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How to import Google Sheets data
How to import Google Sheets data

Here's how you can import data from a Google Sheet into Funnel

Ilona Norman avatar
Written by Ilona Norman
Updated over 3 years ago

Overview

  • You can import spreadsheet data from Google Sheets into Funnel

  • A data source imports data from a single sheet/tab in your spreadsheet

  • Data will be imported every hour

  • All data will be replaced for each import (no previously imported data remains in Funnel)

How to set up an import

Go to the list of Data sources and start adding a new data source by clicking on "+ Data Sources". In the very bottom of the list of data sources, there is a button that says "Import Google Sheets Data". You can also find it by searching for "Sheet" or "Google".

Follow the steps in the app to complete the import.

Each source in Funnel represents one single sheet (tab) in the spreadsheet. If you want to import multiple sheets, you can set up multiple sources.

Requirements on the sheet

There are a few requirements on how the sheet should be formatted:

Header row

The sheet needs to have a header row with column names. This is how we identify each column during imports.

No trailing rows the actual data

The sheet can not have any rows with non-empty cells after the actual data rows ends. The typical example of this is a "Totals" row at the end, summing up each column. 

Workarounds include removing the trailing rows entirely, or creating a filtered view of the data in a new sheet. One way to do that is with the query function i Google Sheets: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3093343?hl=en.

Unique column headers

The data needs to have unique column header names (case insensitive). If any two column headers are identical, ignoring capitalization of letters, we won't be able to import the data.

Modifying and updating the sheet data

You can add rows or update data at any time, and Funnel will automatically import the new data once every hour.
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You can add a new column, but in order for Funnel to start importing that column you will have to edit the data source configuration.
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You can reorder columns without any effect, data will continue to be imported.
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You can not rename headers, because these headers are how the data is identified in the sheet. If you need to rename a header, you will need to edit the import configuration to import the field again.

You can not move the headers to a new row. If you do, you will need to edit the configuration with the new header row number in order to get the import to work again.

Cell errors

If there is an error in any cell in the sheet (such as #DIV/0  or #N/A), you will need to resolve those before importing the data. You can write a formula that handles errors gracefully, such as using  IFERROR: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3093304?hl=en

Dates

Funnel data is typically attributed to dates so you can plot and analyze trends over time. When dealing with data that have a temporal dimension, be sure to select the date attribution option "Data by daily date".

If your data cannot be meaningfully represented on daily dates, you have the option to choose the date attribution "Other (no daily date)". This is useful for things such as lookup tables. One consequence of not attributing data by date is that it will always show up when looking at the data, regardless of any date filter in use. It will also affect how your data is exported, where some of Funnel's data destinations will export data without dates in different files.

Importing data with dates

When importing date fields into Funnel, select the unit Date. 

In order to successfully import dates, the cells need to be either:

  • Recognized as dates by Google Sheets (i.e. be formatted as date). This typically happens automatically when you enter a date into Sheets. You can also re-format the cells and set the formatting to date. If you use Sheets own date format, you can set the format to whichever format you prefer.
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    ​Note: the cell values should automatically be aligned to the right (just like in the image below) when applying a format. If the cells aren't, it is likely that Google Sheets has not understood the meaning of the value and Funnel won't be able to understand it either.

  • Be a plain-text field with the date format YYYY-MM-DD

Currency

When importing monetary data, you will need to supply a currency. This can either be a static currency for all the data in the sheet, or a dynamic currency that can be different for each row. 

If you have a currency for each row, the sheet needs to contain a column with three-digit ISO-4217 currency codes, such as USD, EUR, GBP: https://www.iso.org/iso-4217-currency-codes.html

Funnel standard fields

Since Funnel does not know your data as well as you do, we can't automatically map standard metrics and dimensions for you (such as media type, traffic source, cost and campaign). 

You will need to go to the dimension/metric editor for the standard fields and set up your own rules to map specific fields from your sheet import.
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Trouble connecting or importing data?

Please refer to the Google Sheets import - Troubleshooting article for problems related to importing data, and the Trouble connecting a Google Sheets import? article for problems authorizing your Google user.
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Other

Protected ranges

You can use protected ranges in your sheet if you want to restrict edit access for certain rows or cells: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/1218656

Funnel will import the data as usual.

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