Importing People

If you are migrating from another system or already maintain a spreadsheet of people, CSV import is the fastest way to seed the People database.

Prepare your CSV

Export a CSV from your current church-management system or spreadsheet. Keep one person per row and make sure each row has a first and last name.

Useful fields can include:

Field	Requirement	Notes
First name	Required	Must be mapped before import.
Last name	Required	Must be mapped before import.
Email	Optional	Can be used to identify an existing record during import.
Mobile phone	Optional	Include when available.
Phone	Optional	Include when available.
Status	Optional	Use values that match your OKTO membership-status model.
Gender	Optional	Import only when your organization maintains this field.
Date of birth	Optional	Useful for age-aware family and ministry workflows.
Address fields	Optional	Map the components that exist in your source data.

Import workflow

1. Upload the file

Open People and choose the CSV import action. Select or drag in the CSV file. OKTO reads the file so you can review its columns before creating records.

2. Map columns

Match each source column to the corresponding OKTO field. Common headings can be detected automatically, but review every mapping before continuing.

The import cannot continue until First name and Last name are mapped. Other fields are optional.

3. Review the preview

Use the preview to catch obvious mapping mistakes before data is written. Pay particular attention to name, email, phone, status, and date fields.

4. Confirm the import

Start the import and review the completion summary. The results distinguish records that were created from rows that were skipped or could not be imported.

Duplicate handling

Existing documentation used email as a primary duplicate signal. Because duplicate-detection behavior can evolve, review the import preview and results instead of assuming every matching row will be handled the same way.

For a large or high-risk migration, import a small sample first, verify the resulting records, then continue with the full directory.

After import

After the import completes:

1. Open several records and verify names, contact fields, statuses, and dates.
2. Review household relationships separately; CSV person import does not replace household cleanup.
3. Confirm that staff or administrative users have the right application access rather than relying only on People status.
4. Use the People Directory to spot obvious data-quality issues before launching other workflows.