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Import publications in bulk
Import publications in bulk

In this article we will show you how to upload posts in bulk using a Google Sheet or Excel spreadsheet.

Lara Macarena Sastre avatar
Written by Lara Macarena Sastre
Updated over a week ago

⚠️ If this is the first time you are going to import, you must ask us for your SFTP access credentials for publica.la. This is where you will upload both the posts and their covers.


Write to us at [email protected] so that we can share with you what your own credentials are.

Once you have your credentials follow the steps below:

1. Access SFTP from Filezilla to be able to upload your files.

If you've never used it, here 's an article from our help center where we show you where to download Filezilla, how to log in, and how to upload your files to SFTP.


⚠️All files (posts and covers) that you upload to your SFTP account must be named by ISBN. This makes the system find them in a simpler way.

2. When you have uploaded all the files in SFTP, you must complete the form with the metadata.

👉 We share an example form so that you can download it, copy the headers of each column and be able to fill in the fields with the data from your publications.

To download the copy of the form you must go to File and click on "Make a copy". Now edit the spreadsheet with the information you want to incorporate.

You don't need to add all the columns to perform an import, just the columns marked as Required .

Details of the headers of each column.

Headboard

Detail

ISBN : REQUIRED .

It is a unique identifier for the publication and here you must place the ISBN . It can contain alphanumeric characters, as well as hyphens and underscores with a maximum of 250 characters.

⚠️The format of this column must be plain text. To do this you must select the column, click on Format > Number > Plain text.

Type : REQUIRED .
This field cannot be updated/modified.

Here you must place the type of file.
It must be "pdf", "epub" or "audio".

⚠️The format of this column must be plain text. To do this you must select the column, click on Format > Number > Plain text.

Name : REQUIRED .

It is the name of the publication. It must contain a maximum of 200 characters.

⚠️The format of this column must be plain text. To do this you must select the column, click on Format > Number > Plain text.

Description : Optional.

It is the description of the publication. It must contain a maximum of 10000 characters.

⚠️The format of this column must be plain text. To do this you must select the column, click on Format > Number > Plain text.

Free : Optional.

If the publication is free, it must contain 1, if it is not free, you must place 0 (zero).

⚠️The format of this column must be Number. To do so you must select the column, click on Format > Number > Number.

Free Until: Optional.

In case the publication is free until a certain date.

⚠️The format of this column should be Date “year-month-day” (2019-04-28). To do so, you must select the column, click Format > Number > More formats > More date and time formats.

Publication Date : Optional.

If you want you can specify a date and time of publication. It must contain the date in "year-month-day" format and if you add a time it must be in "hours-minutes-seconds" format. For example: if you only add the date 2019-09-15 and if you add date and time 2019-04-28 00:00:00. Note that if you leave the field empty the default value will be the date and time you upload the files.


⚠️The format of this column should be Date “year-month-day” (2019-04-28). To do so, you must select the column, click Format > Number > More formats > More date and time formats.

File URL : REQUIRED .

Here you must add the PATH with the location of the publication within the SFTP.

📚 For files with PDF or Epub extension

Remember that you must use the ISBN as the file name. The file name must not contain spaces and must only be alphanumeric characters. It should go like this: " username_ftp * /files/isbn_code.pdf ".

For example: editorial-example/files/234568765434.pdf

( * ) This is the username that we share with you in the SFTP credentials.

🎶 For files with an MP3 extension (Audiobooks - Podcasts)

You can add one or more track files for an audiobook. If you want to add multiple tracks, you must add the character " | " to separate them. To do this, you should follow this example format:

-Hint : username_ftp/files/isbn_code.mp3

(username / files /123abc.mp3). (A)

-Multiple tracks : username_ftp/files/isbn_code-1.mp3 | username_ftp/files/isbn_code-2.mp3
(username/files/123abc-1.mp3 | username/files/123abc-2.mp3). (A)

⚠️The format of this column must be plain text. To do this you must select the column, click on Format > Number > Plain text.

Cover File URL : Optional but Recommended.

Like the previous item, here you must place the PATH with the location of the cover of the publication inside a "/files" directory. This file must be a JPG or PNG. You will need to use the ISBN as the file name. Remember that it should not have spaces and only contain alphanumeric characters.

It should go like this: " username_ftp /files/isbn_code.jpg" For example: editorial-example/files/234568765434.jpg, (B)

Images for cover files must be JPG or PNG with a minimum resolution of 256x256 pixels.

⚠️The format of this column must be plain text. To do this you must select the column, click on Format > Number > Plain text.

Lang : REQUIRED.
This field cannot be updated/modified.

In this column you must place the language of the publication. For content in Spanish you must place es, for content in English in , for content in Portuguese pt and for content in Italian it . You must enter the values ​​in lower case.


⚠️The format of this column must be plain text. To do this you must select the column, click on Format > Number > Plain text.

Allow Preview : Optional.

If you want the post to have a preview, it must contain 1, otherwise a 0 (zero).
Keep in mind that by default the preview percentage is 10% for all publications, that is, a book that has 100 pages will have the first 10 preview pages; and a book that has 150 pages will have 15 to preview.


⚠️The format of this column must be Number. To do so you must select the column, click on Format > Number > Number.

Require Login for Preview : Optional.

In case the publication requires login when it can be previewed, it must contain 1, otherwise a 0 (zero).


⚠️The format of this column must be Number. To do so you must select the column, click on Format > Number > Number.

Require Login to Read: Optional.

In the event that the publication when it is free requires the user to log in, it must contain 1, otherwise a 0 (zero).

⚠️The format of this column must be Number. To do so you must select the column, click on Format > Number > Number.

Private Material : Optional.

If the post contains private material (for example: a link to a video, a code or password or any other information that you want to add to the post.) Only users with access to the post will be able to see it. It must contain a maximum of 10000 characters.


⚠️The format of this column must be plain text. To do this you must select the column, click on Format > Number > Plain text.

Price : Optional.

It is a string in the format currency_id:amount.
Supports multiple values ​​by separating them with the " | " character.
- Currency_id: ARS, USD, EUR, MXN, COP, PEN or CLP.
- Quantity: is the value of the price, in decimal or integer format. In case of placing a decimal, the fraction must be separated with a point, not a comma. (For example: USD 9.99)
For example: If you want to establish the price of a publication in 500 Argentine pesos, 300,000 Chilean pesos and 9 US dollars, you must place them as follows:
ARS:500 | CLP:300000 | $9:9

⚠️The format of this column must be plain text. To do this you must select the column, click on Format > Number > Plain text.

PPU Prices : Optional , but REQUIRED if ppu_enabled equals 1.

It sets the price of the PPU license (which usually corresponds to 10% of the book cover price) and follows the same format as the prices field, with the difference that it only accepts prices in USD (for example: USD:0.40 to set the price). priced at 40 US cents, per loan or lease).

⚠️The format of this column must be plain text. To do this you must select the column, click on Format > Number > Plain text.

Retail Enabled: REQUIRED.

You must set this field to 1 if you want to offer the publication on the market under the retail license (after signing a contract), otherwise 0 (zero).
IMPORTANT: Keep in mind that if this field is 1, in the next column "prices" you must enter the price in dollars (USD).

⚠️The format of this column must be Number. To do so you must select the column, click on Format > Number > Number.

PPU Enabled : Optional .

This field allows your publication to be marketed as loan or rental in Libraries, under the PPU (Pay Per Use) license. It must be 1 if you want to market it, otherwise 0 (zero).

⚠️The format of this column must be Number. To do so you must select the column, click on Format > Number > Number.

TAXONOMY COLUMNS

All taxonomy columns are optional . You will be able to add and use standard taxonomies and/or add custom taxonomies columns.

⚠️The format of these columns must be plain text. To do this you must select the columns and click on Format > Number > Plain text.

Keywords : Optional.

Add keywords so that your users quickly find the publication. Supports multiple values ​​by separating them with the | character. Maximum of 250 characters.

Categories : Optional.

They will allow you to identify your publications within different groups so that you can later set up filters, create shelves, and allow users to search more easily.
Supports multiple values ​​by separating them with the | character. Maximum of 250 characters

Collections : Optional.

They will help you later to create sales plans or shelves.
Supports multiple values ​​by separating them with the | character. Maximum of 250 characters

Authors : Optional.

The name(s) of the authors.
Supports multiple values ​​by separating them with the | character. Maximum of 250 characters

Narrators : Optional.

The name or names of the narrators, in the case of an audiobook.
Supports multiple values ​​by separating them with the | character. Maximum of 250 characters

Publishers : Optional.

It is the name of the publisher or publishers.
Supports multiple values ​​by separating them with the | character. Maximum of 250 characters

Countries : Optional.

Country or city.
Supports multiple values ​​by separating them with the | character. Maximum of 250 characters

Editions : Optional.

Supports multiple values ​​by separating them with the | character. Maximum of 250 characters

Audience : Optional.

Allow up to one (1) audience value for your posts. Allowable values ​​are children , young-adults , or adults .

bisac : Optional.

It must be completed with the BISAC code and not with its description. Eg ANT000000 if we wanted the genre "Antiques & Collectibles / General" to be loaded. Supports multiple values ​​by separating them with the | character. eg ANT056000 | ANT000000.

taxonomy_example : Optional

The word " example " in the header should be replaced with the name of the custom taxonomy. They can have as many columns as taxonomies they have created. Supports multiple values ​​by separating them with the | character. Maximum of 250 characters

⚠️To add taxonomies columns you must first create them in the store. We share this tutorial from our help center where we show you how to do it.

3. Once the form is completed, you must save or download it as an .XLSX file in order to upload it to the platform.

4. Go to Control Panel > Settings > Imports.

5. Click New Import, choose the Import Posts option, and drag or drop the file from your computer.

6. Click on Create Import and the process will automatically run.

Once this process has been run, you will be able to see in that same section the status of the import, that is, if it was carried out successfully or if an error was generated.

In some cases, you may need to refresh the page to see the final status of the process, if the process continues to show as "Processing" for several minutes.

COMMON ERRORS

Within View details of the report , the row ( ** ) in which the error is occurring will be indicated.

( ** ) The indicated row is exactly the same as in the spreadsheet, counting the header as number 1 (one).

The different errors that usually occur are the following:

  • Invalid Headers – This is one of the most common errors and generally stems from two causes:

    • The data in some of the headers was modified by hand and it does not exactly match the ones indicated in the example file and in this tutorial.

  • You may have chosen an option other than Import publications, such as importing users or some other from the list.

  • Date with wrong format: This can be caused by a change in the type of data format and in this case the one indicated in the previous points must be followed.
    Dates should not be written: using the bars as separators (2020/01/20) or writing them without using the corresponding order (01/20/2020) or abbreviating the year in two numbers (01-20-20). The accepted format is year, month, day (yyyy-mm-dd).

  • Too many characters: Not respecting the maximum number of characters for the fields as indicated in each case can generate an error in the import.

  • File not found: This can be generated because you forgot to upload a publication or cover in the SFTP and the system does not find it, or because it is badly written. Check if you did not leave extra spaces, if the file extension is correct and if the ISBN matches the one uploaded in SFTP.

  • Validation.issue_prices: This error can be generated because the prices are not separated with the accepted format " ARS:500|USD:9.99" . Note that there should be no space, but the separator is the special character --> |

⚠️ Keep in mind that the files will remain available in the SFTP (Filezilla) for 90 days . After that period, they will be automatically deleted.

Recommendation for files in EPUB format:
To avoid file decoding errors in the reader, it is recommended that the sources are not encrypted.


📹 We leave you here a complete instructive.

We hope this tutorial has been easy for you. If you have questions, write to us at [email protected] .

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