Browse the documentation
Preparing your spreadsheet
File formats, columns, dates, HTML, encoding and limits, with example files to download.
Files
- Supported file formats and what is rejectedContent Uploader reads Excel, OpenDocument and CSV files and a ZIP of images. Which extensions work, which files are rejected, and the message each rejected file gets.
- CSV or Excel: which should you upload?Excel and OpenDocument keep dates and numbers as they are; CSV is plain text and needs the right encoding and separator. When to choose each, and how the separator is read.
Structure
Files
Structure
- Column headers: names, rules and automatic matchingThe first row needs a different, non-empty name in every column. How column names are matched to fields, which names suggest the ID, and what happens when a name changes.
- Files without a header row: columns named by positionWhen an export starts with data instead of column names: read it without a header row, map Column A, Column B and so on, and keep the columns in order.
- Required and optional columnsWhich information every item needs on WordPress and on Joomla, which columns you can leave out, and the messages shown when a required value is missing.
Values
Files
Values
- HTML and formatted text in cellsPut paragraphs, headings, links and lists into a body cell: what WordPress and Joomla filter out, why images inside the text stay links, and the cell size limit.
- Duplicate IDs, titles and rowsWhat happens when two rows share an ID or a title in one file, the error each gets, why the first row wins, and why the same item next week is an update, not a duplicate.
Files
- Large files: the limits and how to stay inside themThe size limits for spreadsheets, rows, columns, cells and ZIP files, the message each gives, and how to split or slim down a file that is too big, with what it costs.
- Common spreadsheet mistakes, and the fix for eachA checklist of the mistakes behind most import problems: headers, IDs, dates, numbers, encoding, merged cells, images and more, with what you see and how to fix each one.
- Example spreadsheets you can download and tryDownload ready-made example spreadsheets for WordPress and Joomla, from a first import to categories, images, problems and a migration, and see which guide uses each one.