A finished Curated Checklist looks simple: a clean roster of Models and Sets, arranged in the right order, ready for collectors to follow.
Building a large one was not so simple.
A manufacturer catalog could contain hundreds—or thousands—of entries. Creating that Checklist one item at a time meant repeated searching, clicking, and double-checking. A mistyped SKU could be easy to miss, and finding a catalog item that had not been added to CCMF Trains yet could interrupt the entire job.
We built Checklist CSV Import to turn that spreadsheet work into a clear, reviewable workflow.
Start with the catalog roster you already have
Catalog admins can now open Admin → Checklist CSV Import and select Download CSV template.
The template keeps the source intentionally straightforward:
- Member Type identifies the row as a Model or Set.
- Name helps a human recognize the item during review.
- Manufacturer and SKU identify the existing catalog entry.
- Display Order optionally controls where the item appears.
Add one catalog item per row, then save the file as CSV UTF-8. The importer accepts up to 5,000 non-blank rows in a file up to 2 MB.
Back in CCMF Trains, select Start an import, enter the Checklist's Name and optional Description, Curator, and Checklist Category, attach the CSV, and select Preview import.
Nothing has been created yet.
Preview the whole roster before committing
Preview checks the entire file and shows exactly what CCMF Trains found.
The summary counts the Models, Sets, warnings, and blocking errors. Below it, every source row shows:
- The values requested by the CSV
- The catalog Model or Set that matched
- Its final public display order
- Its status
- Any action needed before the import can continue
Matching uses the same manufacturer registry and SKU normalization as the rest of the catalog. That means a registered manufacturer alias can still lead to the correct canonical entry.
Duplicate rows are warnings rather than surprises: the first occurrence remains in the roster and later duplicates are clearly identified. Ambiguous or invalid rows block the import because the system will not guess which catalog item was intended.
Fix a missing item without re-uploading
Sometimes the CSV is correct and the public catalog is what needs attention.
When Preview finds exactly one unresolved, recognized Model or Set row, it offers Add Model to catalog or Add Set to catalog. The normal Create page opens in a new tab with only Manufacturer, SKU, and Name prefilled.
Those values are still reviewed like any other catalog submission. The normal validation, manufacturer cleanup, duplicate-SKU protection, and audit trail all remain in place.
After creating or correcting the catalog entry, return to the original Preview and select Refresh preview. CCMF Trains rereads the same CSV and resolves every row again—no re-upload required.
Repeat that process until Preview reports Ready to execute.
Structural CSV problems work differently. A missing column, invalid Member Type, or unsupported file format must be corrected in the source file and uploaded again. The importer keeps specialized problems separate instead of offering a misleading catalog shortcut.
One Execute, one complete Draft
When every blocker is gone, select Execute import.
The importer checks the file and catalog again, then creates one Checklist, all its unique members, and its audit record together. If anything changed after Preview, it stops instead of producing a partial list.
The new Checklist opens in the admin editor as a Draft. It is not visible on the public Checklists page yet.
That final review is intentional. From the editor, an admin can:
- Refine the name, description, curator, and category
- Upload a public Cover image
- Search for additional Models or Sets
- Stage several entries or paste SKUs and catalog IDs
- Remove members
- Reorder the roster by sorting, dragging, or entering numeric positions
- Select Save order
- Review the Lifecycle card and select Publish when everything is ready
Once published, the imported roster behaves like every other Curated Checklist. Collectors can browse it, follow it, see their ownership progress, and receive updates when new items are added.
Why this matters
The import tool is an admin workflow, but the result belongs to the whole community.
Less time spent copying rows means more time validating catalog history, improving descriptions, and building useful reference lists. Preview and all-or-nothing execution help those lists arrive complete. Catalog remediation makes missing entries visible instead of silently dropping them.
For collectors, that means more dependable manufacturer catalogs, themed series, and “collect them all” rosters—and a clearer answer to the question every Checklist is meant to solve:
What do I already own, and what is still out there?
Catalog admins can begin from Admin → Checklist CSV Import. Everyone else can explore the results from Checklists.
