Importing and Exporting

Overview

The Import and Export tool facilitates bulk data transfer for Content lists, enabling straightforward export, editing, and re-import processes. It supports a wide range of use cases including bulk editing, translation, locale replication, and new content creation.

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Export Functionality

Two format options are available when exporting:

Regular Format — Exports the entire content list with each content model on a separate Excel worksheet, resembling database tables. Use this format when you want to bulk edit content within the same locale, replicate content across regional variants, or create new content items via import.

Translation Format — Exports a single-sheet Excel file with one row per field, per item. A "Translated Value" column is included where different language versions can be entered. Use this format when you want to translate content from one language to another. Note: this format includes text fields only — dates, URLs, and non-text fields are excluded, which prevents accidental translation of those values.

Export Steps

1. In Agility CMS, navigate to the content list you want to export.
2. Click the 3-dot menu and select Export.
3. Choose your format — Regular Format or Translation Format.
4. The file will download as an Excel (.xlsx) file.

Important: Exports always include the entire content list. You cannot select specific rows to export. However, you can delete unwanted rows from the Excel file before re-importing — this will not delete those items from the CMS.

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Import Process

Requirements

Two columns must remain intact for the import to work correctly:

• Agility_ContentID — Identifies existing items. Leave blank or set to -1 for new items.
• Agility_ContainerName — References the target content list.

Do not modify column headers, Content IDs, or Container Names — field mapping is entirely driven by column headers, and changing them will break the import.

Import Steps

1. Export your content list and make your edits in Excel.
2. Save the file.
3. In Agility CMS, click the 3-dot menu and select Import.
4. Set the Import From (source locale) and Import To (target locale).
5. Upload your file.
6. Keep the browser window open until the import completes — imports run as a batch process, and closing the window early may interrupt it.

Note on dates: Excel does not share timezone information, so all dates and times should be listed in EST when importing.

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Step-by-Step Guides

Guide A: Bulk Edit Content Within the Same Locale

Use case: You want to update or edit existing content in a locale without affecting any other locale.

1. Navigate to the content list you want to edit.
2. Click Export → Regular Format.
3. Open the downloaded Excel file.
4. Edit only the field columns you want to change (e.g., title, body text).
5. Do not change: Content ID, Container Name, Version ID, or Language Code columns.
6. Delete any rows you do not want to update (this will not delete them from the CMS).
7. Save the file.
8. Click Import.
9. Set both Import From and Import To to the same locale (e.g., French → French).
10. Upload your file and keep the browser window open until the import completes.

This will only affect the fields and rows included in your file. It will not touch other locales.

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Guide B: Translate Content from One Language to Another

Use case: You have English content and want to create French (or other language) versions of it.

1. Navigate to the content list in Agility CMS.
2. Click Export → Translation Format. This produces a single-sheet Excel file with one row per field, per item.
3. In the Translated Value column (the last column), enter your translations. You may send this file to a translation vendor — they fill in the translated column and return it.
4. Do not edit the Item ID, Field Name, or source Field Value columns.
5. Save the file with a clear name.
6. Click Import.
7. Set Import From to your source language (e.g., English) and Import To to your target language (e.g., French).
8. Upload the translated file and keep the browser window open until complete.

The system will match items by Content ID and create linked versions in the target language, sharing the same ID as the originals. You can switch between locales in the CMS to see the same item in each language.

Common mistake: Do not translate the source value column in place and leave the Translated Value column blank. The system only reads the Translated Value column — if it's blank, nothing will import.

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Using Excel's =TRANSLATE() Function to Fill the Translated Value Column

If you have access to Microsoft 365, you can use Excel's built-in =TRANSLATE() function to automatically populate the Translated Value column rather than translating manually or sending to a vendor.

Formula syntax:

=TRANSLATE(text, source_language, target_language)

Example — translating cell E2 from English to French:

Assuming your export has content in column E and your Translated Value column is the next available column, enter the following formula in F2:

=TRANSLATE(E2, "en", "fr")

You can then drag this formula down to apply it to all rows in the sheet.

Before importing, convert formulas to values:

The Agility CMS importer reads cell values, not formulas. Before saving the file for import, copy the translated column(s), then paste as Values only (Paste Special → Values) to replace the formulas with plain text.

Note: =TRANSLATE() requires a Microsoft 365 subscription and an internet connection. Results are machine-generated and may need review before use in production content.

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Guide C: Replicate English Content Across Regional Locales

Use case: You have multiple regional English locales (e.g., en-US, en-GB, en-AU) and want to replicate or bulk-copy content from one to another.

1. Navigate to the content list in your source English locale (e.g., en-US).
2. Click Export → Regular Format.
3. Open the Excel file. Each sheet represents one content model (e.g., Posts, FAQ Items).
4. Edit content as needed for the target region (e.g., change "color" to "colour" for en-GB).
5. Delete any rows you do not want to import.
6. Do not change: Content IDs, Container Names, or column headers.
7. Save the file.
8. Click Import.
9. Set Import From to your source locale (e.g., en-US) and Import To to your target locale (e.g., en-GB).
10. Upload the file and keep the browser window open until complete.
11. Repeat steps 8–10 for each additional target locale.

All target locales share the same field structure, so no mapping changes are needed.

Tip: If you only want to work with a small test batch, create a temporary test list in the CMS, copy a few items there, export just that list, and delete the test list when done.

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Guide D: Creating New Content Items via Import

Use case: You want to bulk-create new content items in a locale.

1. Export an existing list in Regular Format to use as a template.
2. In the Excel file, copy an existing row as a template for your new item.
3. Set the Content ID column value to -1 for any new item you want to create.
4. Fill in all required field columns for the new item.
5. Delete the rows of existing items you don't want to modify.
6. Save the file.
7. Click Import and select the target locale.

The system will create a brand new item for every row with a Content ID of -1. If you later want to add a translation of a newly created item, first export the item in its original locale to get its real Content ID, then follow Guide B.

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Guide E: Bulk Publishing Imported Content

Use case: You want to review and publish all imported items at once rather than one by one.

1. When running your import, check the Add to Batch checkbox before uploading.
2. Complete the import as normal.
3. After import, go to Settings → Batches (or the Batches report).
4. Find the batch created by your import.
5. Review the items in the batch.
6. Click to publish all items in the batch at once.

This is especially useful when doing large locale migrations where you want to stage content before going live.

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Child Content Import

The system supports importing content with linked child content. When exporting in Regular Format, each content model gets its own worksheet — nested content appears as a separate sheet. When exporting in Translation Format, everything comes as one long sheet with each field of each item as a separate row.

The nested content reference field is included in the export but should not be edited. The import handles all sheets together — you do not need to run separate imports per sheet.

Steps for editing nested content:

1. Export the parent list in Regular Format.
2. Open the Excel file — you will see multiple sheets (one per model).
3. Edit field values in each sheet as needed.
4. Do not edit Container Name or Content ID columns.
5. Do not edit the nested content reference field on the parent sheet.
6. Save and re-import normally.

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Technical Limitations & Considerations

• Entire list always exports — you cannot select specific rows to export. Workaround: delete unwanted rows from the Excel file before re-importing (this does not delete them from the database).
• Keep the window open — imports and exports run as a batch process. If you close the window before it completes, the process may be interrupted.
• Large datasets take time — imports take significantly longer than exports. For lists with 7,000+ items plus nested content, plan accordingly.
• One locale per import — you must run a separate import for each target locale.
• Translation Format is text fields only — it does not include dates, URLs, or non-text fields.
• Do not modify column headers — field mapping is driven entirely by column headers.
• Assets — image fields export as two columns: image URL and alt text. Images are not transferred as files.