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Data sources for importing data

Overview

The data source helps you easily filter or delete imported data. Sitefinity Insight uses the data source value together with the UniqueId value to form the identity of the record that you are saving to Sitefinity Insight. As a result, you can:

  • Differentiate between the record with Id=123 in System A from the record with Id=123 from System B, because their Sitefinity Insight UniqueId will be (System A, 123) and (System B, 123), respectively.
  • Accumulate interactions and client metadata for a specific visitor, based on its Sitefinity Insight UniqueId, without uploading Email values or explicitly mapping instructions each time.
  • Delete all the data from a given data source without affecting the rest of the data.

Data sources and data integration

The following table summarizes the sources where you can integrate and connect to data from.

Data source Connection Data import query
Sitefinity CMS

To connect your data center to Sitefinity CMS, you use the Sitefinity Insight connector. Once you connect, Sitefinity CMS starts pushing data to Sitefinity Insight straight away. Communication with Sitefinity CMS is constant and is not configured in the cloud – it is controlled by the connector. That is why Sitefinity CMS is considered to be externally configured, in relation to Sitefinity Insight.
For more information, see How do I connect.

None required.
You need administrative experience with Sitefinity CMS.
CSV files

To import interactions or contacts data with CSV files, you need to make sure the data to be imported is in a specific format, so that Sitefinity Insight can process and use this data. For more information, see CSV files format.

You import contact and interaction data from other systems by uploading CSV files. You can create the CSV files from many data sources, for example Excel.

For more information, see Import data from a CSV file.
Other data source

To connect to any other system, you need the relevant system credentials and the Sitefinity Insight API key.

For more information, see API key.

RECOMMENDATION: We recommend using Azure Data Factory to automate the importing of data from other cloud systems.

For more information, see Import Salesforce data into Sitefinity Insight using Azure Data Factory, Work with the Sitefinity Insight API and Capture server-side data with .NET SDK.

Best practices for managing Data sources

Following are the best practices for creating and managing data sources for different use cases:

  • If you are performing a one-time import that contains an email value for each unique visitor.
    Create a new data source with a descriptive name.
  • If you are performing regular imports with data from the same source.
    The first time you are importing data, create a new data source with a name related to your source. Reuse this data source for subsequent imports.
  • If you are not confident in the quality of the data to be imported.
    Create a new data source that you can later delete, if the data proves to be of poor quality. Make sure that the data you are going to import have Email values for each unique visitor. Otherwise, the result of the import may have no connection to the rest of your data.
  • If you are just testing the import workflow or your CSV data from a third-party service.
    Create a new disposable data source. After you have stabilized your workflow and data format, delete the disposable data source, and continue working as if you are performing regular imports with data from the same source.

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