How to import and export categories in Excel

This page is for administrators: the operations described require access to the administration area.

Export a family's categories to an Excel file, edit the text in the file and import it to update multiple categories at once. You need access to the Categories administration area.

The import only updates text in existing categories, identified by the Id column. It does not create, delete or move categories: rows with an Id that does not match any category are ignored. To create categories, follow How to create and edit categories.

Export categories

  1. In the menu, select Admin, then Categories.
  2. Open the family in the tree.
  3. Click Export excel.
  4. Under Available fields to export, choose the fields or click Select all.
  5. Under Locales, choose the languages.
  6. Click Confirm.

An Excel file containing all the family's categories is downloaded. The worksheet has Id and Family columns, followed by a column for each field and language, for example Name.it-IT or MetaTitle.en-GB. Thesaurus and Is public are not exported.

Prepare the file

  • Leave the Id column unchanged: it identifies the category to update.
  • Keep column headings in the format Campo.lingua. The fields that can be imported are Name, Description, MetaTitle, MetaDescription, MetaKeywords and URL, spelt exactly as shown, including capitalisation. The language must be one of the languages in openlane.
  • Keep only the columns you want to update in the file.
  • Save the file in .xlsx format. Only the first worksheet is read.

An empty cell in an imported column clears that field's value for that category.

The Breadcrumb column is ignored: the breadcrumb is recalculated from the names.

Import the file

  1. In the menu, select Admin, then Categories, and open a family in the tree.
  2. Click Import excel, choose the file and click Confirm.
  3. On the Excel import page, check the Validation summary: the Valid or Invalid status, recognised columns under Valid fields and rejected columns under Invalid fields, languages, errors and the number of categories. The Id and Family columns appear under Invalid fields because they are not imported.
  4. If the file is valid, click Import file and confirm.

The message The Excel Import operation was completed successfully, all data is updated appears. The file can update categories in any family, not just the one open in the tree.

If the import has changed any names, update the subcategory breadcrumbs as described in How to create and edit categories.