Combine or drop conflicting values when merging duplicate items

In September and October, we improved the auto-merge algorithm in our "Duplicates Finder". The previous version could only merge non-conflicting items. For example, if two items were duplicates on their email address. Datablist could merge them if the other properties had similar or empty values.

All the remaining items with conflicts had to be merged manually.

On CRM data or any contacts list, most of the duplicates found had to be manually merged.

With our improved auto-merging algorithm, you can now define how to deal with your conflicting data during the merge process. Two options are available :

  • Combine conflicting properties - With this option, conflicting properties will be concatenated with a separator. If two contacts have a conflicting "Note" property. The merged item will have a single "Note" property with the two values concatenated. The delimiter here could be a new line. Available delimiters are space, comma, semi-colon, and new line.
  • Drop conflicting properties - With this option, only the value from a master item will be kept during the duplicate items merging. This is useful for technical properties. If your "Contacts" have an "Id", "Created On", or "Last Modified" property, you don't need to combine them. You only want to keep the values from one item. At the moment, the primary item is the one with the most data. In the future, you will be able to define rules to select your primary item.

If you run the auto-merge algorithm and conflicting items remain. Conflicting properties will be listed. Configure the conflicting properties with the "combine" or "drop" options and rerun the auto-merge to finish the merging process.

Download invoices from your account

You don't need to send me an email to get your invoices! Your invoices are now listed in your account. The invoices can be downloaded as PDFs. Check your Billing page to see your invoices.

Quick feedback system

Datablist is in beta. I'm looking for a maximum of feedback to know your use cases, your issues, and your ideas on how to improve the product.

I've been sending emails to users to learn how they use the product but the response rate is very low. In October, I tested another approach with a very simple feedback system directly in the backoffice. It pops up after you export your collection items; after you use the Duplicates Finder; or after using Datablist for some time. And it shows only once a month.

After a few weeks, I've collected a little less than 30 ratings. Mostly good ratings 🤩 and interesting feedback.

Fixes & improvements

  • Add an error message when loading an empty CSV
  • Show a warning message to free users to alert their data is not synced with the cloud
  • Fix check credits balance regularly when running an action on a large collection
  • Fix cloud saving on checkbox data
  • Fix cloud synchronization after deleting a property
  • Fix copy/pasting text in the search input
  • Fix auto merging of duplicates with values with different case