Skip to main content

How to Generate and Import a Super Template

S
Written by Sam E.

A Super Template is an Excel export of one Posting Template's product data for one sales channel. Use it to review what's mapped, fix a batch of listing errors, or bulk-add new items — all from a spreadsheet instead of editing products one at a time.

📹 Video tutorial

Prefer watching over reading? This walks through fixing listing errors with a Super Template:

Before you start: every required field on the Posting Template must already be mapped, or the generated file will flag rows you can't actually fix from the spreadsheet — see Building a Posting Template: A How-To Guide. We also recommend backing up your catalog first: in the sidebar, under DATA TRANSFERS, click Exports, then + New Export, choose Catalog as the Model, and click Export. See Using the Export Feature: How to Export Data from Acenda for details.

Step 1: Generate the Super Template

  1. In the sidebar, under CHANNELS, click Integrations.

  2. Click Edit next to the sales channel.

  3. Open the Posting Templates tab.

  4. Find the template you want, click Edit, then open the Template Export tab.

  5. Choose which rows and columns to include:

    • Errors Only: only products with a current channel error for this template.

    • In Stock Only: only products currently in stock on this channel.

    • Required Mappings Only: only the columns this channel requires.

    • Skip Missing Fields: leaves out any column for a custom field that no longer exists in your account. This never affects columns tied to a standard Acenda field or a Twig-mapped value.

    • Zero / Full / Unlist: limit the export to products currently set to that listing action on this channel.

  6. If you need to select more than one value in a single cell (for a multi-select attribute), check XLSM (Experimental). This downloads a macro-enabled .xlsm file instead of a regular .xlsx file — see the note on file formats in Step 3 before you try to import it back.

  7. Click Generate Super Template and wait a few moments for it to process.

  8. Click Download Super Template to save the file.

Adding brand-new products? Leave every checkbox unchecked before generating (Acenda shows this same reminder on the Template Export tab). A fully unchecked template includes every importable column — including every image column — which is what a blank starting template needs.

Step 2: Review the file

Open the downloaded file in Microsoft Excel.

Reading the formatting

  • Red column headers: required fields.

  • Yellow cells: missing values.

    • Note: on a row where the group attribute is set to product (a group-level row) rather than variant (an item-level row), a yellow cell can be a false positive — check whether that field is really required at the group level before treating it as an error.

  • Red cells: invalid values. Use the cell's drop-down to pick a valid option.

  • Multi-value cells (XLSM file only): pick more than one option from the same drop-down.

Rows 1–4

  • Row 1 shows the marketplace's own field name; row 4 shows the matching Acenda field path. The import tool always skips rows 1–3 — don't delete them.

  • Adding a new column? Put the Acenda field path (for example fields.material.value) in row 4 of that column.

Step 3: Fix, format, and save the file

Format the UPC/Barcode column

Caution: Excel often displays long numbers in scientific notation (for example 1.23E+11), which breaks on import. Highlight the UPC/Barcode column and format the cells as Number with 0 decimal places so the full number is visible.

Save it as .xlsx or .csv

The importer only accepts .xlsx or .csv (UTF-8) files — .xls and .xlsm are both rejected, even though the "XLSM (Experimental)" option in Step 1 downloads an .xlsm file. If you used that option, use Excel's Save As to save your edited copy as .xlsx before importing — your multi-value entries carry over as normal cell values.

Step 4: Import the file

  1. In the sidebar, under DATA TRANSFERS, click Imports.

  2. Click + New Import.

  3. Set Import Type to Super Template.

  4. Upload your saved .xlsx or .csv file.

  5. Review the preview and column mapping, then finish the import.

Two things to know before you import:

  • With Overwrite any current records that have the same ID checked (the default), leaving a custom-field cell blank clears that field on the product — it isn't just skipped. Delete a column entirely if you don't want to touch that field.

  • Only the first sheet of a multi-sheet workbook is imported. Keep everything you want applied on sheet 1.

Troubleshooting

  • My file won't upload: confirm it's saved as .xlsx or .csv — .xls and .xlsm are not accepted.

  • A number looks wrong after import (like a UPC): re-check that column's Excel number format before re-importing — see Step 3.

  • A value was cleared that I didn't mean to touch: that column likely had a blank cell under Overwrite mode. Re-fill the value and re-import, or remove the column next time.

  • A whole section of my edits didn't import: check that those rows were on the first sheet of the workbook.

  • Cells still show required-field or invalid-value flags after I fixed them: re-download a fresh Super Template and confirm the Posting Template's mapping is correct — see How to Fix Marketplace Listing Errors.

Still stuck? Contact Acenda Support and tell us the sales channel and Posting Template involved.

Did this answer your question?