# CSV template and format

You're on Step 1 of the CSV import and you need to know what goes where. This page covers the columns, the settings, and the small things that trip people up.

## Prerequisites

* You're in the [CSV import wizard](https://docs.gymart.org/club-management/import-gymnasts-csv), Step 1.

## Standard columns

The template has seven columns, in this order:

| # | Column                | Required | Example            |
| - | --------------------- | -------- | ------------------ |
| 1 | First Name            | Yes      | Jane               |
| 2 | Last Name             | Yes      | Smith              |
| 3 | Discipline            | Yes      | WAG                |
| 4 | Date of Birth         | Yes      | 01/15/2012         |
| 5 | Club Name             | Yes      | Sunrise Gymnastics |
| 6 | Level Name            | No\*     | Level 5            |
| 7 | Additional Identifier | No       | ABC-1234           |

\*Level is required when importing for a meet registration. For a club-only import, it's optional.

## Custom columns

Any columns after the seventh are treated as custom fields. Gym Art Meets reads the header name and creates a matching custom field for each extra column. These map to meet-specific custom fields during registration.

So if your spreadsheet has columns 8 and 9 called "Allergy Info" and "T-Shirt Size", those become custom fields automatically.

## Import settings

Click the **Settings** gear icon on Step 1 to configure how your file gets read:

| Setting             | Options                                      | Default          |
| ------------------- | -------------------------------------------- | ---------------- |
| **Delimiter**       | Comma, Tab, Semicolon, Pipe                  | Comma            |
| **Text Qualifier**  | Double quotes, Single quotes                 | Double quotes    |
| **Date Format**     | dd/MM/yyyy, MM/dd/yyyy, yyyy-MM-dd, and more | MM/dd/yyyy       |
| **Encoding**        | UTF-8, ISO-8859-1, Windows-1252              | UTF-8            |
| **End of Line**     | LF, CRLF                                     | Auto-detect      |
| **Skip Empty Rows** | On or Off                                    | On               |
| **Trim Whitespace** | On or Off                                    | On               |
| **Data Start Row**  | Row number where data begins                 | 2 (after header) |

For a deeper dive into each of these settings, see [Advanced import settings](https://docs.gymart.org/club-management/advanced-import-settings).

## Tips for specific spreadsheet apps

**Excel:** Save as "CSV UTF-8" for the best compatibility.

**Google Sheets:** File, then Download, then CSV. It works out of the box.

**Date problems are the number one import error.** If your dates look right in your spreadsheet but show errors after import, go back to Settings and make sure the date format matches what's actually in your file. For example, if your dates look like "25/01/2012", set the format to dd/MM/yyyy. See [Fix CSV import errors](https://docs.gymart.org/club-management/fix-csv-import-errors) for more.

## What's next

* [Fix CSV import errors](https://docs.gymart.org/club-management/fix-csv-import-errors) - If something goes wrong during import

## Related

* [Import gymnasts via CSV](https://docs.gymart.org/club-management/import-gymnasts-csv)
* [Advanced import settings](https://docs.gymart.org/club-management/advanced-import-settings)
* [Club management overview](https://docs.gymart.org/club-management/index)