Import

DPlan's Import tab lets you bring existing data into a project from Excel files — tasks, holidays, and team events can all be imported without manual re-entry. Each import type has its own button and a downloadable sample template to get started quickly.

The Import Tab

Click the Import tab in the ribbon to see three import groups:

Tasks — Import task rows with hierarchy, dates, resources, and notes from an Excel or CSV file.
Holidays — Import a list of public holidays or company closures from a date-name spreadsheet.
Team Events — Import team events (offsites, sprint reviews, go-lives) with optional colour coding.

Each group has two buttons: Import (choose a file to upload) and Sample Template (download a pre-formatted template showing the expected column structure).

Importing Tasks

Column Mapping

When you select a file for task import, a Column Mapping modal appears. DPlan auto-detects common column names. You can override any mapping using the dropdowns.

DPlan Field	Auto-detected column names	Required?
WBS	WBS, ID, #	Optional (used for hierarchy)
Name	Name, Task, Title, Summary	Required
Type	Type, Task Type	Optional (defaults to "task")
Start Date	Start, Start Date, Begin	Optional
End / Finish Date	End, Finish, Due, Due Date, Finish Date	Optional
Duration	Duration, Days, Working Days	Optional (used if end date absent)
Progress	Progress, % Complete, Done%	Optional
Status	Status, State	Optional
Priority	Priority	Optional
Assignee / Resources	Assignee, Assigned To, Resource, Owner	Optional
Fixed Cost	Cost, Fixed Cost, Budget	Optional
Notes	Notes, Description, Comments	Optional

WBS Hierarchy

If your file includes a WBS column with dotted notation (e.g., 1, 1.1, 1.1.2, 2), DPlan reconstructs the parent–child hierarchy automatically. A row with WBS 1.1 becomes a child of the row with WBS 1; a row with WBS 1.1.2 becomes a grandchild of 1 and a child of 1.1. Summary phases are created automatically for parent-level rows.

Date Formats

DPlan accepts three date formats in imported spreadsheets:

ISO 8601: 2025-04-15 (recommended — unambiguous)
DD/MM/YYYY: 15/04/2025
Excel serial number: e.g., 45762 (number of days since 1900-01-01)

If both Start and End dates are present, Duration is ignored. If End date is absent and Duration is present, End is calculated as Start + Duration (working days). If neither End nor Duration is present, the task is imported with no end date.

Status Normalisation

DPlan maps imported status values to its internal set:

Imported Value (case-insensitive)	DPlan Status
done, complete, completed, finished, closed	completed
in progress, active, started, wip, doing	in-progress
on hold, hold, blocked, paused, waiting	on-hold
cancelled, canceled, dropped, removed	cancelled
anything else (including blank)	not-started

Priority Normalisation

Imported priority values are mapped similarly: critical / urgent → critical; high / important → high; low / minor → low; everything else → medium.

Resources

If an Assignee or Resources column is mapped, DPlan reads the value and:

Checks if a resource with that exact name already exists in the project's resource pool.
If yes — links the task to that resource.
If no — creates a new resource with that name (Person type, no rate) and links the task.

After import, open the Resource Manager (VIEW → Resources) to set rates, roles, and colours for any auto-created resources.

Import Behaviour

Tasks are appended to the active project — existing tasks are not deleted or overwritten.
If no project is active, a new project is created automatically using the imported file name.
The import can be undone with Ctrl+Z if the result is not as expected.

Pro tip: Download the Sample Template first and fill it in — it has all the column headers pre-formatted and includes example rows demonstrating hierarchy, date formats, and priority values.

Importing Holidays

The Holidays import adds company-wide or public-holiday dates to the project calendar. Holidays are shown as red-tinted columns on the Gantt timeline and Calendar view, and are excluded from duration calculations.

File Format

The holidays file requires exactly two columns:

Column	Format	Example
Date	ISO or DD/MM/YYYY	`2025-12-25`
Name	Free text	`Christmas Day`

The file can contain any number of rows. Duplicate dates are deduplicated on import. Existing holidays in the project are not removed — new holidays are added to the existing list.

Importing Team Events

Team events are date markers that appear as coloured vertical lines on the Gantt timeline and in the Calendar view. Use them for sprints, go-lives, offsites, or any event the whole team should see at a glance.

File Format

Column	Format	Example
Date	ISO or DD/MM/YYYY	`2025-03-14`
Name	Free text	`Sprint 5 Review`
Color	Hex colour (optional)	`#9b59b6`

If the Color column is omitted or blank, a default purple is used. The event name appears as a small label at the top of the vertical line on the Gantt.

Downloading Sample Templates

Each import type has a Sample Template button that downloads a pre-formatted .xlsx file. The templates include:

Correct column headers in the expected format.
Several example rows demonstrating the data values DPlan accepts.
A brief note row at the top explaining any non-obvious field (e.g., date format, WBS notation).

Open the sample in Excel or Google Sheets, replace the example data with your own, and save as .xlsx or .csv before importing.

See also: Tasks, Resources, Calendar View.