With the Question Import tool, you can import up to 100 questions at once using a spreadsheet. If you are familiar with using Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets, you can write out your questions using those programs. We recommend starting from our template file to have a general layout to follow, but you can create your template from scratch with your program of choice.
This article will guide you through using Google Sheets to import questions into your trivia game or poll. Microsoft Excel also works, as will most modern spreadsheet programs. As long as you follow the layout and export your spreadsheet as a .CSV file, you can write your questions in practically any spreadsheet program.
Importing questions erases your existing data! Importing questions will remove all crowd responses in your experience, as well as all existing questions and answers. That includes all Rankings, Crowd Activity, and Crowd Lead Data. Be sure to Export Experience Results & Data before importing questions.
Crowdpurr's starter spreadsheet imported into Google Sheets
What are Comma-Separated Values? A Comma-Separated Values (CSV) file is file format for saving spreadsheet data. Each row is converted into a line of text where each cell is separated by a comma.
You can actually open .CSV files in any text editor to see the results.
Configuring Questions
When writing your questions in a spreadsheet, each question must go on a separate row. Column 1 should contain the question text. The entire question must be in the cell, do not spread it out across multiple rows or columns. You may adjust the width and/or height of each cell to make longer questions easier to read.
Column 2 should be the code for which type of question you want to add. You can set this to any type of Crowdpurr question. Enter the appropriate code for each question in your file.
Question Type Codes
Multiple-Choice | multipleChoice |
Type-in Text Answer | text |
Type-in Numerical Answer | numerical |
Drag & Drop Order | reorder |
Yes or No (Polls only) | yesNo |
Like or Dislike (Polls only) | likeDislike |
Do I need to include a type code? Any row without a valid code will be automatically assigned the Multiple-Choice question type by default. If every question you want to import is a Multiple-Choice question, you can leave that column completely blank.
Do I need to match the Question Type codes exactly? Yes, if you're using any of the other question codes within your import spreadsheet, they must match exactly. If a code contains a typo or extra space, the import tool will assign the question Multiple-Choice by default.
Question Points
Column 3 allows you to include a per-question Points Value through the import. Custom Point Values should be between 1 and 1,000 points per question. For Polls, this column will automatically be ignored, but it must still be included as a column on the spreadsheet for the import process to work properly.
If all of your imported questions are set to the same point value, the default value on your game will be set to that instead of assigning a per-question value to each of them.
Do I need to include a point value for each question? No, any questions that don't have a per-question Points Value set will use the default Overall Points Per Question value under the green Settings tab's Trivia Format section.
Question Time
Column 4 allows you to set a per-question Question Time duration for each of your questions, similar to the per-question Point Values in Column 3. You can set each question to any amount of time listed under the Overall Question Timer dropdown boxes. (i.e. 10 Seconds, 15 Seconds, 20 Seconds, 60 minutes, etc.)
If all of your questions are set to the same per-question Question Time duration on the spreadsheet, the default Overall Question Time on your game will be set to that duration instead of assigning a per-question Question Time for each question.
Do I need to include a time value for each question? No, like the Question Points column, any questions that don't have a per-question Question Time will use the default Overall Question Time value under the green Settings tab's Playback & Timing section.
Question Media URL
Column 5 allows you to paste in a Question Media URL such as an image link address or YouTube video URL to display alongside the question.
If you prefer to upload your own image or embed a YouTube video to questions directly on the platform, you're welcome to leave this column blank to later select your desired Question Media after importing the spreadsheet.
Uploaded images must remain uploaded! When importing and exporting self uploaded images and stock images, they must remain uploaded on an existing experience in your account in order to re-import correctly. Or, they must be uploaded images originally cloned from a library game.
If you’ve uploaded an image or added a stock image, export it as a CSV spreadsheet, then delete the experience, question, or image, it will not reimport the uploaded or stock image, as the image will be deleted from Crowdpurr's servers.
Oppositely, GIFs and YouTube videos do export and import as normal, as they use an external URL from Crowdpurr, so these media never get removed from their original servers.
Question Note
Column 6 allows you to type in a Question Note or add HTML code to customize your text within the spreadsheet. If you're familiar with HTML and want to add basic HTML formats (e.g. <b></b>) to your Question Note while editing the spreadsheet, feel free to type text formatting code directly into the cell.
If you prefer to stylize your Question Note using Crowdpurr's built-in rich text editor, you can leave this column blank and add your Question Notes later after importing the spreadsheet. To learn more, visit Question Notes Explained.
Question Link
Column 7 allows you to insert a Question Link to add hyperlinks to individual questions. This is useful for slower-paced or educational trivia games and polls where the objective is to have participants click on the question's link in order to read text or watch a video on a separate website and then return in order to answer the question. To learn more, visit Question Links Explained.
Correct Answer(s)
Column 8 allows you to set the Correct Answer(s) for your questions. If you don't wish to include a correct answer for a particular question, simply leave that cell blank.
If you would like to include more than one correct answer, simply type all the correct answers into the same cell, separated by@@@. Our import tool will then create a separate answer for each one.
Setting up the row like this... |
|
...will make a question like this. |
Answers
Columns 9 and onward entail your additional answer options. The configurations for Multiple-Choice, Type-in Text Answer, and Type-in Numerical Answer questions slightly differ, which is discussed in detail below.
Multiple-Choice Questions |
You can include up to 100 answer options for Multiple-Choice questions. For Multiple-Choice trivia questions, any correct answers input into Column 4 are shuffled in with the rest of that question's answers.
Setting up the row like this...
...will make a question like this.
|
Type-in Text & Numerical Answer Questions |
For Type-in Text and Type-in Numerical Answer trivia questions, you can include up to 10 alternative correct answers. They will be included in the Correct Answer(s) section under your question.
These rows...
...will look like these questions after importing.
Type-in Numerical Answer question example |
Type-in Text Answer question example |
Drag & Drop Order Questions |
For Drag & Drop Order questions, you can include up to 100 answer options. For Drag & Drop Order trivia questions specifically, you can add one answer to each column in the correct order starting on the "Correct Answer" column.
This row...
... will look like this after importing.
Drag and Drop Order question example |
Exporting to a .CSV File
Now that your questions are written, it's time to export your spreadsheet. Crowdpurr's import tool only accepts .CSV files. It is a universal format that any modern spreadsheet program is able to export.
In Google Sheets, go to File → Download → Comma Seperated Values (.csv) in the upper-left dropdown menu. Your spreadsheet will download to where your default download location is, likely on your desktop or your Downloads folder.
Downloading the Google Sheets spreadsheet as a .CSV file
What if I'm using Microsoft Excel? Microsoft Excel can also export CSV files. However, we recommend setting the file encoding to UTF-8. Some characters like apostrophes (') and quotation marks (") will automatically change in Microsoft Office programs. This can cause problems when importing.
This article on WebToffee demonstrates how to set the file encoding to UTF-8 in a variety of spreadsheet programs How to Save CSV and Excel Files as UTF-8 Encoded?
Importing Your Questions
On the light blue Questions tab, click on the gray Question Tools tab to open the Question Tools panel. Click on the Import Questions button, which will display the light blue Import Questions dialog.
Question Tools box
Import Questions dialogue
Finally, click the Import Questions button and select the .CSV file you exported from your spreadsheet program. After a few moments, your new questions will finish uploading, and your trivia game or poll will be ready to start!
Importing will reset and delete your data! Importing a CSV of questions will reset your experience and delete all existing questions and answers in your experience. If you need to save your questions or crowd responses, consider cloning the experience beforehand and importing the spreadsheet into the clone instead. You can also export your Crowd Activity data to save it onto your device.