7. Importing quizzes from Excel¶
Excel import is the only way to create new quizzes in LexiScor. The admin UI no longer offers a "build a quiz from scratch" form. Once a quiz exists, you can fix its wording inline (see Quizzes); to change anything structural you import a new version of the same quiz.
This chapter covers two things:
- The Excel template — how the spreadsheet must be laid out.
- The Import page — how to upload one file or a whole folder of files and watch them being processed.
The Excel template¶
A single .xlsx file holds one quiz. The layout is simple — a small
header section identifies the book, and the rest of the sheet is one row
per question.
| Row | A | B | C | D | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ISBN | 9786068942835 | |||
| 2 | Title | My Sample Book | |||
| 3 | (blank row — separator) | ||||
| 4 | Question | Score | Correct | Answer 1 | Answer 2… |
| 5 | Care este… | 1 | 2 | Texas | București |
| 6 | Cine este… | 1 | 1 | Tom | Mary |
What each cell means¶
| Cell / column | Meaning | Required |
|---|---|---|
| B1 | The ISBN of the book this quiz belongs to. The book must already exist in LexiScor (run a Magento sync first if it does not). Dashes and spaces are ignored. | ✅ |
| B2 | The book title. This is purely cosmetic — LexiScor uses the title from the database, not from the spreadsheet. | optional |
| A (row 5+) | The question text. | ✅ |
| B (row 5+) | The score for this question, as a positive integer. Use 1 if all questions are equally weighted. | ✅ |
| C (row 5+) | Which answer is correct, 1-based — 1 means the answer in column D, 2 means the answer in column E, and so on. | ✅ |
| D, E, F, … (row 5+) | The answer texts. You need at least two answers per question; there is no upper limit. | ✅ |
A quiz must contain at least 2 questions in total.
Tips for preparing the spreadsheet¶
- The easiest way to get a starting template is to export an existing quiz from the dashboard or the book detail page. Export and import use the same format, so you get a known-good file to work from.
- The blank row 3 is a separator that the importer expects — do not remove it.
- Save as
.xlsx(Excel 2007+). Old.xlsfiles are not accepted. - Keep each file under 5 MB.
Common mistakes that will cause an import to fail¶
- Wrong ISBN (book does not exist in LexiScor yet).
- A question with only one answer.
- A question whose Correct number is greater than the number of answers (e.g. Correct = 4 when there are only three answer columns filled in).
- Empty cells in the middle of an answer row — every answer column to the left of a filled one must also be filled in.
- Extra hidden sheets or merged cells in the header rows.
The Import page (/admin/import)¶
The Import page is a self-contained, multi-step wizard. You can come back to it at any time; nothing is saved between visits, so closing the page mid-import simply cancels the queue.
1. Select files¶
The empty state shows a large dashed-border drop zone with two buttons:
- Select files — pick one or more individual
.xlsxfiles. - Select folder — pick an entire directory; every
.xlsxinside is added to the queue.
You can also drag and drop files (or a folder) onto the drop zone.
2. Preview¶
Once you have at least one file, the drop zone is replaced with a preview table listing every file with its size and a small Remove (✕) button so you can drop individual files. A Clear All button at the top empties the queue.
When you are happy with the list, click Import All (some builds may label this Start Import).
3. Importing¶
The table now shows a per-file status column. Each file moves through:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ○ | Pending — waiting in the queue. |
| ⟳ | Validating or importing — currently being processed. |
| ✓ | Done — quiz created or updated successfully. |
| ✗ | Error — the file was rejected. Hover or click for details. |
Files are processed one at a time, in order. The progress bar at the top shows overall progress and a small badge (e.g. "3 / 10 done · 1 skipped · 0 failed") gives a quick summary while you wait.
4. Complete¶
When the queue is empty the page shows a green confirmation banner. From here you can:
- Click Import More to start over with a fresh queue.
- Click View Quizzes (or View Dashboard, depending on the build) to jump to the dashboard and see your new quizzes.
- Click any individual file's Done row to open the quiz that was just created.
What happens behind the scenes when an import succeeds¶
For each file, the importer:
- Reads the ISBN and finds the matching book.
- Creates a brand new quiz version linked to that book — never overwrites an existing version.
- Sets the new quiz's status to Draft. It is not automatically published, so the public site keeps showing the previous version (if any) until you publish the new one.
- Records you as the author of the new version.
So importing is always safe: it never touches anything pupils see until you explicitly hit Publish.
Daily workflow tips¶
- Big seasonal updates — drop the whole folder of new spreadsheets at the start of a school period. Let the import run, then go through the dashboard to publish each new draft.
- A single quick fix — for typos only, do not re-import. Use the inline editor on the published quiz instead (see Quizzes).
- Versioning discipline — keep your master Excel files in a shared folder (e.g. on Google Drive). When you need to change anything structural, edit the Excel, re-import, then publish the new version.