Value modes: column, fixed value, template, default, keep, remove
The six ways a field gets its value, and what each does when an item is created and when it is updated: column, fixed value, template, default, keep existing, remove.
- 4 min read
- Updated October 15, 2026
Every field in the editor has a list that decides where its value comes from. The choice matters most for updates, because that is where you decide whether the file may change what is already on your site.
The modes#
| Mode | New item | Existing item (an update) |
|---|---|---|
| Source column | The value in the chosen column | The same: the column's value replaces what the site has |
| Fixed value | The value you typed or picked, for every row | The same value is sent again and replaces what is there |
| Template | The template with {{ Column }} filled in for the row |
The result replaces what is there |
| Use destination default | The site's own default (for example Open comments, or the account Content Uploader publishes as for Author) | Left as it is: a value someone changed on the site stays |
| Keep existing on updates | The site's own default | Left as it is |
| Remove from every item | Empty | Emptied on every item the file publishes |
(For image text the list also has Not set.)
A field with a list of choices that comes from a column can also translate the values of the file: a column that says 1 and 0 where the site says Published and Private (translate the values of a column).
What "replaces" means#
When an item is written, every mapped field is sent and the site then holds exactly what the file says. An item is only written when what would be sent for it changed, which is its row or what the mapping sends (a field you start to send, for instance; a field you switch to Keep existing on updates is simply not sent any more, and that alone writes nothing): if a person edits the title of a published item on the site and the file's row for it is the same as last week, the next upload does not touch it and the edit stays. But the next time that row changes, the file's title goes back, together with everything else you mapped. The one edit the review does spot is a status changed by hand: the item appears as updated with Changed on the destination since it was published. Publishing restores this file's values. (updating existing content).
If you want the site to be the owner of a field after the first publish (a status someone changes by hand, an excerpt an editor polishes), choose Keep existing on updates or Use destination default for it.
Which fields offer which modes#
- Required fields (for example the title) always come from a column, a fixed value or a template: there is no "keep" or "remove".
- Use destination default is offered when the destination states a default (WordPress: comments, author; Joomla: status, access, language).
- Keep existing on updates is offered for every optional field.
- Remove from every item is offered for free-text fields that are not required (an excerpt, a meta description, a note), and for custom fields, images and taxonomies. Choices (a status), numbers, dates and required fields cannot be removed. The exception is a Joomla article's options (Show Title, Robots and the others in the Article options section): removing one puts it back to Use Global, the site's own setting.
- Custom fields have Leave unchanged (the same as keeping) in place of the default.
Choosing#
- A value that differs per row: Source column.
- The same value for all rows (every article is by the same author, every page has comments closed): Fixed value.
- A value made of several columns, or text plus a column (
{{ Brand }} — {{ Model }}): Template. - A value you do not want the file to control after the first publish: Keep existing on updates.
- A value you want to wipe from everything this file publishes: Remove from every item. It is deliberate and visible: the review lists the items that change.
Status deserves a decision#
When your file has no Status column, the editor sets Status to a fixed value that publishes nothing live: Draft on WordPress, Unpublished on Joomla. A fixed value is sent with every update, so a post that someone published on the site would be set back to draft by the next file. To stop that, choose Keep existing on updates for Status: new items then start as draft and updates never change the status. See status, dates and authors.
What an empty cell does#
With Source column, an empty cell is a value too. For content, excerpt, categories, tags, the featured image and custom fields it empties the field on that item; for a Status, a Publish date or an Author it changes nothing on an item that exists, and a new item gets the site's own. Empty cells and clearing a field lists the effect for each field.
Related#
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