Once your samples are in Sparkle, the system makes everything easier: checking out, checking in, reporting, etc. But adding your samples in the first place can be time-consuming.
If you have a spreadsheet listing the new samples – perhaps from your client – you can import it directly. This will save you a lot of typing and let you go home early :)
How to import a spreadsheet of samples
There are three steps:
- Upload the spreadsheet.
- Specify which columns you want.
- Choose which samples you want.
Best of all, if you realise you did something wrong you can simply undo the import and start again.
Upload the spreadsheet
First of all, go to the Manage Samples page of the collection you're about to import. If the collection isn't yet in Sparkle, add it now.
On the collection's samples page, click 'Import from Excel'.
You can now upload the spreadsheet.
Choose your spreadsheet file, leave the Layout set to 'Add new...', and click Upload.
Specify which columns you want
Next you tell Sparkle which parts of the spreadsheet you're interested in.
First, give the layout a name so you can reuse it later. Then fill in the fields as appropriate. (The screenshot below shows the first few fields.)
Click the 'Save this layout' button at the bottom when you're ready.
Choose which rows you want
Now Sparkle has the spreadsheet, and it knows which parts of it you want, it can show you a list of samples from the spreadsheet.
Here's a screenshot showing the first few rows of an import:
Tick the rows you want, or tick the box in the title row to select all rows, and click the button at the bottom of the page.
Done! All your samples are in Sparkle.
