Import

Back to: Import

Sensei LMS has native functionality that enables you to import courses, lessons and questions. For first-time course creators, this means you can get started more quickly by importing course content during setup, while existing sites can update their course content more easily.

Create CSV File(s)

To import new content or update existing content, you need one or more CSV files containing the necessary information. There are a few options available to you:

• Export the content using our native exporter.
• Download CSV files with sample data for courses, lessons or questions, and update the data using spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel or Apache OpenOffice.
• Use your own CSV files. Any information you wish to include should follow the formatting and structure of the course, lesson or question import schema.

General Guidelines

• CSVs should be in UTF-8 format.
• Courses, lessons and questions can be uploaded individually or simultaneously, but need to be uploaded together if there are any dependencies between files.
• To update existing content, specify a value in the Slug column. If content with this slug is found, it will be overwritten.
• If a teacher is not specified or not found when importing courses, the currently logged in user will be set as the teacher.
• Use 0 (false) or 1 (true) in your CSV files when importing a boolean (true or false) value.
• Multiple values in a field are separated with commas.
• Wrapping values in quotes enables you to insert a comma.
• Prefix the ID with id: if referencing a new ID (e.g. id:100).
• Category hierarchy is denoted with >, and multiple categories are separated with commas.

Images

• Images need to be pre-uploaded to the Media Library or available online in order to import them.
• External URLs are supported and are imported to the Media Library.
• You can use the filename if the image already exists in the Media Library.

Import Content

1. Go to Sensei LMS > Import:
   
   

   

2. To import courses, click the Upload button beside Courses CSV File, and select the import file from your computer. Repeat this step for lessons and questions, if applicable, and then click the Continue button:
   
   

   

3. Wait until the importer is finished. Do not refresh or otherwise interfere with the browser while the import is in progress.
4. Once the import process has completed, you will be taken to a confirmation page. If any issues were encountered while importing, they will be displayed here:
   
   

   

Failed Imports

If content failed to import, it means that an unrecoverable error was encountered. This can happen if a required field is missing, for example.

To help you find the problem, the CSV filename, title of the course / lesson / question, line number and error are displayed. After fixing the CSV file and removing any rows that have already been imported, you can run the import process again.

Partial Imports

A partial import indicates that the content was created or updated, but some problem occurred that prevented it from being fully imported. Examples of partial imports include specifying a course or lesson prerequisite that wasn’t found, or providing an invalid URL for a featured image.

To help you fix partially imported content, a link to the content, as well as the line number in the CSV file and the warning are displayed. Clicking on any of the links will open the content in a new tab, where you can make the necessary updates.