Mass Messaging – Troubleshooting
With TimelinesAI, you may upload custom CSV files (with your contacts' information) to send Mass Messaging Campaigns on WhatsApp to your contacts.
The CSV must have, at least, one column with the title "Phone", that contains valid phone numbers in international format. You may add more columns with your contacts' details, to make your campaigns more personalized.
Whenever you work with CSV files, you may stumble upon some inconveniences, depending on the file and/or the CSV viewer or editor. We'll go over some of the most common cases that can affect CSV files and how you may solve them on your end.
In this case, you'll need to:
Select the cell or column that contains the text you want to split
Select Data → Text to Columns:
Within the Original Data Type field, select "Delimited" and then, click on "Next"
Then, tick the "Comma" checkbox, within the Delimiters field. You'll see within the Data Preview field, how the data contained in your file will look like. You may then click on "Next"
And that's it! Your file will be ready after clicking on "Finish"
Whenever this happens, you can easily fix it in Excel or Google Sheets, by following these steps:
Select the cell or range of cells that you want to format.
From the Home tab, click the Dialog Box Launcher next to "Number":
In the Category box, choose "Custom" and type the proper phone format, +00000000:
This usually happens because your CSV file is not encoded in UTF-8. The system only accepts files encoded in UTF-8, so it'd be important for you to check the CSV file and corroborate this.
CSV files created or edited in Google Sheets will be automatically encoded in UTF-8. Whether you create a new CSV file, or upload and edit one, Google Sheets will convert uploaded files and download them in UTF-8. Therefore, we'd recommend creating your CSV files here, as it saves you the process of reviewing the encoding within your CSV file.
For CSV files created using Microsoft Excel, however, the encoding may not be in UTF-8. To change the encoding of your CSV file, you may follow these two suggested methods:
Method #1: The Notepad
Search for your CSV file and then, right-click on it and/or open it with the Notepad:
The Notepad will open your CSV file and then, you must proceed and click on "File" → "Save as".
This will open a new window, which will allow you to save a copy of your file:
Make sure to add ".csv" at the end of your file name
Then, you'll see a drop-down menu called "Encoding" - make sure to select "UTF-8".
Click on "Save"
Once you have followed these steps, the new CSV file should be ready for you to upload it on TimelinesAI.
Method #2: Microsoft Excel
Open your CSV file using Microsoft Excel
Click on "File" → "Save as..."
Click on the drop-down menu "File format" and select "CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) (*.csv)"
Click on "Save"
After following this process, Microsoft Excel will save the file as a CSV encoded in UTF-8. If you are unable to get results from this method, then we recommend trying the first method or, editing the CSV file using Google Sheets.
We have created a guide with the best practices for sending mass messages on WhatsApp to avoid being blocked by WhatsApp.
If you still have any technical difficulties, please contact us via Chat, which is at the right-bottom corner of your screen, or send us an email at hello@timelines.ai, and we'll be happy to help you out.
The CSV must have, at least, one column with the title "Phone", that contains valid phone numbers in international format. You may add more columns with your contacts' details, to make your campaigns more personalized.
Common CSV Cases
Whenever you work with CSV files, you may stumble upon some inconveniences, depending on the file and/or the CSV viewer or editor. We'll go over some of the most common cases that can affect CSV files and how you may solve them on your end.
If you open your CSV file in Excel, and it's shown as a single continuous text without column divisions:
In this case, you'll need to:
Select the cell or column that contains the text you want to split
Select Data → Text to Columns:
Within the Original Data Type field, select "Delimited" and then, click on "Next"
Then, tick the "Comma" checkbox, within the Delimiters field. You'll see within the Data Preview field, how the data contained in your file will look like. You may then click on "Next"
And that's it! Your file will be ready after clicking on "Finish"
When you enter/export phone numbers into your CSV file, and you face an issue with wrong format of numbers:
Whenever this happens, you can easily fix it in Excel or Google Sheets, by following these steps:
Select the cell or range of cells that you want to format.
From the Home tab, click the Dialog Box Launcher next to "Number":
In the Category box, choose "Custom" and type the proper phone format, +00000000:
Uploading a CSV file to the Mass Messaging section ends with an error - "Something went wrong. Please try again later"
This usually happens because your CSV file is not encoded in UTF-8. The system only accepts files encoded in UTF-8, so it'd be important for you to check the CSV file and corroborate this.
CSV files created or edited in Google Sheets will be automatically encoded in UTF-8. Whether you create a new CSV file, or upload and edit one, Google Sheets will convert uploaded files and download them in UTF-8. Therefore, we'd recommend creating your CSV files here, as it saves you the process of reviewing the encoding within your CSV file.
For CSV files created using Microsoft Excel, however, the encoding may not be in UTF-8. To change the encoding of your CSV file, you may follow these two suggested methods:
Method #1: The Notepad
Search for your CSV file and then, right-click on it and/or open it with the Notepad:
The Notepad will open your CSV file and then, you must proceed and click on "File" → "Save as".
This will open a new window, which will allow you to save a copy of your file:
Make sure to add ".csv" at the end of your file name
Then, you'll see a drop-down menu called "Encoding" - make sure to select "UTF-8".
Click on "Save"
Once you have followed these steps, the new CSV file should be ready for you to upload it on TimelinesAI.
Method #2: Microsoft Excel
Open your CSV file using Microsoft Excel
Click on "File" → "Save as..."
Click on the drop-down menu "File format" and select "CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) (*.csv)"
Click on "Save"
After following this process, Microsoft Excel will save the file as a CSV encoded in UTF-8. If you are unable to get results from this method, then we recommend trying the first method or, editing the CSV file using Google Sheets.
Mass Messaging - Best Practices: How to avoid your WhatsApp account from being Blocked
We have created a guide with the best practices for sending mass messages on WhatsApp to avoid being blocked by WhatsApp.
Contact Us
If you still have any technical difficulties, please contact us via Chat, which is at the right-bottom corner of your screen, or send us an email at hello@timelines.ai, and we'll be happy to help you out.
Updated on: 26/04/2023
Thank you!