This document covers Delimited Verification services in BLOX NXT, the service type that gives access to readers on a list you upload, and the AI Smart Subscriber Upload wizard used to upload that list. General Settings, Custom Properties, and Email Notifications are covered in the Service Settings and Email Notifications document.
What Delimited Verification services do
Delimited Verification services give access to readers on a list you upload, such as print subscribers exported from your circulation system. When a reader signs up or logs in, BLOX matches their details against the list; a match gives them access.
You upload the list with the AI Smart Subscriber Upload wizard in the File Upload panel, which appears once the service is created. The column mapping you set in the wizard is saved to the service's Configuration and reused on later uploads. Delimited Verification services have no Purchase Rates.
Delimited Verification service Configuration settings
Delimited Verification service Configuration settings
| Setting |
Options |
What it does |
| Map Account Number |
Text |
The column in your file that holds the account number |
| Map First Name |
Text |
The column that holds first name |
| Map Last Name |
Text |
The column that holds last name |
| Map E-Mail |
Text |
The column that holds email address |
| Map Phone Number |
Text |
The column that holds phone number |
| Map Postal Code |
Text |
The column that holds postal code |
| Map Expiration Date |
Text |
The column that holds the date access ends |
| Signup Criteria |
Automatic; Last Name & Account Number; Phone & Account Number; Last Name & Phone Number; Phone Number & Postal Code; None (E-mail auto-bind only) |
Which details a reader must match to claim access. Automatic chooses based on the columns you've mapped. None matches on email address only. |
| Delimiter |
Comma, Pipe, Tab |
The character that separates columns in your file |
| Enclosure |
Double Quote, Single Quote |
The character that wraps values containing the delimiter |
| Gift Articles |
3, 5, 10, 15, 20 |
How many articles a reader can gift to others |
| Share Data to Email Reach |
Dropdown |
Sends this service's reader data to Email Reach |
| Email Reach Mapping Profile |
Your mapping profiles |
Controls which reader fields map to Email Reach |
Account Number and E-Mail must always be mapped. Map any other fields your Signup Criteria needs; if BLOX can't determine a signup rule from the mapped fields, the service won't save.
If Require Delivery Address is on in General Settings, accounts without a delivery address in the uploaded file aren't activated.
Uploading a subscriber list with AI Smart Subscriber Upload
On a Delimited Verification service, the File Upload panel has two buttons: Upload CSV to send your subscriber file, and Export to download the processed records. Before the first upload, the panel reads "No subscriber records have been processed yet," and Export is grayed out.
Click Upload CSV to start the AI Smart Subscriber Upload wizard. A progress bar across the top shows the five steps: Upload File → Map Columns → Clean Data → Confirm Import → Results.
Upload File. Drop your CSV into the upload area or click to browse. Files must be CSV and 50 MB or smaller. Once the file loads you'll see File ready for import with the file name and size, plus Remove File and Change File buttons.
First row contains headers is on by default, so your column headings are used for mapping. Turn it off if your file has no header row.
A Data Preview shows the first five rows; click View All Rows to see the rest. Click Next.
Map Columns. BLOX reads your columns and maps them automatically, confirming with a message such as "AI mapped 7 columns successfully." Each column appears as a card with a sample value from your file and a dropdown of subscriber fields: Account Number, Email, First Name, Last Name, Phone, Zip/Postal Code, and Expiration Date.
Cards mapped automatically show an AI chip; a green check means the column is mapped.
Account Number and Email are marked Required. The Column Detection box at the top confirms when all required fields are mapped.
Change any dropdown to fix a mapping, or click Re-detect to run automatic mapping again. Click Next.
Clean Data. BLOX checks every row and shows a Data Health Score, for example "100%, 7 of 7 rows are clean." A clean file shows Perfect! All Data Validated; click Next.
If there are problems, a Data with Issues list shows each affected row and its error, such as "Duplicate account number found."
Click Edit to open the row, correct the highlighted field, and click Save Row. Saving without changing anything shows "No changes made. Update a field to resolve the issue."
Click the trash icon (or Delete Row in the edit window) to drop a row from the import. Fixed rows are marked Modified; dropped rows are marked Deleted and crossed out, with an undo arrow to restore them.
Next stays unavailable until every issue is fixed or its row is deleted.
Confirm Import. The Import Summary shows the file name, total records, and data status (for example, "All rows valid"), with a preview of the cleaned data. Click Start Import.
Results. A progress indicator runs while the file processes. When the import is complete, the status shows Success, and the records appear in the File Upload panel.
Viewing subscriber records after an upload
After an upload, the File Upload panel on a Delimited Verification service shows the subscriber records currently on the service:
Search records finds a reader by any value, such as account number, name, or email.
Last updated (for example, "last updated 4 weeks ago") shows when the list was last imported, so you can tell if it's due for a refresh.
The records table shows the mapped fields: accountNumber, firstName, lastName, email, phone, postcode, and expireTime. A note below it shows how many rows are displayed (for example, "Showing first 7 of 7 rows").
Export downloads the processed records as a CSV.
The records table contains readers' personal information, so share exports only with staff who need them.
Uploading an updated subscriber list
Uploading again uses the same Upload CSV button and wizard. Your saved column mapping fills in automatically on the Map Columns step, so later uploads usually go straight through. This works even if your file has no header row; its columns appear as Column 1, Column 2, and so on. If a later file leaves out an optional column, set that field to Not Mapped and its previously saved value is kept. Check the mapping if your file's columns have changed.
When a subscriber upload is rejected
A file that isn't CSV shows "Invalid file type. Please upload a CSV file."
Files over 50 MB are blocked.
Rows with a mismatched number of columns are flagged on the Clean Data step rather than stopping the upload.
If automatic column mapping can't run, you'll see an error message and can still map each column by hand.