How does an Import Account work?

When you set up an Import Account, basically you are telling our system to look for an import file with a specific name in your FTP account. When RescueGroups.org receives an import file, our system will process it and add or update animals in your RescueGroups.org account.

Import Accounts are typically run on an on-going basis, although some organizations use them to import data one time when first adding animals to their account. If your organization is using an Import Account on an on-going basis, this means animals are continually added and updated in your RescueGroups.org account when you (or your third party software system) upload a new import file to our system. An import file will only ever affect animal listings that have already been added through that particular Import Account file. So, if there are already animals listed in your RescueGroups.org account added through other means, no import file will be able to overwrite or change those existing listings.

Here are a few other items to be aware of:

• The externalID value provided in your upload file must be unique for each animal. This field is used to match up the animals in your data file those that have already been imported. If you want to update an animal record previously uploaded, you'll need to use the same unique externalID to do so.
• To remove an animal previously uploaded, simply do not include a row for that animal in your next upload. When a new version of the import file no longer lists that animal, then the animal is deleted from the organization's RescueGroups.org account.

How to create your import data file

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