How to Import Athletes into CT Live

Introduction

If you would prefer to watch a video on this topic, click Here.

When using third-party registration software in conjunction with CT Live scoring, you may find it necessary to import large numbers of athletes into CT Live. This can be done with our Import Athletes tool. You may also use the Import Athletes tool to make corrections to large numbers of athletes. This section will walk you through how to import new athletes and make edits to existing ones.

The most basic athlete file must include: External ID or ChronoID, and Reg Choice.

If you want to get the most out of ChronoTrack Live's integration with Athlinks, it's best to import both DOB and Email address.

To speed up the import process, you should ensure that the column headers in your file match the values in CT Live. The exact values for all available fields are: 

The below process should not be taken as an exact representation of every Athlete Import. The number and type of fields used in your Athlete file may differ from what is shown below which may make the process longer or shorter. Please ensure that the REQUIRED fields are ALWAYS part of your import.

Importing Athletes

1. Click Import Athletes, located between Export Athletes and Add Athlete.
   
2. Select an Athlete File from your computer to upload.
   Athlete files MUST be .csv, .tsv, or .txt format. Athletes must also have a unique External ID that never changes in order to properly update existing athletes. The External ID should NEVER be the bib number.
   
   
3. Select whether or not the file has a Header Row.
   
4. Specify the Column Separator type. For CSV files, this should be Comma. For TSV or TXT files, it should be Tab.
5. Click Continue.
6. In the next section, you must map the various columns in your file to their corresponding features in CT Live. CT Live will attempt to automatically detect which columns belong to which setting, but it may be necessary to manually specify. As you can see in the image below, the ID line was not mapped to any CT Live setting. This is because the heading was too ambiguous. ID might refer to an External ID, Team External ID, or a Chrono ID. The default setting for ambiguous lines is Ignore, meaning that the column will not be used when importing the athletes.
   
7. To select the corresponding value, click the dropdown next to the desired Column heading, and scroll to select the correct data attribute. Headings are organized alphabetically with Custom Questions at the bottom of the list.
   If you import 5-digit US postal codes, you will not need to include city or state columns in the import file since CT Live will auto-populate these based on postal code. If you include a sorting code (e.g. 47711-4567) these will NOT auto-populate.
8. Check each column to make sure they are being mapped correctly. If necessary, check the Ignore box to eliminate a column from being uploaded.
9. Click Continue.
10. In the next section, you must now choose a corresponding value for each race selection. 
    
11. Next you must verify that gender values are being mapped correctly. Verify and make any necessary changes, then click Continue.
    
12. If your file contains any dates, you will be asked to select a Date Format next.
    
13. Finally, you will see a confirmation box which will show how many new athletes are being added, and how many updated. Click Complete & Save to begin the upload.
    
14. As the athletes upload, you will see a progress bar, as shown below.
    
15. When the upload has finished, you should see a confirmation. Click Close & Refresh. The page will refresh, and the Athletes will now appear in the Event.
    

If you encounter any errors when uploading, they will be displayed with details on which lines were faulty, the reason for the error, and a clip of the file containing the errors. 

Once the import is complete, you can click Export Athletes and tick the Import History circle to export a CSV file that contains only the lines that had errors. This eliminates the need to sift through the original file looking for the error lines.

If an error is ever unclear, please feel free to contact the ChronoTrack Support Team.

Once athletes have been added to your event, they are assigned a Chrono ID, and displayed in list form on the Athletes tab. The main athlete page will list Athletes in order of registration time from most to least recent. You can view the athlete’s Chrono ID, Name, Race, Status, Reg Time, Primary Bracket, Hometown, Previous Bibs, and current Bib from the main view.

To view an individual Athlete’s full information, click the Athlete’s Chrono ID.

Athletes can also be batch edited simply by uploading an athlete file with any changes or additions. In order for these changes to be applied, the Athletes' External ID or Chrono ID and Registration Choice must be included in the file.

Never assign a new External ID to an athlete that already exists in ChronoTrack Live. This will create duplicates. Whenever possible, use the Chrono ID.