Assigning Columns in a VICIdial Loader Template

Assigning columns is the heart of building a loader template. This is where you tell VICIdial that column three in your file is the phone number, column five is the first name, and so on. Get this right once and every future import in that format drops each value into the correct field automatically.

Blue columns and pink columns

After you upload a sample file and choose a target list, the builder shows every column you can map. Columns highlighted in blue are the standard fields from the list table, things like phone_number, first_name, and state. Columns highlighted in pink belong to the custom table for the list you picked, meaning each Custom field you set up earlier shows here too. Each column has its own dropdown.

Each dropdown is filled with the fields from the first row of your sample file. You pick which file field feeds which list column. The freedom here is real: you do not need to assign every field from your file, and you do not need to fill every column on the list. Map only what matters and leave the rest alone.

flowchart LR
  A[Sample file row] --> B[Dropdown per column]
  B --> C[Blue: list table field]
  B --> D[Pink: custom field]
  C --> E[Mapped]
  D --> E
  E --> F[SUBMIT TEMPLATE]

Editing columns by index

If you later need to change the layout a template expects, there is an index-based editor. You enter a field number for each piece of data in the file row. The catch most people miss: indexes start at zero, so the first field in the row is 0, not 1. The second is 1, and so on. Get the offset wrong and your phone numbers land in the wrong field.

Index values can repeat. When two data fields share the same index, the layout preview shows them separated by a pipe character. Any non-numeric characters you type into an index field are stripped out when you submit, so only the digits survive.

Reading the current file layout

The Current File Layout line is a quote-comma-delimited preview of what your template expects, based on the settings you have entered. Any field in the file that your template does not use shows up as -unused- in that preview. It is a quick sanity check: scan it before you submit and confirm the real columns line up where you think they do. Each Lead you load later will follow exactly this arrangement.

Once your mapping looks correct, SUBMIT TEMPLATE saves it. From there your file format is locked in and reusable. For how this fits the wider job of feeding a Campaign, see the lists and leads guide, and the what is a VICIdial list primer for the list these columns map into.

VICIfast dialers arrive with the full template builder and custom-field support, ready in under 40 seconds after signup. Compare plans on our pricing page and map your file layout once, then forget about it.