Using the Bulk Property Creator

The Bulk Property Creator tool allows you to quickly create multiple Property records at once from a single shapefile. It is intended for use by organizations who are just getting started with Landscape and need a quick way to add a lot of records. The tool works by allowing you to map the attributes in the shapefile to Landscape Property and Contact fields.

The importer is limited to Property and key Contact fields only, so you won't be able to import work-associated data like Site Visit dates, Resource amounts, etc. You also can't create complex record types like Parcels and Groups or add relationships. Record types can be changed and relationships added after the import is complete. If you would like to import a more comprehensive set of property details like past site visit dates, funding details, etc., then get in touch with Landscape support to discuss the onboarding service.

You can use the Data Viewer to bulk update these imported records after they have been imported. For example, you could set the interest of all of the imported records to 'Fee Simple' for the purposes of the import, and then use Data Viewer to select the few easements that were also included and set their interest to 'Conservation Easement'. This may be simpler than adding this data at the shapefile level. Here's an article on how to use Data Viewer to batch edit multiple records at once.

Preparing the data

The importer is intended for use with a single shapefile that contains all of your boundaries, or at least all boundaries belonging to a single interest type. It will not work if you have a single shapefile for each boundary. In other words, the file should be something like 'EasementBoundaries.shp', not 'SmithBoundary.shp'. If you want to import just a single shapefile, then you can use the standard 'Create Property' workflow.

The importer is designed so that it can accept the shapefile 'as-is' with little or no preparation of the file by the user. However, if you'd like you can take a look at the available fields listed below to see if the data in your attributes matches the data Landscape is looking for. For example, note that the 'Completed On' date must be a date (like '6/12/1997') and not just a year.

Recommended fields to import are 'Name'; 'Completed On' (date of acquisition); and 'Current Size'.

Here's how to use the bulk property creator, step by step.

To begin, click on the 'Create' button in the upper right corner. Select the bottom 'Import' option and click OK.

Step 1: Selecting the file

Click on the 'Choose File' button and select the file you want to import. The importer is looking for a zipped folder containing all of the component files of a shapefile. A zipped shapefile contains all of the component files that Landscape needs including .shp, .prj, .dbf and .shx.  To create a zipped shapefile, highlight all of those component files (Shift + click), then right click and select 'Send To' --> 'Compressed (zipped) folder'. The zipped folder that you generate will be what you import into Landscape.

Select the shapefile you want to upload by clicking on 'Choose File'. If you can't see the file, it's usually because it hasn't been zipped appropriately.

Click 'Next' to proceed.

Step 2: Field mapping

In this step, you will match fields in your shapefile attributes with existing Landscape fields.

The table displayed below shows the existing shapefile field, followed by an example from your data, followed by the Landscape field. Landscape will attempt to do some smart matching, but you'll need to check what it has matched and reset values as necessary.

If a value needs to be ignored, select the dropdown menu and choose 'Ignore' from the top of the list.

For example, in the following screenshot, Landscape has set the value 'Town_id' to be 'Local Jurisdictions'. This is incorrect, so we would want to reset that field to 'Ignore'. See the table provided above for the available fields and their corresponding data type.

If you select any 'Landowner' fields, then Landscape will first check for any existing contacts with a matching display name and if they don't exist it will create one.

Check to make sure that the same field isn't being mapped twice. If you are mapping Property Interest, then you should make sure that the text matches the existing Landscape interests exactly so that new ones aren't created. The default Landscape values are 'Fee Simple' and 'Conservation Easement'. You will also have the option of setting this value for all imported records in the next screen.

When you're done, click 'Next'.

Step 3: Setting required fields

This allows you to set the required fields in case they weren't included in the imported data. These values can always be changed later on after the import is complete.

'Property Name' will be set to 'Property 1', 'Property 2', 'Property 3', etc. if no name field is selected.

'Property Interest' can be chosen and set at this point as well. If the imported data is actually a mix of interests, you can always use Data Viewer to bulk update the interest of several records at once post-import.

Finally, you can set the Status. Status indicates whether the Property is something you hold ('Current Holding'), are working on holding ('Active'), held at one time but disposed of ('Disposed'), assisted with the protection of but never actually held an interest in ('Partner Holding'), or were working on acquiring at one point but the acquisition process has gone dormant ('Inactive'). If you are managing the interests of the records you are importing, then you want to select 'Current Holding'.

Step 4: Import the Properties

The final screen shows you how many Properties are about to be created. Click 'Previous' to review any of the previous menus, or click 'Finish' to create the Properties.

You will then be taken to the Portfolio page, where you can navigate to each Property individually and begin adding and editing data.