Resident Photos

Overview

Roompact’s user interface allows for resident photos to be displayed in various manners, and users benefit greatly from being able to match a resident with their photo. We highly recommend implementing a photo import to allow for a complete user experience.

Instructions

Roompact has 3 options for photo uploads:

Data feed integration: Our resident import options have fields named user_image_data and user_image_url. This option is recommended, and is further documented at each of the “Resident Import” options listed at tech-docs.roompact.com. We strongly suggest the JSON resident import method, especially with photo imports. When considering the two CSV-based resident import methods, please know that the maximum size of a POST request accepted by the Roompact webservers is 100MB. When updating large numbers of users, if the total size of all of the images exceeds this limit, the update should be split into multiple smaller requests. Data transfers above 100MB are not permitted for the Hosted Resident Roster (CSV) option, as our system can only pick up one file per 24 hours. However, our system can accept multiple emailed CSVs for the Emailed Resident Roster (CSV) option.
SFTP Hosted Images: With this option you provide Roompact with a SFTP server that contains resident photos. We will then check nightly for new/updated images of current residents and load them into Roompact.
- Images must be named with the identifier.extension, with the identifier being user_uid, user_student_id or user_email form the resident assignment data feed and the same extension for all images.
- We will only pull images with a modified time after the last time a resident’s photo was added or updated.
- Both password and key based authentication methods are supported for SFTP. You can download Roompact’s public SSH key.
Bulk photo imports: This option is available if you are not able to integrate resident photos into your Roompact data feed or provide SFTP Hosted Images. We recommend using this method once or twice a year. To complete our bulk photo import process, please send your file via email (or file sharing application, if preferred) to implementation@roompact.com, and we will be in touch. We accept 2 methods for bulk photo import:
- A zipped folder with image files (PNG, JPG, or GIF) that are each named with the user_uid, which must match the user_uid that is used in the main resident assignment data feed, and generally correlates with a resident’s Single Sign-On credentials.
- A CSV file with 2 columns: user_uid AND [user_image_data OR user_image_url] and Roompact staff will then use the file to complete a manual upload of the file. The user_uid column must match the user_uid used in the main resident assignment data feed, and generally correlates with a resident’s Single Sign-On credentials. The user_image data field should contain a base64 encoded BLOB of user image data, and the alternative user_image_url field should contain a URL to the user’s image.

Miscellaneous

It is acceptable to have 2 concurrent data feeds pushing to Roompact: one for resident assignments, and another for resident photos. However, both feeds must consistently post to Roompact in a one day 24 hour period according to the Central timezone. If one feed posts at 11:00PM Central, and the other posts 3 hours later at 2:00AM Central, our system will not properly account for all data sent. To be safe and to allow for the most up-to-date nightly updates, we recommend that both feeds are sent sometime between 5:00PM and 10:00PM Central Time.
The ideal photo size 300x300 pixels if possible, but that’s not a strict requirement. Our system is designed to gracefully manage other sizes.
If you provide a user_image_url to an image that is not accessible from a client web browser a default avatar will be shown. Some institutions we work with have photo URLs available to on campus connections only or after authentication in a secondary system, and our software will handle this gracefully.