In this article:
1. How to Update Existing Cards or Initiatives via Import?
1.1. Update cards and initiatives by Card ID (Internal or Custom)
1.2. Update portfolio and timeline initiatives' planned start/end dates
2. How to Update Cards and Initiatives on Different Boards with a Single Import?
3. How to Move Cards and Initiatives on the Board via Import?
3.1. Movement of cards within the same workflow
3.2. Movement of cards between different workflows
1. How to Update Existing Cards or Initiatives via Import?
To update existing cards or initiatives on your board, you would need to format your spreadsheet file by specifying a column header with a parameter according to which cards can be recognized and updated with the values from your file.
The parameters that can be used for this purpose are:
- Internal Card ID
- Custom Card ID
TIP: The easiest way for updating cards/initiatives via import would be to first export the items to a spreadsheet file, change the properties (in the file) that you want to update, and re-import the file back to update the existing cards.
Below is a list of some of the properties that can be used for updating cards.
'Title' (mandatory column header), 'Description', 'Priority', 'Owner', 'Color', 'Size', 'Tags', 'Deadline', 'External link'*, 'Type', 'Column', 'Lane', 'Board', 'Board ID', 'Workflow name', 'Custom Fields'*.
Note: Make sure that each column header in the spreadsheet file is typed correctly, otherwise, you will not be able to import the card values from that column.
For a list of all supported card properties and details about them, kindly refer to this article.
* Custom fields (including the External link) can be updated only if they have been assigned to the board prior to the import.
The column headers in your spreadsheet need to match the name of the Custom field you wish to import. For example, the column headers Version, Severity, and Customer in the below table are custom fields that have been created and added to the board prior to the import.
Title | Description | Customer | Severity | Version |
First card's title | First card's description | Customer 1 | 10 | 8.1 |
Second card's title | Second card's description | Customer 2 | 5 | 8.2 |
Third card's title | Third card's description | Customer 3 | 2 | 8.3 |
Notes for date/datetime type custom fields:
- The allowed date formats are as follows: MM/DD/YYYY, DD-MM-YYYY, YYYY-MM-DD
- The allowed date/time format is: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS e.g. 2021-01-01 10:30:00
- For all other formats, the import validator will return a warning message.
Notes for dropdown type custom fields:
Prior to file import, make sure the specified value is allowed for the destination board.
- If the value is not allowed and the custom field's configuration does not allow 'other' values, the card will be updated with a blank value.
- If the value is not allowed and the custom field's configuration allows 'other' values, the value will be added in the 'other' section.
In addition to allowed values, dropdown fields can have a minimum and maximum number of values assigned to them:
- If there is already an allowed value assigned to the field and the maximum number of values is set to 2 (or more), importing a new value (which is not part of the allowed values) will be populated in the 'other' section of the field while the previously set value (in the default section) will be replaced with a blank one.
- If there is already a value assigned to the field and the maximum number of values is set to 1, importing a value that is not part of the allowed values would not be imported in the 'other' section of the field, as the maximum number of values would be breached. Importing a value that is part of the allowed ones would simply replace the currently set value for that field on the card.
Learn more about custom fields.
Update cards and initiatives by Card ID (Internal or Custom)
To update a card by ID, you need to create a separate "Card ID" column, as shown in the table below. If the 'Card ID' number in the spreadsheet file matches an existing card ID in Businessmap (which is not on an archived board), then the card will be updated after the import.
Card ID | Title | Owner | Priority |
3989 | Sketch a frame | Jane | Average |
3990 | Select technology | John | High |
3991 | Layout design | Jane | Average |
3992 | Content writing | Joe | High |
All other properties' values from the imported file will be added to the corresponding card fields and will replace the old values. You will see the following message when initiating the import to update cards and initiatives:
Notes:
- If your spreadsheet includes both a Card ID and a Custom Card ID column, the system prioritizes the default Card ID for updates. To update cards using the Custom Card ID, remove the Card ID column to prevent conflicts.
- If multiple cards share the same Custom Card ID, all matching cards will be updated with the values from the spreadsheet.
Update portfolio and timeline initiatives' planned start/end dates
For portfolio and timeline initiatives, you can also update the planned start and end dates via import. The allowed date formats are: MM/DD/YYYY, DD-MM-YYYY, and YYYY-MM-DD. The updated planned dates will be reflected in the initiative's History tab.
Important:
- Planned start dates must always precede planned end dates. Otherwise, the system will return an error. For example, if you only want to update the planned start of an initiative and retain its existing planned end, selecting a start date after the end date will cause the system to ignore the entry.
- To reset the planned start and end dates of a portfolio initiative, enter "Not Set" in the corresponding table cells of your import file. After the import, the planned dates of the initiative will show as “Not Planned.” This option does not apply to timeline initiatives.
- The duration of timeline initiatives that have been started will be displayed based on their planned end date.
- The actual start/end dates of timeline and portfolio initiatives cannot be modified via import.
- If there is a conflict between an initiative's actual start/end dates and the planned dates you want to update, you will receive an email explaining the error and how to rectify it.
- If you try to set planned dates and/or track values for cards, the system will disregard these entries.
Similarly, you can update the track where a timeline initiative is located on the board. To achieve that, use the “Track” column header and input the track number where you want to move the respective initiative. Keep in mind that timeline tracks are counted starting from 0.
2. How to Update Cards and Initiatives on Different Boards with a Single Import?
The system allows you to update existing cards and Initiatives into multiple boards with a single import.
Note: You can see your board ID as the final part of your URL in the browser address bar or when you hover on a Board name on your dashboard's Home page.
Title | Board ID | Card ID | Size |
Documentation | 87 | 452324 | 50 |
FAQ | 154 | 452440 | 10 |
and enter the respective board names.
Title | Board Name | Card ID | Size |
Documentation | Features | 452324 | 50 |
FAQ | Know-How | 452440 | 10 |
3. How to Move Cards and Initiatives on the Board via Import??
Note: it is not possible to move cards from one board to another using the import tool - cards can only be moved within the workflow they are currently located in or between different workflows on the same board.
(!) Disclaimer: initiatives have a built-in automatic movement, based on their linked child cards' progress.
Due to the above, movement of initiatives between columns from different sections via import would only be possible if the initiatives do not have any linked child cards.
If an initiative has linked child cards, moving it via import would only be possible between columns within the same section (Backlog, Requested, In Progress, Done).
For more information on initiatives, kindly refer to this article.
Movement of cards within the same workflow
To move cards or initiatives via import, the column/lane names in the file should match the respective column/lane names on your Businessmap board.
In addition, and similarly to when you update cards via import, you would also need to have a column header with a parameter that would be used to identify which cards/initiatives to move. This is done using the Card ID or the Custom Card ID. If the values in those fields do not match the ID of an existing item on your board, new work items will be created instead. This would be visible on the import validation window prior to performing the actual import.
For example, let's assume you have an existing card with ID 12345, located in the Requested column of your Cards Workflow.
To move it, you would simply need to specify the Column parameter as a column header in your file and input the value (name) of the column in which you would like to move the card (e.g. 'In Progress') using the import.
The simple extract below can help you achieve this:
Card ID | Title | Column |
12345 | Card that is to be moved | In Progress |
Let us now assume that the card is located in the Standard swimlane of your Cards workflow and you would also like to move it to the Expedite swimlane, in addition to changing its column.
To achieve this, you would need to specify the Lane parameter as a column header in your spreadsheet file, in addition to the Column one, as shown below:
Card ID | Title | Column | Lane |
12345 | Card that is to be moved | In Progress | Expedite |
Movement of cards between different workflows
When changing the workflow of a card, you would need to use an additional location parameter ("Workflow name") to specify the exact workflow on which the card should be moved.
The workflow parameter should be used in combination with the previously used parameters ("Column" and "Lane") for the operation to be successful.
Card ID | Title | Column | Lane | Workflow name |
12345 | Card that is to be moved | In Progress | Expedite | Bugs |