Creating User Accounts

3. Batch Account Creation via CSV file

This tool is only for adding users to your site, and making initial enrollments to courses. It should not be used for making subsequent enrollments into courses. Use extreme caution when using the options to update users; errors updating existing accounts can affect your users badly.

The file used for uploading users should be a text file saved as a .csv with a single record per line. The first record (row 1) contains a list of fieldnames defining the format of the rest of the file.

Required field names are:

• username - the user’s unique username
  
• password - optional if the default "Create password if needed" setting is used.  If you don’t want to include a password for each user, keep the column in place, just leave it empty.
  
• firstname - user’s first name
  
• lastname - user’s last name
  
• email - user’s fully qualified email address
  

Other optional fields could include:

• idnumber - the user’s institutional ID; important if enrollments will be handled by the automated process
• cohort - internal cohort id numbers or non-numeric cohort IDs of existing Cohorts (create the cohorts first before attempting to enrol users)

It will look similar to this:

A Tip For Proper Encoding

Encoding matters with your flat-file upload process.  You want to make sure that the file encoding is set to UTF8, which can be done by following the steps below.

1.    Open csv file in NotePad++ or similar editor
2.    Click on the “Encoding” menu option at the top
3.    Select “Encode in UTF-8”
4.    Save the file

You also need to make sure that the file has Linux End of Line Characters.  If you need directions on how that is done please review our Knowledge Base article (opens in new window) on Flat File Processes.