How to import orders with Click & Drop Desktop

What is Click & Drop Desktop?

Click & Drop Desktop is an optional application for Click & Drop that provides two separate features. You can choose to use either one of these options, or both:

  1. Automatically Import orders into Click & Drop by dropping a spreadsheet into a dedicated folder on a local or networked computer or machine
  2. Auto Print - Automatically send labels generated by Click & Drop to a configured printer without having to manually print them

If you choose to use both options together, orders imported via the Desktop app can be sent to printers automatically. You must have a Click & Drop Online Business Account (OBA) for this functionality to work.

This help guide covers importing orders into Click & Drop using the app. If you want to learn more about Auto Print - help and instructions can be found here: Auto Print

Important note: Some level of technical knowledge is required to import orders and produce labels by this Click & Drop Desktop app, particularly if you use the app alongside your own existing company systems and networks. 

Do you need help with importing orders? Please see our specific troubleshooting guide: Troubleshooting your Click & Drop Desktop integration

Contents

1. Overview 

2. Creating and Installing a Click & Drop Desktop integration

3. Configuring integration settings 

4. Configuring application settings 

5. Mapping your spreadsheet

6. Importing orders and receiving results

7. Configuring Workstations

8. Frequently asked questions

1. Overview

Click & Drop Desktop offers the following functionality:

  • Import your orders by simply dropping a spreadsheet into a designated folder on your computer
  • Set up multiple workstations with different designated printers per machine (optional)
  • Export a results file - a spreadsheet report of your successfully processed orders including tracking numbers (optional)
  • Save a copy of your labels to a folder on your computer or server (optional)
  • Print labels automatically when combined with Auto Print (optional)

Minimum system requirements

In order to use Click & Drop Desktop, you must use a computer or device running either:

  • Microsoft Windows 10 64 bit or above
  • macOS 10.10 or above
  • You must have permissions to install and run apps

How long does it take for the spreadsheet file to upload to Click & Drop from my designated folder?

When you add a file into your designated folder, Click & Drop Desktop will upload your order data within a few seconds. Speeds may vary depending on your network or system.

2. Creating and Installing a Click & Drop Desktop integration

The first step is to set up an integration within Click & Drop, and to download and install the Click & Drop Desktop app on every computer or machine you wish to import orders from.

To begin, click the ‘Settings’ link within Click & Drop:

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 The 'Settings/ Overview' page will open. Click anywhere within the 'Integrations' tile.

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Your current integrations will be displayed. Click the ‘Add a new integration’ button to begin connecting to Click & Drop Desktop.

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From the list of available integrations, click 'Click & Drop Desktop'.

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A new window will appear. Please click the relevant download button for your operating system. 

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Once the application has been downloaded, you will need to install it.

After you have installed the app, you will need to log in using your Click & Drop account details.

3. Configuring integration settings

The first time you log into Click & Drop Desktop, you will be redirected to the Settings > Integrations page within Click & Drop, where you can configure the settings for your integration.

Trading name: Select your trading name from the drop-down list. If you only have one trading name, it will be automatically entered. 

Integration name: Choose the name your integration will be displayed under within Click & Drop.

Print labels automatically: Check this option if you wish for your labels to be printed automatically. For this functionality to work, your orders must have weight, shipping service, and package size details. Additionally, You must have Auto Print enabled. 

Please note that labels can only be printed automatically for spreadsheets containing 50 rows or less (51 if including a header). 

Save a copy of labels to the 'Watch' folder: Check this option if you wish for copies of your labels to be saved into your 'Watch' folder.

Please note that labels can only be saved to your watch folder for spreadsheets containing 50 rows or less (51 if including a header). 

Configure workstations: If you import orders with Click & Drop Desktop, and you would like your labels to be sent to more than one printer, you will need to configure workstations. For more information, please see section 7 - Configuring Workstations further in this guide.

Click the 'Update' button when you are ready.

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4. Configure your application settings

You can access the Click & Drop Desktop application from your system tray or start menu at any time. Once open, the 'Home' tab will be displayed. Please take a moment to read the on-screen instructions before you change any of your settings.

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Click the settings' cog' to go to the app settings tab. 

General preferences:

Launch Click & Drop at system startup: Leave this box checked if you wish for Click & Drop Desktop to load up every time you start or restart your computer.

Enable desktop notifications: leave this box checked if you wish for popup notifications to inform you when a file has been successfully imported.

Watch directory: This is the folder that Click & Drop Desktop will use to import your orders. It is also referred to as your 'Watch' folder. You can set a local folder on an individual computer, or a single shared folder on a network or server. 

Your current 'Watch' folder displayed here. By default, this is set to C:\Users\YOUR USER\AppData\Roaming\Click & Drop™ Desktop\Watch

Click the 'Choose directory' button to choose any folder on your computer or network drive. Click & Drop Desktop will watch this folder for your imported files, and will save additional files to this directory as described later in this guide. 

Advanced preferences:

Use polling: If your 'Watch' folder is on a shared network location, and not a local computer or device location, and you are encountering difficulties uploading your files, polling mode is an additional option available. This can be a suitable option for some older shared network drives. 

Please note that our recommendation is to use Click & Drop Desktop without polling mode enabled as there is a slight risk that some imports could be duplicated. Polling mode can be slower to import files, or can use more system resources, as the app will be continually trying to read the folder contents. Without polling mode, every time a file is placed into the folder, this will send an automatic trigger to the app to read the file. 

Orders per printout limit: This is the maximum number of labels Click & Drop Desktop will be able to print via Auto Print at once. 

Use legacy Dropbox compatibility mode: This option will only be visible if you have previously integrated a Dropbox account. It makes changes to the folder structure where results files and labels are placed after a file has been processed. Please consult this guide for more information before you make any additional changes. If you are not sure, please do not change this setting

Once you have finished configuring your settings, Click the 'Save' button. 

When you navigate back to Click & Drop, the Click & Drop Desktop integration be visible from your 'Settings' > 'Integrations' page.

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You are now ready to begin mapping and importing your files.

5. Mapping your spreadsheet

In order to import orders into Click & Drop via a spreadsheet, you must first teach Click & Drop what the columns in your spreadsheet mean. This process is referred to as 'mapping'. 

Please note that Click & Drop Desktop can support files of 2000 rows or less (2001 including a header), but we can only automatically print labels/save labels to your computer for imported files of 50 rows or less (51 including a header). If your files are larger than this, you will need to split them.

If you have already manually imported a spreadsheet file containing your orders into Click & Drop, you will not need to do anything at this stage, as your files will already be mapped. 

If you have not yet imported a spreadsheet file containing your orders into Click & Drop, will will need to perform one manual import now to map your spreadsheet columns. You will also need to map the columns of your spreadsheet again if the layout of columns in your spreadsheet has changed, such as if you have added or removed a column.  For more information, please see our guide: How to import/upload orders.

6. Importing orders and receiving results

Once you have installed Click & Drop Desktop, integrated it with your Click & Drop account, and mapped your spreadsheet columns, you will be ready to import your orders.

To import one or more orders, simply place the completed file into into your 'Watch' folder.

If you use any means of automatically creating the spreadsheet file, please do not write the file to the watch directory before entering data as this could cause the file to be processed more than once. 

After you import your first order, some new folders will have been created within your 'Watch' folder:

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Processed: Your successfully imported spreadsheet files will be placed here. 

Results: Following an import, a spreadsheet containing Order number, Channel, Channel reference, Printed date, Customer, Tracking number, and Package size columns will be saved here.

If your file contains errors, a description of the error can be found in the file. 

Labels: A copy of your successfully generated labels will be placed here. 

Please note that for a copy of your label to be saved into your 'Watch' folder, you must ensure the following:

1. You will need the 'Print labels automatically after import' option checked in your integration settings.

2. You have Auto Print enabled and have configured your printers. 

Please note that you may need to periodically clear out and/or archive files from these folders as they become full. 

How to check the success of an import

Every import, whether successful or not, will appear in the Order import history section of the Click & Drop Desktop app, which is found at the bottom of the Order Import tab. 

If an import has failed, you will see a red warning triangle and 'error' message. Clicking this error will give you an explanation for the failure.

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Additionally, when you are logged into Click & Drop on a browser, you can navigate to Orders > Import, and then click on the grey 'order import history' button to see more details. From this page you can also choose to download the file again so you can fix the error, or undo the import. 

You can view the last 28 days worth of order imports at the bottom of the Order Import page in Click & Drop Desktop

What does the 'Results' file look like?

When a file has imported successfully, we will product a results file. This will be in a .CSV spreadsheet format, which can be read as a text file, or viewed in all major spreadsheet editing software.

Results files contain Click & Drop order numbers, your own order reference numbers, and if one is available for the Royal Mail service you have applied, a tracking number.

Please be aware that tracking numbers can only be returned in results files when the order progresses to 'label generated' status by one of two scenarios:

  1. Auto Print is configured and working correctly
  2. The 'Upload a copy of labels to results folder' integration setting is on

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Example results file viewed in Microsoft Excel

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Example results file viewed in Notepad

7. Configuring Workstations

Workstations are an optional feature that works alongside Auto Print that allows you to specify different printers for labels for orders imported via Click & Drop Desktop. This is especially useful if you have multiple packing benches, or if you run Click & Drop from different physical areas of your warehouse or business. 

When you configure a workstation in Click & Drop, you select a machine or device that has Click & Drop Desktop installed on it, and specify the printers you would like labels from that workstation to go to.

A new subfolder with the same name as the configured machine or device will be placed inside your main Watch folder used by Click & Drop Desktop. When you are placing spreadsheets into the Watch folder, you should instead place them into the workstation subfolder.

 

To begin, go to your Settings page, and click the 'Integrations' tile. In the new window that opens, click Click anywhere within your 'Click & Drop Desktop'. integration to expand the line and view additional information.

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In order to configure multiple workstations, you must first ensure the 'Print labels automatically after import' button is checked.

Next, click the 'Configure workstations' button.

AppConfigurationV2.pngYou will be presented with the screen that will display each workstation that you have connected to Click & Drop. A workstation is a particular machine or device that you or your staff may use.
When you configure a workstation, Click & Drop will be able to detect any printers installed on that device or machine, so please ensure your printers are installed correctly.

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From the drop down menus, select the workstation you are currently on, and then select which printer should be used for each type of label/document.

The options available here are dependent on your label template settings. For information on how to change or review your label settings, please see this guide: Choosing your label template.

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If you choose to use the 'Is default' setting, all documents dropped into your 'Watch' folder will be automatically send to your default printer. 

Click the 'Save' button when ready.

To configure a different workstation, log into Click & Drop on that particular machine or device, and click the 'Add workstation' button again to repeat the process.

Which folder should I drop my spreadsheets into?

Within your 'Watch' folder, a new folder will have been created for each workstation you have configured. When you are working on a particular workstation, you will need to drop your file into that particular workstation's folder.

In the example below, two different workstations have been configured, 'Workstation A' and 'Workstation B'.

If you drop your file into your 'Workstation A' folder, your labels will print from the printers configured for 'Workstation A', and your labels, results files, and processed spreadsheets will all be placed into correct folders.

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8. Frequently asked questions

What naming convention do the files use?

Files places into your processed folder:

yyyy-mm-dd-hh-mm-ss-fff-[[WORKSTATION-<WorkstationName>]]-<OriginalFilename>
Example 1 – WITH workstation: 2018-08-15-15-25-10-231-[WORKSTATION]-data.xls
Example 2 – WITHOUT workstation: 2018-08-15-15-25-10-231-data.xls

Files placed into your Results folder:

yyyy-mm-dd-hh-mm-ss-fff-[[WORKSTATION-<WorkstationName>]]-<OriginalFilename>.csv
Example 1 – WITH workstation: 2018-08-15-15-25-10-231-[WORKSTATION-MARK]-data.csv
Example 2 – WITHOUT workstation: 2018-08-15-15-25-10-231-data.csv

Files placed into your labels folder:

<OrderNumber>[-<ChannelReference>].pdf
Example 1 – WITH channel reference: 1234-abcdef.pdf
Example 2 – WITHOUT channel reference: 1234.pdf

Spreadsheets are saved in .csv format, and labels are saved as .pdf.

Can I produce CN22/CN23 documents?

If you have checked the 'Generate customs declaration with Orders' option in your Label format settings page, then CN22 or CN23 documents will automatically be produced for any international orders imported where customs declarations are required. 

The .PDF files will be saved to your results folder. 

Can I run Click & Drop Desktop on a network or server?

Yes! If all of your machines connect to the same server, you do not need to install Click & Drop Desktop on each machine - unless you set up workstations and wish to print to different printers from different machines. 

How many orders can I import?

Click & Drop Desktop allows you to import files with 2000 rows (2001 if you include a header). If you have a larger file, you will need to split your data down into multiple files and then import each file separately.

How many labels can I print?

if you have configured Auto Print, you can automatically print orders from files that have a maximum of 50 rows. 

If you are importing a file with more than 50 rows via Click & Drop Desktop, only the first 50 rows can be printed. You will need to either split your file down into smaller files, or manually print the remaining labels from within Click & Drop itself. 

How to disconnect your Click & Drop Desktop integration

You can disconnect your integration at any time by navigating to ‘Settings’ > ‘Channels and stores’. Click your Click & Drop Desktop integration to expand the integration details, and clicking the  ‘Delete’ button.

If you wish to uninstall the application, you can do so through 'Add/remove programs' on your windows machine.

You can reconnect your Dropbox integration at any time by following the above instructions again.