When using the Seminar activity, there is the ability to do things in bulk and the main two are:
- Bulk-adding users to events
- Bulk taking attendance following a session
Bulk-adding users to a Seminar session
Within any session, it is possible to use a CSV to bulk upload users to individual sessions this is particularly helpful when there are a lot of users to be added by the Site Manager or Trainer and they want to avoid a manual process.
Preparing the CSV file
Before a bulk upload can take place on the session, the CSV file must be created and when creating this file there is only 1 field required. On the CSV it can contain any of the below:
- Username
- ID Number
Only 1 of the above should be chosen as this will be the unique identifier for the user
Note if using email address for the CSV it is important to consider the fact that the LMS may be set up to accept duplicate email addresses, if 2 accounts on the LMS have the same email address this will cause issues on the upload. In this instance use username.
It is also possible to include custom fields that are within the sign-up form if applicable on the CSV as optional so therefore they are not required.
Uploading the file
On the seminar session page, to bulk add attendees it is done in the same manner of adding one user manually to the session. On the session in question, click on Attendees
On the next screen, there will be a dropdown box where users can be manually added, removed or uploaded in bulk. Choosing "Add users via file upload" will be the one needed.
On the next screen, this is where the CSV file is uploaded.
There will be a reminder on this screen on how the CSV should be prepared. Important to note here there will be a tick box which states "Allow scheduling conflicts", what this means is if ticked a user who being added to this session can sign up for another session starting at the same time on the same day.
Both CSV file encoding and CSV file delimiter can be left untouched, however, ensure that the CSV being uploaded is UTF-8 encoded.
One the file has been added, the screen should now look like the below
If everything is ready to go, clicking continue will upload the file and bulk add the users. Note, if uploaded a large amount of users the screen may take some time to load.
On the next screen, this is where information will be provided and shows the mapping to user accounts on the LMS from the identifier chosen for the CSV upload.
This is a good chance to ensure that all users are present and that the correct session has been selected. If happy, clicking confirm will begin the upload. Again, if uploading a large amount of users the screen make take time to refresh.
Once the screen has refreshed, there will be an indicator at the top that tells how the upload has gone and if it has been successful or not.
If successful, there will be a green banner at the top stating such. An example can be seen below:
If a red banner has been presented this means that there are errors within the data that has been provided this can be for a few reasons:
- User has been added on the CSV file but does not exist on the LMS
- User has been added on the CSV file but is deleted on the LMS
- User has been added on the CSV file but is a duplicate email of another account on the LMS (If the LMS allows for duplicate emails.
- User has been added on the CSV file but already has an existing sign up to another session on the same Seminar activity (check the amount of times a user can sign up should this be the case)
If an error is found, the data needs to be checked to ensure that all users on the file exist and are active and then re-uploaded onto the session.
If the file has been successful, the attendees section will populate with all users who have now been added via the import.
Bulk taking attendance
Within a Seminar activity, it is also possible to bulk take attendance. This is particularly helpful when all users who signed up to the session have attended and there are a large number of attendances to be taken.
To bulk take attendance, it is the same method of taking attendance manually per user. On the session, clicking on attendees takes you to the correct screen.
Once in the session, it will automatically land on the attendees list. Moving over to the 'Take attendance' tab will allow for the attendance to be recorded.
One in the correct screen there are two ways to bulk take attendance
- Selection of users and then bulk updating those selected - If there are other users who need to be marked as No show or Partially attended.
- Select all and bulk mark as complete - If all users who have booked has fully attended the session.
Selection of users
Choosing only certain people by ticking the box beside their name and then bulk updating those selected with a Fully attended status.
Once those users have been selected, at the top of the screen there will be an option to mark those selected with one of the following statuses:
- Fully attended
- Partially attended
- No Show
Once the selection has been made, selecting 'Save attendance' at the bottom of the screen will mark those selected with the fully attended status.
The steps can then be repeated for the other statuses if required.
Bulk marking all users
When bulk marking all users on the Take attendance screen, at the top there is an option to select all.
When using the select option, it is also possible to select only those who have no status at the moment that would be the 'Not Set' option and by selecting 'Set' that will select all users who have a status set.
When all users are selected, staying at the top of the screen and using the option 'Mark all selected as' choosing 'Fully Attended' will mark all attendees as Fully attended.
Once that has been selected, scrolling to the bottom and selecting 'Save attendance' will update the attendance for all selected and in this case it is everyone booked onto the session.
As the screen reloads there will be a message at the top of the screen that states if the attendance has been updated successfully.
When the attendees are now previewed, all users within this section will have the status Fully attended.