Excel import problem

[elke]

Hello John,

yesterday I imported another Excel file into DM, and found that if I tried to use both the User List 1 and User List 10 fields it gave me an error message that I used the same field twice. I used one of the other User Lists instead of #10, and it worked fine.

Greetings from Elke

[jmuehleisen]

Elke,

Thanks for this bug report. I'll check into this and let you know what I find out.

[jjcusco]

I've scouted around for an answer to this but haven't found anything yet. I am trying to import an Excel file with all my names, addresses, etc. When I choose my file to import, it says "Microsoft Excel file format is invalid"...if I ignore the error and get to the mapping screen and try to continue from there, I get the same error. Then I have to close the whole program down and re-open it to try anything else.

Here's what I've tried:
-uninstall & reinstall Donor Manager
-ensure I have the latest version
-changed the Excel format to the 97-2003 (doesn't accept 2007)
-meticulously taken out any possible formatting and even copied and pasted just the text into a new sheet and saved that

I may be missing something obvious, but if anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them...thanks!

[jmuehleisen]

Wow. Did I ever miss this message! Sorry to be so slow getting back to you.

Sometimes, the Donor Manager just can't read some Excel files. I don't know why.

But, generally, if you resave your Excel file as an Excel 95 file (yes, I know, that's a 13 year old file format) it will almost always be able to read that.

Be sure to save it with a different file name so your original file doesn't get overwritten.

This often gets past many errors on gift importing (for those who receive Excel files) and even an initial "names and addresses" import.