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Supported data formats: how each kind of value is read

How Content Uploader reads text, numbers, yes/no, dates, choices, lists, category paths, record IDs, images and HTML in a cell, with what works and what does not.

  • 2 min read
  • Updated October 13, 2026

Every cell is read as text first, and the field you map it to decides what text is acceptable. This table is the reference; the guides explain the reasons.

Kind of value Accepted Not accepted (and the message)
Text Any UTF-8 text, line breaks included, up to the field's limit and 32 KB per cell Longer text: The resolved value exceeds the N character limit.
Number 12, 12.5, -0.5, with a dot and no thousands separator 12,5, 1,234, €12: The resolved value must be a number, such as 12 or 12.5.
Whole number 12, -3, 0 12.5, 1,000, twelve: The resolved value must be a whole number.
Yes / no TRUE, FALSE, 1, 0, yes, no, on, off, in any case Anything else: The resolved value must be yes or no, such as TRUE, FALSE, 1 or 0.
Date or date and time 2026-09-27, 2026-09-27 13:45, 2026-09-27T13:45:00+02:00, 27 September 2026, 01-02-2026 (day first), 01/02/2026 (month first), and Excel date cells 27/09/2026, next Tuesday-ish, Q3 2026: The resolved value must be a valid date.
A choice (a status, an author, an access level) The choice's label or key, any case, with spaces at the ends ignored; an author by name, ID, username or email The resolved value is not one of the destination choices. / This value matches more than one destination choice. Use the choice's key instead.
A list (tags, categories in one cell) Values separated by the separator you chose (Comma, Semicolon or Pipe); spaces around each value are removed; empty entries are ignored; a repeated value counts once A different separator from the one chosen makes one long value
A category path Parent > Child > Grandchild, with Parse paths ticked and a single-character hierarchy separator Without Parse paths the whole text is one category name
Record ID Up to 255 characters, letters, digits and punctuation, unique within the file; spaces at the ends ignored Empty, repeated or too long: Record ID: …
An image A file name (p12.jpg) or a path in a ZIP (summer/p12.jpg), a web address (https://…), or a file name already in the site's media library A name or address that cannot be used: a warning, never an error (missing images)
HTML Ordinary HTML in a content cell; HTML inside a template placeholder is escaped Scripts and tags the site's filter removes are dropped by the site
Template Text with {{ Column }} placeholders (up to 262,144 characters); \{{ writes the characters themselves The template refers to an unavailable column: X.

Workbooks versus CSV#

  • In workbooks, numbers, percentages, dates and yes/no cells are read as what they store, not as they are displayed: a percentage is a fraction (0.5), a date is 2026-09-27 13:45:00, a yes/no is TRUE or FALSE. Formulas are read as their last saved result.
  • In CSV files the text is read exactly as written. Write numbers and dates in the forms above.

Empty cells#

An empty cell is a value: it removes, defaults or fails depending on the field (empty cells and clearing a field).

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