Magpi allows you to import a list of questions from Microsoft Excel, either to create a new form or to add to an existing form.



Creating the Excel File


Each question that you import into Magpi will have these characteristics

  1. Question name (Also known as Data Field name)
  2. Question type
  3. Question prompt


To create a form with the following questions 


the excel file should be formatted as follows, specifying question prompts (the message that will be displayed to the user on the mobile device) and question types: 



The Excel file must be formatted so that:


  1. All question types must be in small letters
  2. The name, type and prompt must begin in capital letter
  3. The question name (column A, above, which will be the data variable name) must not contain any spaces. For example if the variable name is 'Marital Status' , then you must insert an underscore: 'Marital_Status'

 

Importing the Excel File to Magpi


You can import your questions to either a new form or an existing form. If  you do not have an existing form, create a new form by going to 'New'  on your forms dashboard. A new form will be created in the Design tab like in the image below. Rename your form and you can start importing your questions.


To import questions, Select the 'Import questions' link at the top right of your Design tab. A dialog box will pop up asking you to select the form you would like to import.





You will then select your Excel file from the location you have saved it then import to your form design Page. 





Importing Multiple-Choice Question Options


Note: you cannot import multiple question options when following the approach above, but after you have created a form you can import multiple choice options into a specific question from Excel.  To do so, expand each multiple choice question and use the import feature. For further info, see this article.



Note on Older Versions of Excel:

Due to some development standards, .xls files (from MSOffice 2004 or before) may not be uploaded. If you do not have MS Excel beyond 2004, download LibreOffice on your computer, open your .xls file using LibreOffice and save the file as .xlsx. 






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