How Do I Import Content via CSV Files?
IN THIS ARTICLE
1. What is a CSV file?
A CSV (Comma Separated Values) is a Sheet where you can add different parts of your posts (caption, URL, media, posting time, etc) and then bulk upload them in SocialBee.
2. How to import a CSV file in SocialBee
If you want to import a CSV file, go to the Import CSV tab here (under “Content”).
- Select the social media profiles you want to add the content to.
- Upload the CSV by clicking on the "Choose File" gray button.
- Select the Content Category where the posts will end up in (at the top/ bottom of the Category).
- Hit “Import” and choose if you want the content to be “Approved” or Draft (see the difference here).
2.1. Ready-to-use CSV template
Make a copy of our ready-to-use template found here.
Do NOT edit the first row of your template, as this may cause errors when you upload it.
In the template you'll find 6 columns with the first row occupied by
- The "text" column: In this column, you should add the captions of your posts.
- The "link" column: In this column, you should add URLs to your content.
- The "imageUrls" column: In this column, you should add a public link to the images you want to post.
- The "gifUrls" column: In this column, you should add a public link to the GIF you want to post.
- The "videoUrls" column: In this column, you should add a public link to the video you want to post.
- The "postAtSpecificTime: In this column, you should add the date and time when you want to post. Learn more about posting at a specific time here.
When adding content to your CSV, keep in mind:
- The character limit of the social media platform(s) you're posting to.
- The "link" column will overwrite all other media rows you might fill in (eg. imageUrls, gifUrls, videoUrls).
- You shouldn't fill in several media-related columns for one post. The information will get overwritten.
- For GIFs and videos, you can see which social media profile support video files here.
- The "postAtSpecificTime" column: you must format the dates exactly like this: yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ssZ.
- This formatting works in a 24-hour format, not a 12-hour. You can use this tool to help with this.
- For example, this date: 2023-10-14T00:00:01Z. This means that the post would have been shared on October 14, 2023, at midnight (00:00).
- ⚠️ If the date and time in the CSV are in the past when you import it, the post will fail. ⚠️
- You can use Imgur as a place where you can upload your images and get links to them.
3. Advanced settings to import CSV files
Customize the way you import your CSV files into SocialBee thanks to our Advanced Settings.
- Expire after it was published__times expires the posts after they've been published a number of times. Your posts will remain in the Category until that limit is reached.
- Expire after__months/ days expires the posts after a number of days/ months. Your posts will be archived from your Category once that time passes, even if they were never shared.
- Don't shorten the links: if you don't want your Category's Link Settings to be applied to the imported links, just tick this box and links will be added normally.
- Trim text for Twitter will edit your caption to shorten the text, so it is suitable for Twitter sharing. We’ll trim from the title of the post, so we keep the Appended Text and URL intact.
4. Preview your CSV file
- Once you've got all these settings down, you can see the way your content looks like on your profiles.
- When you upload the CSV file, you'll automatically get a preview for each one of your profiles.
- To switch between different profile previews, go to the top-right corner of your screen, click on the drop-down menu, and select the profile you want to preview your posts for.
