Importing teams and users in bulk

When you are setting up a new Pilla account or onboarding a new location, you can add lots of teams or users at once instead of typing them in one by one. Bulk import is web only and only Admins can open it.

When to use bulk import

The one-by-one Add team and Add user screens are great for the occasional new hire. The bulk import pages are better when you have a lot to add at once.

Reach for bulk import when you are:

• Setting up a brand-new Pilla account.
• Bringing a new location or department online.
• Migrating from a spreadsheet, another tool, or paper records.
• Adding seasonal staff for a new shift pattern.

You can paste or type up to 500 rows in a single import. If you have more than that, run several imports in turn.

Importing teams in bulk

Bulk team import runs entirely in your browser, with no separate file upload. You enter the rows directly in a table on the page.

1. On the Teams screen, tap Import in the top right.
2. The Import teams page opens with one empty row.
3. Fill in Name and Address for each team, one row per team.
4. Tap Add Row to add another row, or tap the X on the right of a row to remove it.
5. When the rows look right, tap Import in the top right.

• Name (text, required) -- the team's name. Same rules as creating a single team.
• Address (address, required) -- start typing and pick a suggestion from the autocomplete. Addresses under 10 characters get a yellow warning that they may not geocode cleanly.

After you tap Import, Pilla processes the rows in the background. You will see an "Import Started" screen and get an email when it finishes telling you how many teams were created and which (if any) failed.

If you leave the page mid-import without tapping Import, Pilla saves your draft. The next time you open the Import teams page, you will see a blue banner offering to Recover or Discard the unsaved rows.

Importing users in bulk

Bulk user import works the same way as team import. You enter rows directly on the Import users page.

1. On the Users screen, tap Import in the top right.
2. The Import users page opens with one empty row.
3. Fill in Name, Email, Role, and Teams for each user.
4. Tap Add Row for more rows, or the X to remove one.
5. Tap Import when ready.

• Name (text, required) -- the person's full name.
• Email (email, required) -- their login address. Must be unique and a valid email.
• Role (dropdown, required) -- pick Staff, Manager, or Admin.
• Teams (multi-select picker, required) -- pick one or more teams from the list. The picker is searchable and accepts multiple selections.

Pilla processes the import in the background and sends you an email when it is done. Each new user gets a welcome email with their login details, the same as if you had added them one at a time.

CSV format

The Import teams and Import users pages do not currently accept a file upload. You enter rows in the on-page table. If you have your data in a spreadsheet, copy and paste the cells in column by column.

Both forms expect these columns:

If you are pasting in user rows, make sure your spreadsheet has the team names spelled exactly as they appear in Pilla. The import matches teams by name.

What Poppi says during import

Poppi (Pilla's AI assistant) does not currently appear on the Import teams or Import users pages. The validation messages you see are simple inline text in the table itself, not an AI guide. Common messages:

• "Name is required" -- you left the name blank.
• "Invalid email format" -- the email is not a valid email address.
• "At least one team is required" -- you forgot to pick teams for a user.
• "Address may be too short to geocode accurately" -- a yellow warning, not a block. The import will still run but the timezone might be wrong.

If you want help drafting your import data, open Poppi from the sidebar in the main app. Poppi can answer questions about what fields are required and how teams map to users.

Tips

• Get teams right first. Import teams before users so the team names already exist when you paste user rows.
• Use the autocomplete for addresses. It picks the cleanest version of the address and gives you the right timezone.
• Save your work as you go. The page auto-saves a draft. Closing the tab will not lose your typed rows.
• Keep imports under 500 rows. Above that you will need to split the data across multiple imports.
• Check your email after import. Pilla emails you a summary so you can spot any rows that failed.
• Spelling matters for teams. When importing users, "Kitchen Manchester" and "kitchen manchester" are different to the importer.