Import questions

In this article:

If you have a large batch of questions, you can import these using a CSV file to quickly create activities.

CSV stands for Comma Separated Value. A CSV file is a text file that stores tabular data in plain text. If you open a CSV file in a text editor (e.g. NotePad, WordPad, TextEdit, etc.) you’ll see a string of values (words, numbers, etc.) separated by commas, like this:

CSV files can also be opened up and edited in a spreadsheet application such as Excel.

Note: This feature only works with the following activity types - Multiple choice, Open-ended, Ranking, Word Cloud, Q&A, Surveys, and Competitions. To learn more about activity types, refer here. 

Importing activities

The instructions below will walk you through the steps of downloading the CSV template, inserting your questions into it, and uploading the file into your Poll Everywhere account. You can refer below for importing Surveys and Competitions. 

Step 1: Click the Upload button on the My Activities page.

Step 2: Click the “Download our CSV template” link and save the CSV file to your computer.

Step 3: Open the downloaded CSV file in your spreadsheet application (like Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets). The file is pre-populated with some sample questions. You can safely delete that data as it is meant as an example of how to format the CSV file.

Helpful tip: You can safely ignore any message saying, “Some features may be lost if you save this workbook in the comma-delimited (.csv) format....”

Step 4: Complete the CSV file with your questions and answers (if applicable). It might be helpful to take a look at the layout and formatting of the file at this point.

• Each row is a distinct question and will be converted into an individual activity in your account.
• Column A is labeled Activity. For individual questions, this will be “Poll”. For Surveys and Competitions, this will be “Survey” and “Competition”. For the questions within Surveys and Competitions, you will need to enter "Survey Poll" and "Competition Poll". 
• Column B is labeled Type. The valid activity types are:
  • Multiple choice
  • Open-ended
  • Rank order
  • Q&A
  • Word cloud
• Column C is labeled Title. This is where to enter your question (e.g. “What is the answer to life, the universe, and everything?”). For Surveys and Competition, this is the title of the activity. 
• Columns D and onward are labeled Option. Use these fields to enter response options for multiple choice and rank order questions. For all other question types, leave the fields blank.
  • To designate a correct answer for multiple choice questions, place three asterisks before the answer as shown in the example images.

Helpful tip: Unfortunately you cannot upload images with the CSV importer. This means you cannot use this method to create an activity that relies on images (such as Clickable image or multiple choice activities that use the image as the response option). 

Here is an example of a complete CSV file.

Step 5: After completing the CSV, save the file as a CSV file. Again, you can safely ignore any message saying, “Some features may be lost if you save this workbook in the comma-delimited (.csv) format....”

Step 6: Back on the import page of your Poll Everywhere account, you can either drag and drop your CSV file or click the upload button to select your file. Once uploaded, click on the Continue button. 

Step 7: Review your imported activities. Make any adjustments if needed on the CSV file and re-upload for review. Once done, click on the Confirm button to complete the import. 

Step 8: When importing is finished, you will receive a notification of successful import and have the option to access the imported activities. The imported activities will be listed in a folder with a label starting with “Imported” followed with the timestamp it was imported.