Custom fields in Calamari let you extend employee profiles with the exact information your organization needs - from equipment details and certifications to contract specifics, department tags, or onboarding checkpoints. They help you centralize key HR data and keep everything consistent across teams.
Once you have created your custom fields, you don’t need to update employee profiles one by one. Instead, you can import all data in bulk using the Import section in Calamari. This approach saves time, reduces manual work, and ensures accuracy across your records.
Below is a step-by-step guide on how to prepare and import data into custom fields:
Create your custom fields.
Start by setting up the fields you want to store information in.
Go to Configuration → Core HR → Custom fields, then add the required fields, choosing the appropriate type (e.g., text, number, list, checkbox, date).
Once created, these fields become available on each employee profile - and will also appear automatically in your import template.
Open the Import section.
To upload data in bulk, go to:
Configuration → Import → Import via Excel file
From here, you can download a template that includes all system fields and your newly added custom fields.
Download your filled template.
After selecting the import type, click: "Download the filled template."
Calamari will generate a file that already contains columns for each custom field you created. This ensures your data is mapped correctly and prevents formatting issues.
Add data to your file.
Open the downloaded template in Excel or another spreadsheet tool.
You will see your custom fields listed as additional columns. Simply fill in the values for the corresponding employees - for example:
Laptop serial number
Emergency contact
Contract type
Training completion status
Preferred work location
T-shirt size
Once the file is complete, save it.
Upload the file back to Calamari.
Return to the Import page and upload your completed template.
The system will:
Validate your file
Highlight any issues (e.g., incorrect field type)
Allow you to confirm and apply the changes
After approval, all values from your custom fields will be automatically added to employee profiles.
Update employee data
You can update the employee's data via importing the Excel file to Calamari. The common use cases for updating the data are explained below.
How to edit data
When updating data, leave only the data of those users in the file and only those columns in which you want to change information (columns and rows whose data you do not want to edit must be deleted from the sheet).
⚠️ Important! You must delete entire columns and rows along with their headers, not just the content of cells.
If you leave an empty field in the file (i.e. delete data from a cell, but do not delete a column or row), the import will delete this data for the employee. An empty field means no information.
Example: If you delete a team in the file that the employee is in, and leave the "Teams" header, this field will be empty. After import, the team will be deleted from the employee's profile.
Remember that the employee's email is their unique identifier, so the email column is always required.
Why use bulk import for custom fields?
Bulk import helps you:
Save time by avoiding manual updates for every employee
Ensure consistency of data across the entire organization
Streamline onboarding by importing multiple attributes at once
Keep records accurate with a single, controlled data source
Whether you’re implementing Calamari for the first time or extending your HR data structure, bulk import is the fastest way to populate custom fields.
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