Articles on: Publications

Content Import Panel


Content Import Panel


In this article we will show you how to use the Content Import Panel in Medusa to upload and manage your digital publications.


The Content Import Panel is a self-service dashboard where content teams can upload digital files along with a metadata spreadsheet, and the system automatically processes and ingests them into Publica.la.


HOW TO ACCESS


You will receive an invitation email from your Publica.la contact. After accepting the invitation link, you can log in to the panel with your account on https://medusa.publica.la/login.


The panel has four sections accessible from the left sidebar:


  • New Upload — to import new publications. It has two steps presented as accordion sections:

1. Upload content files

2. Upload metadata spreadsheet


  • History — A table listing all imports for the current content intake. To check the status of previous imports
  • Products — A table of all successfully ingested products for the team, sorted by ingestion date (newest first). To browse all imports
  • File Update — Allows replacing content files (EPUB, PDF, MP3) for products that were already imported.


HOW TO IMPORT PUBLICATIONS


Step 1: Upload content files


1. In the left sidebar, click New Upload. The following screen will open.




2. In the Upload content files section, drag and drop your files or click to browse from your computer.


  • Accepted formats: EPUB, PDF, MP3. And JPG or PNG for covers.


You can upload up to 500 files per import, with a maximum size of 500 MB per file. Uploads happen simultaneously and each file shows a real-time progress bar.



Step 2: Upload the metadata spreadsheet


3. Once the files are uploaded, in the Upload metadata spreadsheet section, drag and drop or select your metadata file.


  • Accepted formats: XLSX, XLS or CSV (up to 10 MB and 10,000 rows)


4. The system will automatically detect the spreadsheet format (Publica.la or VitalSource) and show a preview of the first 5 rows so you can confirm the data looks correct.


  • Header validation requires at least 60% of expected columns to match


If the detected format is not correct, you can change it manually before continuing.



Validate and launch the import


5. After both uploads complete, the system will automatically validate:


  • That all files referenced in the spreadsheet have been uploaded
  • That there are no duplicate identifiers against previously imported publications
  • That all required fields are present
  • That file types are valid (epub, pdf, mp3, physical)


6. Click Import to begin the process.


If errors are found, you will see a list of the top 50 issues. You can fix them and re-upload, or choose Continue with errors to skip invalid rows and process only the valid ones.


You can fix and re-upload.


IMPORT HISTORY


In this section you will see all imports with their status:


  • Green (Done): all publications were imported successfully
  • Red (Failed): the import could not be completed
  • Amber (Partial): some publications were imported and some were not
  • Blue (Processing): the import is still running



When you expand a row while an import is running, you will see real-time progress. Once completed, you can download a CSV report with the full result for each publication.


PRODUCTS


In the Products section you will find all successfully imported publications, sorted by upload date (newest first).



FILE UPDATE


If you need to replace the file of an already imported publication (for example, to upload the final file instead of a placeholder, or to fix errors), use the File Update section.


1. Upload the replacement files (EPUB, PDF or MP3).


2. The system will automatically match files to the corresponding publications by ISBN or external identifier and process the replacement.


File replacement triggers a full re-ingestion of the publication, including regeneration of all derivatives like Smart Zoom.



SUPPORTED SPREADSHEET FORMATS


Publica.la format

Required columns in the spreadsheet:



Optional columns include: Description, Publication Date, Cover File URL, Authors, Publishers, Prices, Keywords, Categories, Collections, and more.


Custom metadata is supported via taxonomy_* columns (e.g., taxonomy_genre, taxonomy_age_group).


Price format: CurrencyCode:Amount pairs separated by |. Example: ARS:1000|USD:20|BRL:89.90


Multiple values separator: use |, ; or , to separate multiple values in a single cell.


Date format: The system accepts DD/MM/YYYY, MM/DD/YYYY, YYYY-MM-DD, and Excel serial dates. All are normalized to YYYY-MM-DD.


VitalSource format


Used for content migrated from VitalSource catalogs. This format uses a 3-row header structure:

  • Row 1: Group headers (e.g., "Basic", "Asset Identifiers")
  • Row 2: Column headers (used for field mapping)
  • Row 3: System names (skipped during parsing)


Required columns:


Optional:


  • Price columns per currency (USD Digital List Price, GBP Digital List Price)
  • BISAC codes
  • Sales rights
  • Sampling settings
  • Description


File matching: In VitalSource format, files are matched by VBID prefix. For example, a file named L-999-70114.epub matches the row with VBID L-999-70114. Multiple files per VBID are supported (one content file plus an optional cover image).




We hope this tutorial has been easy for you. If you have any questions, contact us at support@publica.la.


Updated on: 22/04/2026

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