If you already have Notes in a csv format, you can easily import them to Notably for analysis. Importing Notes in a csv format can be helpful if you have data coming from places like:
Surveys
Miro or FigJam
Google Sheets or Excel
How to import a csv to Notably
To import a csv, open a Project and go to Analysis. From the File menu on the left, click the dropdown and select Import notes as csv. See the video below.
Formatting guidelines & tips
Note | Theme | Tags | Date | Participant |
A small snippet of meaningful data, like a quote. | Theme A | Tag 1, Tag 2, Tag 3 | 7/7/23 | Bob Ross |
The csv file you import to Notably should follow the format in the table above, with column labels for:
Note
Theme
Tags
Date
Participant
Couple things to note about importing:
The Note column is the only required field
There can only be one Theme in the Themes cell.
There can be multiple tags in the Tags cell by separating each with a comma.
If you include a Participant that doesn't already exist in your account, we will create a new Participant record for you.
Troubleshooting FAQ
I have a .csv file from a survey with multiple questions for each participant, how should I reformat this for uploading?
Any open ended questions you would like to analyze would be great options for a "Note" or individual sticky note on your canvas. You can think of each row in your spreadsheet as being the information for an individual note.
Any data you would like to stay connected to your open ended answers would be good to use as Tags. Tags are a great way to apply different lenses on your canvas as well (recoloring, filtering).
If you have multiple open ended questions from one survey, try focusing one on question at a time for a single upload to Notably. If knowing which question the answer was for is important for your analysis, consider adding the question name or (Q1, Q2, etc.) as a tag to the corresponding notes.
In this sample sheet linked above, you can see how you might reformat your survey answers for importing to Notably.
I have multiple columns of data I want to combine in my spreadsheet to use as tags, how do I do that?
Surveys come with a high volume of answers - to quickly combine columns together, us the following formula in the first cell of a new column (replace A2, B2, C2, with the cells that match your data) =CONCATENATE (A2, ", ",B2," ,",C2) the ", " after each cell adds the proper comma between each value to separate tags. Then, you can drag (or copy and paste) this formula down the rest of your column to fill in the rest of your data in this format.
Copying and Pasting Tip: With a formula such as Concatenate (which appends strings of data together) it references the other cells. So, if you are copying and pasting this new column to a new sheet, be sure to paste as "values only" - this will pase the plain text without the formula attached. If you try to paste as is, you will lose the connection to the referenced cell.
How many notes can I upload at once?
A good rule of thumb is to import no more than 1,200 notes in a single upload.
If necessary, split your .csv into multiple sheets (or tabs) in Excel or Google Sheets and import separately.
Some of the columns like (Tags or Participant names) are missing when I import, where did they go?
In this scenario there are a few things to double check:
Did you include a header row in your spreadsheet for Note, Theme, Tags, Date, and Participant? If not, only the first column for Note may translate to a sticky note.
Do your header rows match Notably formatting? If the column name does not match, the information may not be added to the note. Here is a sample sheet you can make a copy of.
I get the error "Unable to Parse File" when trying to upload, what do I do?
Double check your formatting and try again!
There may be too many rows! Try for 1,200 rows maximum at a time. You may need to split your .csv into multiple different batches of uploads if you are working with a high volume of data.
Can I add more than one tag at a time?
In the Tags column of your sheet, you can add as many tags as you need! As long as you put a comma between each tag everything should be added correctly.
Ex: Tag 1, Tag 2, Tag 3
I don't have a survey, how do I import from Miro or Figjam?
No worries! You will use this same formatting (Note, Theme, Tags, Date, Participant) and import with the same steps.
Still have questions or need additional help? We're happy to help. Just send us a quick message in support chat (purple icon in the bottom right of your screen) and we will be with you ASAP!