Let’s say you’re frequently updating metadata for a large number of assets in your Acquia DAM, or you need to add metadata to assets without any. Assets from activities like photoshoots, product updates, or rebranding efforts all need metadata so that your users can find and use them.

To do that, you can purchase the Acquia metadata import service or use the metadata importer, which is a tool included with DAM that guides you through mapping metadata for a batch of assets. The rest of this page will walk you through how to use the importer. 

If you have the Access Metadata Imports permission, you can import metadata for existing assets from a CSV spreadsheet into your DAM. Dependent metadata can also be imported. Metadata in the CSV will replace metadata that exists for assets listed in the file unless the field in the file is empty, you select Do not map in the importer, or if you don’t have permission to update metadata. Metadata is updated only for assets you have permission to access. Metadata for archived assets cannot be updated using the importer.

Metadata fields must be defined in the current metadata type for assets that will be updated. If a metadata field is not defined in an asset's metadata type, you’ll receive an error message that the values are invalid.

Note that metadata types and asset information that isn't metadata – asset categories, collections, asset groups, and release and expiration dates – cannot be imported using the metadata importer. However, tags can be imported. 

Ready? Let’s get started.

First, select the Activity dropdown on the dashboard, then select Imports. Add a new import from the Imports page. Alternatively, select Metadata from the Upload button to be taken directly to the importer.

 

On the Imports page that displays, you’ll see a list of all previous metadata imports. All metadata imports, including those by other users, the date and time the imports were created, who created them, a status of each one (completed, in progress, and errored), and the number of assets’ metadata that was updated is listed on the page. From the menu, download a report of assets that were skipped for each import and use it to correct any details for skipped assets. Learn more about skipped assets and making updates to the file later in this article.

If no one has added any imports, that will be indicated on the Imports page.

 

 

Add a new import¶

Click Add new import to add or update metadata for assets in your site, then select a CSV file that includes the metadata to be imported. You may want to export a CSV from search results in your site, modify the spreadsheet data so that it follows the guidelines below, including deleting columns that aren’t needed, then import that data using the metadata importer. To ensure a successful import, use the most current version of Excel and choose the CSV option listed in the common formats (circled below). Ensure the CSV file is UTF-8 encoded.

 

Format the CSV¶

The rows and columns in the file should be formatted following these guidelines:

• List metadata field names in separate columns in the first row.
• List filenames in the first column.
• Limit the number of rows to 50,000 in one CSV. If you have more than 50,000 rows, create multiple CSVs and upload. 

 

Controlled vocabulary metadata fields¶

Depending on the type of metadata field and if the value or values in the field include commas, quotation marks may or may not be needed. More details about formatting single- and multi-select fields with values that include commas follows.

All references to quotes in this article refer to double quotes.

 

Single-select fields¶

For CSVs created in Excel or OpenOffice, enter values exactly as you’d like them to display in the DAM. There’s no special formatting needed for single-select fields when values include commas or quotes.

Single-select fields include dropdown lists and autocompleter fields.

 

Multi-select fields¶

For CSVs created in Excel or OpenOffice, when importing multiple values, separate each value with a comma for multi-select fields like palettes or checkboxes.

If a single value includes a comma, include quotes around the entire value. If you have multiple values and at least one has quotes around it, do not put a space after the comma. 

 

If values themselves have quotes, use an additional quote after the quote in the value.

• For example: 
  • The value you’d like to see in the DAM is Foam 12” roller.
  • The value you’d enter in the CSV is “Foam 12”” roller”.
• The additional quote is after the quote in 12”.

 

Text metadata fields¶

For CSVs formatted in Excel and OpenOffice, there’s no special formatting needed for text metadata fields. Whatever metadata is in the field will be imported as is.

When metadata is imported, assets will be matched by filename and duplicate filenames will be skipped.
 

Rename files¶

Using the metadata importer, you can quickly update multiple asset filenames that need to align with your brand’s filenaming conventions or when there’s new branding for a product. There’s no need to edit filenames one-by-one in the DAM or re-upload files with updated names.

To rename files:

1. Ensure the asset name in the first column of the CSV matches the filename of the asset in the DAM.
2. Add a new column after the first column and include updated filenames there. The values in that column will replace the existing filename values.
3. Continue through the import process following the instructions in the rest of this article. When you're mapping fields, select "Filename" in the dropdown to update filenames.

After the import is complete, changes to filenames will be listed in the History tab on the Asset Details page.

A few things to note when updating filenames:

• If there are duplicate new filenames in the CSV, the first asset with the duplicate name will be updated. For the other assets with duplicate names, metadata will be updated, but the filename will remain unchanged.
• If a new filename is listed in the CSV, but a file with the same name already exists in the DAM, the file in the CSV will be skipped.
• Filenames with more than 255 characters will be skipped.
• New filenames that include unsupported characters will be skipped.

Any skipped filenames will be listed in the skipped files report. More information about that is later in this article.

 

Upload the CSV¶

Once your file is formatted, drop the file into the uploader or browse for it from the Select Files page.

 

 

Map fields¶

After the file has been uploaded, check that the fields have been correctly mapped. Column names from the CSV that match metadata fields in the site are listed in each of the boxes on the Map Fields page. If fields have been mapped, a green checkmark displays, while an exclamation point displays for those that did not.

For fields that need to be mapped, enter a search term or scroll to find a value, or select Do not map if you do not want to overwrite existing metadata. Once a value is mapped, it will be removed from the list of available values. You must select a value or Do not map for each box before proceeding.
 

 

Review your data¶

Before the metadata is imported, review the details of the import. Take a look at the number of assets with metadata that will be updated or skipped, and the number of assets with controlled vocabulary values that will be skipped.

Metadata is skipped because the filenames for assets don’t match, there are duplicate filenames, or the values for metadata fields are invalid. Values are skipped because they don’t match the controlled vocabulary values for the field. Click Import when your review is complete!

 

 

While the metadata is importing, the Imports page will display an in progress status. You’ll receive an email when the import is complete and the status on the Imports page will change to completed.

If metadata for assets doesn’t update, the number of assets that were skipped will be listed in the Updated assets column on the Imports page. Other issues encountered during import, like alphabetic characters inserted in numeric fields or use of invalid date formats, are not included in the number of updated assets. More information on date formats is listed below.
 

Review skipped files¶

If you’d like to quickly correct any of the details for skipped files, click the menu on the Imports page to download the skipped files report, which is available for 14 days. The download will include the filenames of the fields that were not updated, as well as the reason the files were skipped. Make any updates you need to the CSV, delete any that do not apply and any empty columns, then re-upload it to correct the skipped values.

 

 

Use valid date formats¶

If metadata fields in your site include dates and you want to update them using the metadata importer, a number of formats for those can be used in your CSV file. Those formats and examples of their layout are listed in the table below. We also recommend that you do not set up your CSV with a date field as your last column, as this may result in skipped files.

If you are attempting to update a date field and the date field is the last column to the right in your CSV, that data may be skipped. To avoid this, add a dummy column to the right of the date column with a dummy header, and then set that column to 'Do Not Map' when importing.

Note that if the date that’s imported is formatted as a two-digit year (e.g., 04/29/20), the year will be displayed in the site as 04/29/0020. Therefore, we recommend formatting dates in a four-digit year format.
 

Where Z is used in the above formats, the following time zone indicators can be used:

• Z (to indicate UTC)
• +05:00
• -0500
• CST
• Central Standard Time