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Tips for uploading databases from Excel file

Our team has a few tips to avoid common mistakes when uploading databases in Excel format.

First of all, 2 basic rules define the strategy for uploading data from Excel

  1. In the uploaded file, the system interprets the first row as question labels and treats all subsequent rows as data.

  2. Only columns that contain information in the first row will be processed. If the first row is empty, the column will be ignored.

This leads to the following tips:

  1. Put question labels in the first row: Always fill the first row with clear, descriptive labels for each option.

    excel tip 3.png


  2. Remove unneeded columns: If there are columns you don’t need for analysis, leave their first-row cells empty. The system will automatically ignore these columns.

    excel tip 4.png


  3. Do not use the second row for additional information: It will be read as data and could corrupt the database.

    excel tip 2.png



  4. If you need both short variable codes and more detailed descriptions in the uploaded database, you can get this in the following ways:

    1. Use a : after loading the database, you can export a codebook, insert the labels in the ‘label_en’ column, and import the codebook. The labels will be added to the database.

      export-import codebook.png


      add labels codebook.png


    2. Edit labels directly in Meta-Editor.

      edit label in ME.png


Hidden or filtered data in an Excel file will also be imported.