MailerPress can import contacts from a CSV file (a spreadsheet saved as plain text, one contact per row) and export them to CSV. Both features are included in the free MailerPress plugin.
Moving from MailPoet, Newsletter or an email platform such as Mailchimp or Brevo? Use the Migration Center instead: it also brings over your lists, tags and custom fields.
Prepare your CSV file
- Put the column headers on the first line.
- Use a comma, semicolon, tab or pipe (
|) as separator. MailerPress detects it automatically. - Give each row a valid email address. MailerPress uses it to recognize contacts that already exist.
- Only import people who agreed to receive your emails.
Import contacts from a CSV file
Go to MailerPress > Audience > All Contacts and click Import contacts, or drag and drop a CSV file onto the contact list. The import wizard has five steps.
Step 1: Upload a file
Drag and drop your file or click Choose a file. Only .csv files are accepted.
Step 2: Map your columns
Match Columns to Contact Information shows each column with sample values. Click a column and choose where its data goes:
- Email, First Name or Last Name.
- One of your custom fields (extra contact fields you create yourself), or Create new custom field to add one now. Custom fields require MailerPress Pro.
- Do not import to skip the column.
Common headers are mapped for you (for example email, first_name, fname, last_name, surname), as are headers matching a custom field’s label or key. Each field can receive only one column. Check the mapping, then click Next step.
Step 3: Add lists and tags
On List & Tag Your Contacts, use Select or create list and Select or create tag to pick existing lists and tags, or type a new name to create one. With no list selected, the contacts go to your default list.
Step 4: Choose the subscription status
On Subscribe contacts to marketing, choose the status of the new contacts: Subscribed (default), Unsubscribed, Pending or Inactive. Contacts imported as Pending do not receive the sign-up confirmation email, so use this status only if you will confirm them another way.
Step 5: Review and start the import
Review and Complete Your Import sums up your choices. Update Existing Contacts decides what happens to contacts already in MailerPress (same email address):
- Unchecked (default): existing contacts stay as they are and are not added to the selected lists or tags.
- Checked: existing contacts get the first name, last name and custom field values from the file, and are added to the selected lists and tags. Their current lists and tags are kept.
When Update Existing Contacts is checked, existing contacts also get the status chosen in step 4, and their first and last names are emptied if those columns are not mapped. Map the name columns and choose the status carefully, or leave the box unchecked.
Click Start Import. What happens next depends on the file size:
- Up to 300 contacts: the import runs in your browser. Keep the page open until it ends, then click Show your contacts.
- More than 300 contacts: the import runs in the background and you can leave the page. A notice on All Contacts shows the progress (“An import is currently running”).
Background imports rely on WordPress scheduled tasks (cron), which only run when your site gets visits. If the progress stalls on a low-traffic site, set up a server cron job. If an import is stuck, click Reset import in the notice to stop tracking it.
Imported contacts show Batch import from file upload as their opt-in source (where they came from).
Export contacts
Exports run in the background, then MailerPress emails you a download link.
Export your whole audience
- Go to MailerPress > Audience > All Contacts and click Export contacts.
- In Email, enter the address that should receive the file (the site administrator email by default).
- Click Confirm export.
A full export contains subscribed, unsubscribed and inactive contacts, in one file per status (subscribed.csv, unsubscribed.csv, inactive.csv). Pending and bounced contacts (addresses that rejected your emails) are not included: export them with a selection, as described below.
Export selected or filtered contacts
- In the contact list, select contacts, or filter the list and select all.
- Choose the Export bulk action and enter the email address.
- Click Confirm export.
The selected contacts are exported to a single export.csv file, whatever their status.
Download the file
The email links to a ZIP archive of the CSV file(s), valid for 24 hours. The archive is then deleted from your server. Make sure your sending provider works, since it sends this email.
| Column | Content |
|---|---|
contact_id, email, first_name, last_name | Contact ID and identity. |
subscription_status | subscribed, unsubscribed, pending, inactive… |
opt_in_source, opt_in_details | Where the contact came from. |
created_at, updated_at | Creation and last update dates. |
lists, tags | List and tag names, separated by |. |
| One column per custom field | Named after the field key. |
Values that start with =, +, - or @ get an apostrophe in front, so spreadsheet apps don’t run them as formulas.
To manage contacts one by one, see Manage Your Contacts.