If you can export your class list (known in FairEntry as the hierarchy) from your current solution, it's possible that it can be converted to the format necessary to upload in FairEntry. FairEntry hierarchy uploads have very specific data requirements, so you will need a working knowledge of basic Excel functions to re-format that export into the correct format for a FairEntry hierarchy upload.
The points/premiums and entry settings cannot be imported, but will be set up within FairEntry once your hierarchy is uploaded.
There are 5 required, properly formatted columns in the Excel upload for FairEntry. You should be able to populate 3 of them in the correct format from your existing data. The other 2 columns will have to be entered, but are relatively quick and painless.
Terms:
Department/Division/Class - these are the default names of the 3 levels of the FairEntry hierarchy. Yours may currently be different (Department/Class/Lot or Department/Section/Class), but you can change the terminology after you upload the hierarchy. For documentation purposes, we use the 3 default terms: Department is the highest level, Divisions exist within Departments (2nd level), and Classes exist within Divisions (3rd level).
Department/Division/Class Numbers - these may have been required in your current solution, but are not required within FairEntry. You can still use them, but they will be formatted for upload as part of the Department/Division/Class Name.
Export from your current solution:
You need to have at least the Department name, Division name, and Class name in one spreadsheet, and each row must represent a class, with a column for the class, the division it's in, and the department that the division is in. If you have to do multiple exports to get that information, you may have to do some copy/paste to get the classes lined up with their correct division/department.
If you are going to use department/division/class numbers, they should be part of the export as well. Your export, when you're finished getting everything into one worksheet, should look something like this:
Combining the Number and Name into one cell:
Excel has a function concatenate (or in newer versions CONCAT) which basically adds one string of text to another string of text.
- Insert a new column between B & C, and use the formula =concatenate(A2, " - ", B2) to combine your Department number and name. The result for the example above would be 001 - Jr Dairy. Fill that formula down to all rows.
- Use the same process to add a column after the Division Name, and use the formula =concatenate(D2, ": ", E2) to combine the Division number and name. This time you're using colon-space instead of the dash. Fill down.
- Same process for the column following the class name. Fill down.
When you have entered those formulas, your spreadsheet will look something like the one below:
Copy/Paste into the Hierarchy Template:
You'll be copying columns C, F, and I (as shown above) into columns A, B, and D of the FairEntry hierarchy template. BUT, you can't just copy/paste, because those columns contain formulas. You need to highlight cells C2 to the bottom, and Copy... but then put your cursor in cell A2 of the Hierarchy template and "Paste Values" That's located under the Edit menu, Paste Special. What that does is paste the text, but not the formula.
Copy/Paste Values of Column C (above) to column A of the template, Column F (above) to column B of the template, and Column I (above) to column D of the template. Be sure to leave the Row 1 headers of the template as they are.
FairEntry Hierarchy Upload Columns: (leave row 1 headers as they are in the template)
Column A should contain the Department Name (and number). It's going to be in the format "A - Horticulture Department" (without quotes) using a dash between the number/letter and the name of the department. No colons anywhere in column A.
Column B should contain the Division Name (and number). The accepted format is using a colon-space to separate the number from the name. "01: Garden Vegetables" (without quotes) is an example of a correctly formatted number/name. No colons in division names other than the one separating the number from the name. Be sure to use two digits (leading zeroes) if you have more than 9 divisions within a department. FairEntry alphabetizes, so if you don't use zeroes, you're going to end up with 1, 10, 11, 12, 2, 20, etc. instead of value order.
(Need to fill in) Column C is what FairEntry calls the Division Type. Each division can have exactly ONE division type assigned to it, and they must be one of these (spelled and capitalized as shown): Market Animal, Breeding Animal, Other Animal, Static, Event. Fill these in after you get the class list correctly formatted into columns A, B, and D.
Column D should contain the Class Name (and number). It is formatted exactly as Column B - "01: String Beans" for example. No colons in class names other than the one separating the number from the name. Again, be sure to use two digits if you have more than 9 classes within the same division.
(Need to fill in) Column E is for use only with state fairs that accept promoted entries from county fairs. Fill that with "No" for all classes when you're done.
Download below FairEntryHierarchy.xlsx = the template that will contain the final data, and be uploaded into FairEntry
Read more about creating a useable hierarchy in our Zendesk article Building Your Hierarchy in Excel
When you have completed the FairEntry Hierarchy spreadsheet, SAVE FairEntryHierarchy as (YourFairName)Hierarchy, and attach it to an email to support@fairentry.com. We will check it for technical issues and useability, and will do a test upload to be sure that it will upload correctly for you.