Certification completion records for learning completed outside of Totara Learn can be imported via CSV files.
If an imported certification already exists in Totara Learn, then a new certification completion record is created and will appear in a user's Record of Learning. If an imported certification does not exist, then a new evidence item will appear in a user's Record of Learning.
Configuring your CSV file
The csv import file is created outside of Totara and imported and the file needs to contain the following information:
- username: The username from the learner’s profile.
- certificationshortname: The certification short name. This can be found on the Overview tab when editing a certification.
- certificationidnumber: The certification ID number. This can be found on the Overview tab when editing a certification.
- completiondate: The date the learner completed the certification. The date format can be specified in the upload settings.
- duedate: The due date field should indicate what the due date was at the time of completion, not when the completion is due to expire. The column must be provided in the CSV file, but can be left empty. When recertification is set to Use certification expiry date or Use fixed expiry date, then the expiry date will be calculated using the uploaded due date field. If it is empty or if the recertification is set to Use certification completion date, then only the completion date will be used to calculate the expiry date.
See the following as an example:
username,certificationshortname,certificationidnumber,completiondate,duedate harrychinn,health_and_safety,hs1,23/03/2012,31/06/2012
Uploading completion records
To access the upload area, go to Site administration > Courses > Upload Completion Records > Upload Completion Records.
- Once on the page you will need to scroll down to Upload certification csv (as the Upload course csv is listed above it).
- Drag and drop your file onto the page, or click the Choose a file button to browse for and select the CSV file.
- Configure you desired settings.
- Click the Upload button.
After the import is completed the import results are displayed. To view more detail about the import, click the Certification import report link. Imported records can also be accessed by going to Site administration > Courses > Upload completion records > Certification import report.
Certification messages
Initially the certification completion import only does a basic import of the CSV file records, and the records are then processed in an ad hoc task which is executed on the next cron run. When this task runs (and the subsequent program message task runs) it will generate any applicable certification messages for any users. Some messages are sent immediately during the import ad hoc task (such as the welcome message), while others are sent the next time the Send messages related to programs task runs. Other messages (such as completion messages) will be sent for learners who meet the relevant conditions. If you do not want to send these out then you will need to delete the messages from within the certification before running the import.
Settings
| Settings | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Default evidence type | Any certifications which can't be matched to an existing item will be added as evidence to a user's Record of Learning. Here you can specify the default evidence type you wish to use. | - |
| CSV Date format | The format for dates in the CSV file, for example: dd/mm/yyyy. | - |
| CSV Values separated by | The separator used to separate values in the file. | - |
| CSV Text Delimited with | The delimiter used for text values. | - |
| CSV file encoding | The type of encoding used for the file. | - |
| Import Action | Choose from the following:
| If a record is imported for a user who is not assigned to the certification, an individual user assignment will be created for them, causing them to be assigned. Assignment (or reassignment as the case may be) occurs first, then the imported record is processed, regardless of the chosen action or outcome. If a user is marked certified during import and the recertification window opening date is in the past, when cron runs it will open the recertification window and reset current course progress. If this is not the desired outcome then Save to history should probably be selected. |
| Case insensitive shortnames | When enabled, certification short names will be matched case insensitively. | - |
The Totara Academy has a whole course dedicated to using Programs and certifications in Totara Learn.
