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Extension - Extensions are modular components that add visuals or functionality to a base, and were shown in the base's dashboard. Users can create custom extensions, or they can use extensions created by Airtable or other open-source extensions. |
Adding new records with the contact import extension
The contact import extension allows you to add contact information to an existing table by importing vCard (VCF) files.
After adding a contact import extension to your base, you can drag and drop a vCard file onto the extension.
After the file gets uploaded, you'll be brought to a screen where you can map exactly how the information from the vCard file gets added to your table. Before mapping the fields, make sure you have the correct table selected.
The left side of the Field mappings section (with the toggles) shows the values from the vCard file, and the right side (with the dropdowns) shows the fields in your table. To map a value, select a toggle associated with a vCard value, then choose a field from the dropdown menu. Repeat this process for as many fields as you want.
Note that you don't have to import any values you don't need to, and the names of the values in your vCard file don't necessarily have to match the names of the fields in your Airtable base. As you alter the field mappings, you can look at the right side of the extension, which shows samples of the records that will be created according to the specified mappings.
Once you're ready, click the Create records button.
The extension will remember your field mappings the next time you import another vCard file.
Updating existing records with the contact import extension
In addition to creating new records with the contact import extension, you can also use the contact import extension to update existing records. To do this, you'll need to pick a field on which to merge records (ideally containing a unique value like a name or an email address, for example). The extension will then compare the records in your table with the entries in your vCard file, find matches using the field you selected, and update the values in the table according to the contents of the vCard file.
To get started, drag and drop a vCard file onto the extension, and click the Merge with existing records toggle. You will then be prompted to pick a field: the extension will use whichever field you pick to compare your existing records with the values in the vCard file.
Matching for the field you select will be case-sensitive; for example, the extension will consider "sampleemail@example.com" and "SampleEmail@example.com" to be two different values. (However, leading and trailing whitespace will be ignored when finding matches.)
Once you pick a field, the extension will display previews for the records to be updated. If the vCard being imported contains entries which have no matches in the table, the extension will create new records. The bottom of the extension window will show the number of records that will be updated, the number of records that won't change, and the number of new records that will be created (if any).
A few other notes on the updating process:
If the vCard file contains multiple entries which contain the same value for the merge field, the extension will only use the first of those rows, and subsequent rows will be ignored.
If the table has multiple records, all of which contain the same value for the merge field, all of those records will be updated if there's a matching entry in the vCard file.
If the vCard contains any entries where the value in the merge field is blank, a new record will be created.
If everything looks good, click the Save button.
