The Complete Guide to Importing Email Lists and Connecting Custom Domains in Zenler

Step-by-step guide to importing your email list into Zenler using CSV files, plus solutions for common domain setup and course configuration issues.

Topics Covered in This Educational Live Support Desk:

The exact process for importing users from platforms like MailerLite using CSV files
How to map spreadsheet fields so your import succeeds
The difference between site pages and course pages in Zenler
Connecting custom domains through various hosting providers
Setting up secret courses for beta testing before public launch

Migrating to a new platform means moving your people with you. Your email list represents relationships you've built, often over years. Getting those contacts into Zenler properly matters more than almost any other technical setup step.

During recent support sessions, creators asked the questions that come up every time someone makes this transition: How do I get my list from MailerLite (or ConvertKit, or wherever) into Zenler? Why isn't my custom domain working? What's the difference between my website homepage and my course pages?

These aren't advanced questions. They're the fundamental ones that determine whether your migration succeeds or turns into a frustrating mess.

The CSV Import Process

Moving your email list requires a specific sequence. Skip steps, and the import fails. Rush through field mapping, and your data lands in the wrong places.

Start by exporting your current list. Your existing platform—whether MailerLite, MailChimp, or another service—has an export function. Use it. Download your list as a CSV file.

Now comes the critical part: field mapping. Your CSV has column headers—things like "Email Address," "First Name," "Subscriber Date." Zenler has its own required headers: email, first_name, last_name, joined_on.

They need to match.

Download Zenler's sample CSV template. You'll find it in the import users section. Open both files—your export and Zenler's template—in Google Sheets or Excel.

Copy your data from the export file and paste it into Zenler's template, matching the columns. Email addresses go under the "email" header. First names go under "first_name." Tags from your old system map to Zenler's tag fields.

Some of your old platform's fields won't have equivalents in Zenler. That's fine. You don't have to use every column. Just match what matters: email, name, and any tags you want to preserve.

Export this mapped file as a new CSV. This is what you'll upload to Zenler.

In Zenler, go to All People, then Import Users. Upload your CSV file. The system asks what role to assign: Student or Lead. Choose based on whether these people have purchased from you or are just prospects.

Next, you can enroll them in courses or add them to funnels. This is where the real power appears. You're not just importing contacts—you're placing them directly into your marketing or education workflows.

The system sends a verification code to your email. Enter it, and the import completes.

When Imports Fail

The most common failure point is header mismatches. If your CSV says "Email Address" but Zenler expects "email," the import breaks.

Another issue: extra fields that don't map to anything. If your old platform tracked "Company Name" but Zenler doesn't have that field, you need to either remove that column or tell Zenler to skip it during import.

Character encoding sometimes causes problems, especially with international names or special characters. If you see strange symbols after import, encoding was the culprit. Re-export your CSV with UTF-8 encoding.

For troubleshooting failed imports, contact support with your CSV file. They'll review the format and tell you exactly what's mismatched. Usually it's a quick fix once you know which field is causing the problem.

Understanding Site Structure: Pages vs Courses

Confusion about Zenler's structure came up repeatedly in support sessions. "I'm trying to build a website, but I'm not sure if I'm creating course pages or website pages."

Here's the distinction: Every part of Zenler consists of pages. Your site has pages. Your courses have pages. Your funnels have pages. But they serve different purposes.

Site pages are things like your homepage, about page, services page—the standard website pages anyone would expect. You build these in the Pages section under Site.

Course pages are specific to individual courses: the sales page (where people learn about the course and decide to buy), the checkout page, the thank you page, and the course access page (where students go after purchasing to actually take the course).

When you create a course, Zenler automatically generates these four pages for that course. You customize them, but they're tied to that specific course.

Your site's homepage is separate. It's the page people land on when they visit your root domain. You choose which page serves as your homepage in the Site settings.

You can set your course sales page as your homepage if your entire business is one course. Many people do this early on. Or you can create a separate homepage that introduces your services, lists multiple courses, and provides general information.

The confusion often comes from thinking you need to create these pages from scratch. For courses, you don't. They're already there. You just customize them.

Custom Domain Connection Challenges

"I've been trying for days to connect my domain and it's still showing newzenler.com in the URL."

Custom domain setup trips people up, especially when working with less common hosting providers.

First, understand what a custom domain means. When you sign up for Zenler, your site gets an address like yourname.newzenler.com. That works fine, but it's not your own domain.

A custom domain means you own something like yourbusiness.com and you want that to be your Zenler site's address instead.

You need two things: the domain itself (purchased from a registrar like Namecheap, GoDaddy, or Hostinger) and the DNS records properly configured.

Zenler provides specific DNS records you need to add through your domain registrar's control panel. These records point your domain to Zenler's servers.

For common registrars, Zenler has detailed tutorials showing exactly where to click and what to enter. For less common ones, the process is similar but you might need to contact their support to find the right area.

One creator struggled with a provider called Verve Hosting. The issue wasn't Zenler—it was that Verve's control panel looked different from the tutorials. The DNS zone editor existed, but in an unexpected location.

If you've used the same hosting provider successfully before for other domains but suddenly can't get Zenler to work, something's changed. Either in their interface or in how you're entering the records.

The key: enter the records exactly as Zenler specifies. Extra spaces, wrong punctuation, or slight variations break the connection.

After adding DNS records, you wait. DNS propagation takes anywhere from a few minutes to 48 hours. Usually it's quick, but sometimes it's not.

If it's been two days and your domain still isn't working, contact Zenler support. They can check whether the DNS records are correct and whether the domain is properly pointing to their servers.

Subdomain Strategy for Existing Websites

Some creators don't want to move their entire website to Zenler. They have an established WordPress site with years of SEO history. They want to keep that but use Zenler for courses and communities.

Subdomains solve this.

Your main site stays at yourbusiness.com. Your Zenler site becomes courses.yourbusiness.com or learn.yourbusiness.com or whatever subdomain you choose.

Set this up in your domain registrar's control panel. Create the subdomain, then point it to Zenler using the DNS records Zenler provides.

From your main WordPress site, you link to your subdomain. "Click here to view courses" goes to courses.yourbusiness.com, which is actually your Zenler site.

This keeps your main web presence intact while giving you all of Zenler's course and community features on a connected subdomain.

You can have multiple subdomains pointing to different places. One creator had subdomains for photography going to one site, courses going to Zenler, and booking going to a scheduling platform. Each subdomain served a specific purpose.

Setting Up Courses for Beta Testing

Before launching a course publicly, beta testing with a small group makes sense. You catch mistakes, refine content, and get feedback.

The question: "How do I give beta testers access without publishing the course publicly or dealing with complicated discount codes?"

The answer is simpler than expected: make the course secret.

In your course settings, there's a checkbox: "Make this course secret." Click it. The course disappears from your site completely. It won't show up in course listings, search results, or anywhere else.

But you still have the course URL. Copy it and send it directly to your beta testers. They can register and access the course, but no one else even knows it exists.

You can attach a price to protect it further, or leave it free for testing purposes. Either way, the secret setting ensures it stays hidden from general traffic.

When you're ready to launch publicly, uncheck the secret box. The course appears on your site and becomes available for regular purchase.

This approach beats creating complex discount codes or manually managing a separate list of approved testers.

Payment Links for Live Sessions

Creators offering one-to-one coaching or small group sessions asked about payment timing. "The person books a session, we have the call, then their parent wants to pay afterward. But the payment link expires after the session ends."

The live session payment link is designed for payment before booking. That's the standard flow: pay, then gain access to the session.

If your business model requires payment after service delivery, you need a different approach.

One option: create a hidden course that's purely a payment vehicle. Price it at your session cost. Make it secret. When someone needs to pay after a session, send them that course link. They "purchase" the course, which is really just processing their payment. You don't need curriculum or lessons in this course—it's just a payment method.

Alternatively, use Stripe directly to create payment links outside of Zenler. Send those links for post-session payments. They don't expire, and you can reuse them. The downside: those transactions won't appear in your Zenler reports.

The cleanest solution is probably adjusting your client expectations. Explain that payment is required when booking the session, not after. Most professional services work this way. Your clients likely pay their dentist, lawyer, or hairdresser using the same model—book and pay upfront or at time of service, not days later.

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