). You can speed up the process by following these steps:

1. Select the contacts you want to update or modify;
2. Export these contacts in Excel format;
3. Copy the entire column (Email 1 or Company) from the exported file — if you are using First Name and Last Name to update the data, you will need to copy both columns;
4. Paste the data into the corresponding column in the import Excel file (Email 1, or Company, or First Name and Last Name if you are not using Email);
5. Fill in only the fields you want to update or add;
6. Upload the updated file using the import function.

This way you rely on existing and correct data already stored in the system, reducing the risk of errors or duplicates and making the update process much faster and more efficient.

Conclusions

Importing via Excel file is a powerful tool that allows you to manage large volumes of contacts quickly and efficiently.

By correctly using the Email 1 field and following the recommended best practices, you can keep your contact database accurate, organised and up to date, minimising errors and duplicates.