Skip to main content

Search

Welcome to Support

How to create and manage a Custom Contact List (add, import, remove, export)

A Custom Contact List is a group of email addresses you keep yourself, such as board members, sponsors or field marshals, so you can email them from Send Communication. Create the list on Communications > Custom Contact Lists, add people one at a time or import a file, then check the list on Send Communication to email it.

Applies to: Org admins whose role includes Custom Contact Lists · All plans (sign-up lists, with Subscription set to Yes: Enhanced, Elite and Enterprise) · Emails and texts sent with Send Communication

Where: Communications > Custom Contact Lists; Administration > Import Data > Contact Import

Create a list

  1. Go to Communications > Custom Contact Lists.
  2. Click Add Contact List.
  3. Enter a List Name, such as Board Members.
  4. Leave Subscription at No for a list that only admins fill. Choose Yes to let people sign themselves up (see Let people sign up, below).
  5. Click Add.

What you'll see: "Contact List Added." and the new list in the table, with its Subscription setting (Yes, or -- for No) and its Number of Contacts.

Add people one at a time

  1. On Communications > Custom Contact Lists, click the list's name.
  2. Click Add Contact.
  3. Enter the Contact Name and Email Address. Both are required, up to 50 characters each.
  4. Enter a Phone Number if you have one. Texts reach the contact only after that phone has signed up for your organization's texts.
  5. Check that Contact List shows the right list, and click Save.

You'll see "Organization Contact added." and the list's contacts, with columns Contact Name, Email Address, Phone Number and Email Filter. A Text Enabled icon next to a phone number means texts reach it. The Add Contact button at the top of Custom Contact Lists opens the same form; choose the list in Contact List there.

Import contacts from a file (Contact Import)

  1. Create the list first (above).
  2. Make a CSV file with the columns Contact Name, Contact Email and Contact Phone. Only Contact Email is required. The Sample File for Contact Import on the Import Data page has these headers.
  3. Go to Administration > Import Data and click Contact Import (under Communications).
  4. Choose your file in File Name. Leave Includes Headers checked if the first row holds the column names.
  5. Choose the list in Contact List and click Next Step.
  6. If a Map the Fields step appears, choose the matching column in Import Field for each TeamSideline Field and click Next Step.
  7. On Review and Confirm, click Queue Import.

You'll see "Your import has been successfully uploaded and will be processed shortly." The Status tab of Import Data shows the result and lists any rows that weren't loaded.

Edit or remove contacts and lists

  • Edit a contact: open the list, click the pencil (Edit) next to the contact, make your changes and click Save ("Organization Contact updated."). Choosing another list in Contact List moves the contact there.
  • Remove a contact: open the list and click the red X (Delete) next to the contact, then click OK when asked "Are you sure you want to delete Contact "(name)"?". It's removed from this list only. The image below shows the red X.

Red X delete icon

  • Clean a list: open the list and click Clean List. It asks "Are you sure you want to clean this list? This action will remove duplicates and contacts with an email filter." Click OK to remove repeated addresses and every contact whose address has an email filter.
  • Rename a list or change Subscription: on Custom Contact Lists, click the pencil (Edit) next to the list, change List Name or Subscription and click Save ("Contact List Updated.").
  • Reorder lists: drag a list by the handle at the left of its row. Lists appear in this order on Send Communication and on the sign-up page.
  • Delete a list: click the red X (Delete) next to the list and click OK when asked "Are you sure you want to delete this Contact List?" ("Contact List Deleted.").

Email a list

  1. Go to Communications > Send Communication.
  2. Click the arrow next to Custom Contact Lists.
  3. Check the list to email everyone on it, or click the list's arrow and check only some people.
  4. Click Next, write your message on Create Your Message, and click Send Now (or Next, then Send).

The To line on Create Your Message reads "All Contacts in group (list name)". To text the contacts whose phones have signed up, type a message in Text Message as well.

Let people sign up (Subscription lists)

  • With Subscription set to Yes, a list appears on your organization's sign-up page, titled "Sign Up for Text Alerts" unless you change it under Communications > Configurations > General > Custom Contact List Subscriptions > Page Title.
  • People enter their First Name, Last Name and Email Address, choose the lists if more than one is offered, and click Submit. To get texts as well, they enter a Mobile Number, check both consent boxes and confirm the 4-digit activation code sent to the phone.
  • To share the page, use the Links drop-down in a News Item, page or email: Contact List Subscriptions > All Subscriptions, or one list's own link.
  • To take a list off the sign-up page without deleting it, edit the list and set Subscription to No.

Export a list

Go to Reports > Report Exports, open Contact List Detail, choose the list, adjust the columns and click Export. See How do I export contacts from the custom contacts list to excel?, below.

If it doesn't work

  • A name is grayed out on Send Communication and can't be checked. Its address has an email filter, such as Opt Out, Bad or Marked As Spam. Point to the name to see "Filtered, Filter Reason:" and the filter. Filtered addresses don't get your emails; the list's Email Filter column shows the same.
  • The list isn't under Custom Contact Lists on Send Communication. It has no contacts yet (empty lists aren't shown), or your admin role doesn't include the contact lists.
  • "List Name already exists." Another Custom Contact List has that name. Choose a different name.
  • "Contact List is required." Choose the list in Contact List before you save.
  • "The format of the Email Address does not appear to be correct." Check the address for typos or spaces.
  • "Incomplete phone number entry." Enter all 10 digits, or leave Phone Number blank.
  • An import row says "Record not loaded due to duplicate email address:" The address is already on the list or earlier in the file. "Record not loaded due to invalid email address:" means the address isn't valid. Fix the file and import those rows again.
  • Subscription can't be changed and shows an upgrade icon. Sign-up lists are part of the Enhanced, Elite and Enterprise plans.
  • A contact with a phone number has no Text Enabled icon. That phone hasn't signed up for your organization's texts.

Good to know

  • All Customer Accounts (under Customer Accounts on Send Communication) is a built-in list of your account holders, not a Custom Contact List. It isn't on this page and can't be edited.
  • Personal Contacts belong to the admin who adds them and show only for that admin, under Personal Contacts on Send Communication. Add one with Add Personal Contact on Custom Contact Lists or Add Contact on Send Communication.
  • Someone on two lists you check gets one copy of the email.
  • Removing a contact from a list doesn't stop your other emails to that address, such as those sent to a program's registrants. To stop all of your emails, the person unsubscribes; see How unsubscribing works, below.
  • If someone signs up while no list has Subscription set to Yes, TeamSideline puts them on a new sign-up list named Newsletter.
  • Location Contact Lists, for field contacts who should hear about schedule changes, are a separate feature on the Enhanced, Elite and Enterprise plans.

Related articles