Importing your data

Import your data in .xls or .xlsx formats.

Only users with the right to import data will be able to do so. Contact your local administrator if you think you should have this right. Note it is different from the administration right.

If you are granted the right, go to Take part > Import a file (see image below).

You can either,

• import your own data.
  
• import someone else's data.
  

Starting the import

1. The file to be imported
Select Choose a file to select the file to import. The system is designed to import .xlsx files but can also read .xls ones.

Account
If you are importing someone else's data (see box below), select the account to import from. If you are only allowed to import your own observations, you are not given this choice.

2. Taxonomic group
Select a taxonomic group for the data you are importing, if necessary.
Not selecting a group allows to import basic information for all groups. Selecting a taxonomic group allows to import additional details but only for the selected taxa.

3. Protocol
Select to which protocol your data belongs to, if any. Leave blank if your data is not linked to a protocol.

4. Profile
Select a profile if necessary. Leave blank otherwise. It will be necessary if importing data from other websites like eBird. See wiki section Importing observations from eBirds below for details.

To create a profile, set parameters as described in wiki section 2. Column matching below, check the cell Save these settings in a profile and name the new profile. All available profiles will be shown in this section for future imports.

Click on Manage profiles to edit profile names.

5. Start upload
When all is ready, click on Start upload to start the process.

The import takes place in two stages:
1. File validation, and
2. import itself

If an error is detected during validation, the file is not imported. The next wiki section Data description describes how to format your data to avoid errors.

Data description

Before properly importing your data, the system runs a process of validation. If an error is detected during validation, the file is not imported. Your data needs to follow certain criteria to pass the validation process.

1. File sample

Visualise the first 5 lines of your file. Note the file has to contain column titles on the first line, and only on one line (see example below).

2. Column matching

Match your file information with the information required to import.

A table below summarizes all possible fields in the imported file. They may be different for different local portals. Expand the table to see notes and available formatting options for each field. Use arrows under column titles to alternate between ascending and descending alphabetical order.

Available fields	Description	Settings
Start time of the form	Starting time of list, if appropriate.	Excel time Time (HH:mm) Time (hh:mm AA)
End time of the form	Ending time of list, if appropriate.	Excel time Time (HH:mm) Time (hh:mm AA)
Grouping ID	Criteria to group entries.	N/A
Complete list?	Indicates if the entry belong to a complete list or otherwise.	N/A
Date	Date of observation. Excel date is good in most cases. Try to change date format on the excel cell (Right click > Format cell > Date), if it is allowed Date Excel will work. Otherwise, choose a different format. Importing data from a website (ie. eBirds) or from a non-excel file may need any but Excel Date.	Excel Date date (dd.mm.yyy) date (mm.dd.yyyy) date (yyyy.mm.dd) date (yyyy.dd.mm) Timestamp
Time	Time of observation. Excel time is good in most cases. Try to change time format on the excel cell (Right click > Format cell > Time), if it is allowed Excel will work. Otherwise, choose a different format. Importing data from a website (ie. eBirds) or from a non-excel file may need any but Excel time.	Excel time Time (HH:mm) Time (hh:mm AA)
Elevation / Z(m)	Elevation at which the observation takes place. It is not compulsory to introduce it. However, when not provided the process slows down as the system works to assign an altitude to the observation.	N/A
Locality code	Code of locality.	Locality code of the former base Locality code of this site
Name of locality	Locality name.	N/A
Municipality	Municipality name.	INSEE code Name of the municipality
Department	Name (or code) of department or province.	Province Province code
Longitude / X(m)	Coordinates. It is important longitud and latitude are precise. Indicate the coordinates system the data follows.	WGS84 géographique [D.d] WGS84 géographique [DMS] WGS84 planes - UTM (GRS80) [m]> RGF93 planes - Lambert 93 [m] NTF planes - Lambert II étendu [m] NTF planes - Lambert I Nord [m] NTF planes - Lambert II Centre [m] NTF planes - Lambert III Sud [m] NTF géographique (Paris) [Grades] NTF planes - Lambert IV Corse [m] CH 1903 [m]
Latitude / Y(m)	Coordinates. It is important longitud and latitude are precise. Indicate the coordinates system the data follows.	WGS84 géographique [D.d] WGS84 géographique [DMS] WGS84 planes - UTM (GRS80) [m]> RGF93 planes - Lambert 93 [m] NTF planes - Lambert II étendu [m] NTF planes - Lambert I Nord [m] NTF planes - Lambert II Centre [m] NTF planes - Lambert III Sud [m] NTF géographique (Paris) [Grades] NTF planes - Lambert IV Corse [m] CH 1903 [m]
UTM zone	Coordinates. When introducing the coordinate, remember to indicate the letter along with the number <ie. U32 instead of 32).	N/A
Species	Species name. Indicate if you use Biolovision's species code or a species name in any of the languages offered by your local portal.	Biolovision code Scientific name Local languages
Estimate	Precision count for number of individuals in each observation.	N/A
Number	Number of individuals in each observation.	N/A
Comment nb1	Click on the + sign to duplicate the field.	N/A
Hidden comment n°1	Click on the + sign to duplicate the field.	N/A
Age and sex n°1	Click on the + sign to duplicate the field. Only visible if you chose a taxonomic group at the start.	Several combinations of age and sex
Hidden record	Type 1 to hide a record and 0 to keep it public.	N/A
Observer nb1	Click on the + sign to duplicate the field.	Put in hidden remark for reallocation Id E=mail Family name First name
Atlas code	Only available for birds. If you selected a different taxonomic group or none, this field will not be available. Indicate which coding system you are using. Number of options depend on the system.	eBird list
Project code Study code	Code of project the observation belongs to. It should contain a code already existing in your system.	N/A
Exported		N/A
Export date	date of export.	Excel Date date (dd.mm.yyy) date (mm.dd.yyyy) date (yyyy.mm.dd) date (yyyy.dd.mm) Timestamp
Behaviour	Observation's behaviour according to its taxonomic group. Only one behaviour is accepted per cell.	Various according to taxonomic group. See section below.

Importing Lists

Either if they are complete or not, they require a time to start and end, and an id number in a different column.

3. Complementary treatment information

1. Precise location type

To minimize the number of incorrect coordinates, there are three types of positions. Note only one is allowed per file. If you need to import observations recorded with different precision, use separate files for each of them.

Precise: It requires coordinates X and Y.

Locality: The coordinates are associated to the closest Locality (there is no red marker indicating the position). There is no need to introduce coordinates, but the name of the Locality (either the current code or that on the old database). If coordinates are introduced, the system will associate them to the closest Locality.

Municipality: The coordinates are associated to the commune, independently on how you enter them. This is highly inaccurate and we do not recommend its use.

2. Hiding all observations

It is possible to hide all observations. This option will replace the Hide record one in the previous step.

3. Automatic validation

It is possible to ask the system to conduct an automatic validation. It is important that there are no filters in your data. Although they can be useful to check the data, the import will stop if the system detects any filter.

4. Only perform data validation (no insert)

There is the possibility to run a verification without importing. It allows to check the configuration of a selection of data.

5. Insert several times duplicate records

Check if you want to import records that may occur more than once in your file. If you do not check the cell, the file will be validated but data not imported until such observations are grouped.

Import

During the import, the system shows the progress and the errors encountered (see image below). It stops validating when it encounters 15. Repair the errors manually on your computer and upload the file again until all data are validated and correct. Then the import itself starts automatically if you did not requested otherwise. The configuration in saved so there is no need to reset it every time you correct mistakes.

There is no size limit to your file, but the larger the file, the longer to import. It takes about 1000 observations per minute to import, but can take longer if altitude or commune are missing. The system will have to assign them. Therefore, we strongly encourage you to double check your data before importing because corrections are burdensome. We recommend to import small files so mistakes can be easier to correct.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
Please double check your data before importing it, and import small files.

There is no need to wait until the importing process is done. Once it starts, you can turn off your computer.

Importing observations from eBird

To import data from eBirds, choose:

• Taxonomic group: Birds
  
• Profile: ebird
  
• Use in profile: Column name
  

When choosing the eBird profile, a checkbox with the option "Rebuild eBird form" appears. This option allows the form to be reconstructed from the information transmitted (date, location, observation duration). It is necessary to have the "Protocol", "Location ID" and "Duration (Min)" columns present in the eBird export. Only observations with the "eBird - Traveling Count" or "eBird - Stationary Count" protocol will be imported as forms.

If the cell is not marked, all data from ebird is imported as casual data.

Consulting your imports

It is possible to check the result of your imports afterwards in Taking part > Import section (see image below as an example).

Imports are coloured coded:

• Blue : Settings are underway, or import has been stool at the Settings phase.
  
• Red : Import failed. Click on the + symbol to see the reason.
  
• Green : The file has been imported successfully.
  
• Yellow : Either the validation or the import are in course. A rotating symbol indicates either the validation or the importing itself are currently taking place. If converts to a green tick (see image below as an example), your file passed the validation but has not been imported. The change does not take place automatically, you will need to refresh the page.
  

Click on the + symbol on the left to see more information, including possible errors during the validation and/or importing process (see images below).