Answers.Body: <p>You need to choose 'Update' for 'For Duplicate Contacts' option on the import screen if you want to update the contact using import.</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/ZoEBJ.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/ZoEBJ.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
  
  <p>Cheers</p>
  
  <p>Pradeep</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2019-09-05T16:02:27.587Z
Answers.Text: This removed the name / email requirement (worked). Thank you
Answers.UserDisplayName: Kurt Leadley
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2019-09-05T16:03:25.130Z
Answers.Text: Happy to help...cheers (y)
Answers.UserDisplayName: Pradeep Nayak
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2019-09-05T15:55:58.230Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2019-09-05T15:55:58.230Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Pradeep Nayak
Body: <p>I'm trying to import notes into CiviCRM with only an external identifier. Inside the current database, the contacts are already assigned these external identifiers correctly within CiviCRM. </p>
  
  <p>I was recently given a .csv file with three columns: Name, External Id and Note. I need to ignore the name completely because the name in this .csv file is a combination of Prefix, First ,Last and Suffix as one field. The names don't match up with my current records, because each part of a contacts name within CiviCRM is its own field. Also, I believe there are too many string variances in the combined name structures to effectively parse them out into 4 fields with code.</p>
  
  <p>So with that information, I am trying to ignore the name completely and using the External ID and Note only in the import. </p>
  
  <p><strong>The setting I am using are:</strong> <br/>
  Contact Type: Individual<br/>
  For Duplicate Contacts: No Duplicate Checking<br/>
  Dedupe Rule: Left blank </p>
  
  <p><strong>Field Mapping:</strong><br/>
  Name: do not import <br/>
  Id : External Identifier*<br/>
  Note: Note</p>
  
  <p><strong>Result:</strong><br/>
  9668 errors / 9668 rows<br/>
  "Missing required fields: First Name and Last Name OR Email Address"</p>
  
  <p>What is the point of an external identifier if CiviCRM still requires another identifier?</p>
  
  <p>My real question is; How do I do an import with External ID only in the UI for individual notes? I am thinking about writing a PHP script to try and force the notes into the MySQL database, but setting up a custom script seems like overkill for something I thought would be trivial.</p>
  
  <p><em>Note: I can't use email because many of the contacts don't have one</em></p>
  
Tags: <import><external-id>
Title: Importing Notes with external identifier
ThreadText: # Importing Notes with external identifier
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2019-09-05)
  
  I'm trying to import notes into CiviCRM with only an external identifier. Inside the current database, the contacts are already assigned these external identifiers correctly within CiviCRM.
  
  I was recently given a .csv file with three columns: Name, External Id and Note. I need to ignore the name completely because the name in this .csv file is a combination of Prefix, First ,Last and Suffix as one field. The names don't match up with my current records, because each part of a contacts name within CiviCRM is its own field. Also, I believe there are too many string variances in the combined name structures to effectively parse them out into 4 fields with code.
  
  So with that information, I am trying to ignore the name completely and using the External ID and Note only in the import.
  
  **The setting I am using are:**   
  Contact Type: Individual  
  For Duplicate Contacts: No Duplicate Checking  
  Dedupe Rule: Left blank
  
  **Field Mapping:**  
  Name: do not import   
  Id : External Identifier\*  
  Note: Note
  
  **Result:**  
  9668 errors / 9668 rows  
  "Missing required fields: First Name and Last Name OR Email Address"
  
  What is the point of an external identifier if CiviCRM still requires another identifier?
  
  My real question is; How do I do an import with External ID only in the UI for individual notes? I am thinking about writing a PHP script to try and force the notes into the MySQL database, but setting up a custom script seems like overkill for something I thought would be trivial.
  
  *Note: I can't use email because many of the contacts don't have one*
  
  **Tags:** import, external-id
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2019-09-05. Score: 3 | Accepted answer
  
  You need to choose 'Update' for 'For Duplicate Contacts' option on the import screen if you want to update the contact using import.
  
  [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/ZoEBJ.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/ZoEBJ.png)
  
  Cheers
  
  Pradeep
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: This removed the name / email requirement (worked). Thank you  
  > **username_1**: Happy to help...cheers (y)  
  
  ---
  
  