Imports Overview

Required Role

Administrator or Box Office can access the imports page. Some import types may have additional role requirements.

Navigation: Options > Imports

What Are Imports?

Imports allow you to load bulk data into Stagemgr from CSV files. Instead of entering records one at a time through the admin interface, you can prepare a spreadsheet, export it as CSV, and upload it to create or update hundreds of records at once.

The imports page is available at Options > Imports and provides access to all import types described in this section.

Available Import Types

Import Type	Purpose	Key Association
TRG Arts Order File	Update addresses with NCOA corrections; optionally mark attendees	Production (optional)
Mailing List Signup Cards	Import physical signup card data and add to email lists	Production (required)
External Contact Data	Import contacts from external systems with household support	Theater (required)
Bulk Orders	Create complete ticket orders with seating and payments	Theater (required)
Flex Pass Orders	Create and process flex pass orders in bulk	Theater (required)
Donor Levels (LGL)	Update donor tier information from Little Green Light	None

Selecting a production

Imports that associate to a production use the typeahead production picker: search by name, season, code, or theater, or drill into a season/theater/tag group. Inactive productions are not offered for import -- pick an Active, Private, Presale, or Season Seating show.

How Imports Work

Background Processing

All imports run as background jobs. When you upload a CSV file and submit the form, the import is queued and processed behind the scenes. This means:

• You do not need to keep the page open while the import runs
• Large files may take several minutes to complete
• Import progress and results are displayed on the imports page when you return to it

See Background Jobs for more about how background processing works in Stagemgr.

Result File

Every import that supports per-row error reporting (Bulk Orders, Flex Pass Orders, Donor Levels) produces a result file when it finishes. The result file mirrors your original upload row-for-row and adds a single Error column:

• Successful rows have a blank Error cell.
• Failed rows have a description of what went wrong (for example, ActiveRecord::RecordInvalid: Validation failed: There are only 0 reservations remaining for the 2026-05-08 performance at 07:00pm.).

The result file is named after your upload, with a prefix that identifies the importer:

Importer	Result filename pattern
Bulk Orders	order_import_results_<your-file-name>.csv
Flex Pass Orders	flex_pass_import_results_<your-file-name>.csv
Donor Levels	donor_import_results_<your-file-name>.csv

The <your-file-name> portion is your original upload's name with the extension stripped and any spaces, parentheses, ampersands, or other special characters collapsed to a single underscore. Two users (or repeated runs) uploading the same filename produce separate result files — nothing is overwritten.

If at least one row failed, Stagemgr also emails the result file to the user who initiated the import.

Re-importing Corrected Rows

Failed rows are rolled back entirely — no partial order, customer, or flex pass remains in the database. To retry:

1. Open the result file.
2. Delete the rows that succeeded (blank Error).
3. Fix the data in the remaining rows.
4. Re-upload the edited file using the same importer.

The Error column itself can be left in place when you re-upload; importers ignore columns they don't recognize.

Check Your Email

Always check your email after an import completes. Even if most rows succeed, a few may fail due to data issues. The result file tells you exactly what to fix.

CSV File Requirements

All import files must meet these requirements:

Requirement	Details
Format	Comma-separated values (CSV)
Headers	First row must contain column headers matching the expected names for that import type
Encoding	UTF-8 preferred. Character encoding issues are automatically handled where possible.
File size	No hard limit, but very large files will take longer to process

Preparing Your CSV

1. Use the exact header names listed in each import type's documentation. Headers are case-sensitive.
2. Include all required headers even if some cells are empty. The import checks for the presence of the header row.
3. Save as CSV from Excel or Google Sheets using "Save As" or "Download as" CSV format.
4. Remove formatting -- CSV files should not contain merged cells, formulas, or special formatting.

Duplicate Detection and Merging

All imports that create or update customer records include automatic duplicate detection. When an imported row matches an existing customer, Stagemgr merges the records rather than creating a duplicate. Matching criteria vary by import type but typically include:

• Email address matching
• Name matching
• External ID matching (where applicable)

This helps maintain data quality across repeated imports from different sources.

Review After Large Imports

After importing a large dataset from a new source, spot-check a sample of records in the Customers section to verify that merging worked as expected.

Common Workflow

1. Export data from your source system (TRG Arts, LGL, a spreadsheet) as CSV
2. Open the CSV and verify the headers match what Stagemgr expects
3. Navigate to Options > Imports
4. Select the appropriate import type
5. Choose any required associations (theater, production) and options
6. Upload the CSV file
7. Submit the import
8. Check your email for the completion notification and the result file (if any rows failed)
9. Verify a sample of imported records in Stagemgr