How to Update and Move Existing Cards or Initiatives via Import?

Content:

1. How to update existing cards or initiatives via import?

-Update cards and initiatives by Card ID (Internal or Custom)

2. How to update cards or initiatives on different boards with a single import operation? 
3. How to move existing cards via import?

-Movement of cards within the same workflow
-Movement of cards between different workflows

1. How to update existing cards or initiatives via import?

In order 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. 

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.

For more information on custom fields' settings, kindly refer to this article.

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 below table.
If the 'Card ID' number in the spreadsheet file matches an existing card ID in Kanbanize (which is not on an archived board), then the card will be updated after the import.

All other properties' values from the imported file will be added to the corresponding card fields and will replace the old values.

Note: If the spreadsheet file contains both the Card ID column and the Custom Card ID column, the system takes with a priority the default Card ID when updating the items. In case you want to update your cards by Custom Card ID, you have to delete the Card ID column to avoid confusion. 
If you have multiple cards with the same Custom Card ID (repeating value), all of them would be updated with the values from the spreadsheet file.

Note: When it comes to updating Timeline and Portfolio Initiatives, their planned and actual start/end dates cannot be modified via import.

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
  When formatting the spreadsheet file, you need to add a column header “Board ID” and input the ID values of the respective boards. After the import, each card/initiative will be updated in the corresponding board.
  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

  
  
  Similarly, you can use the name of the board, instead of the Board ID to update cards and initiatives on multiple boards. All you need to do is to create a column with a header "Board Name"
  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

In order to move cards or initiatives via import, the column/lane names in the file should match the respective column/lane names on your Kanbanize 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.
In order 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.

This would be achieved using below simple extract from a spreadsheet file.

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:

Movement of cards between different workflows

When changing the workflow of a card, you would need tо use an additional location parameter ("Workflow name") in order 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") in order for the operation to be successful.