How to fill in the historical survey import template

The Historical Data Import template contains 7 tabs. Each one plays a specific role in defining, structuring, and uploading your survey data correctly. This article explains exactly what to fill in for each tab, and the common mistakes that cause validation errors.

💡 Start here: Always read the Instructions tab inside the template before filling in any other sheet. It contains the most up-to-date guidance and should be your first reference point every time you use the template.

Overview of all 7 tabs

Guide instructions

(1) Survey_Info

Enter the full name of your survey — for example, 'Employee Engagement Survey 2023'. This is the name that will appear on the dashboard, so use something clear and specific, especially if you are uploading multiple historical surveys.

• Use a descriptive name that includes the year or survey round.
• Avoid special characters in the survey name as they may not display correctly on the dashboard.

(2) Survey_Questions

Fill in one row for every question in your original survey. Here is what each column requires:

• Page — the page number the question appears on (start at 1). This preserves question order.
• Question text — copy the question text exactly as it appeared in the original survey.
• Question type — enter the type (e.g., rating_scale, eNPS, multiple_choice, single_choice, open_ended, yes_no).
• Required — whether the question was mandatory (Yes or No).
• Contribute to overall score — for rating scale questions only. Enter Yes or No.
• Enable comments — whether respondents could leave a free-text comment alongside their answer (Yes or No). Applies to eNPS, Rating scale, Multiple choice, Single choice, and Yes/No questions.
• Enable other option — whether respondents saw an 'Other' option (Yes or No). Applies to Multiple choice and Single choice only.
• Dimension — the theme or category the question belongs to (e.g., Leadership, Teamwork, Wellbeing).

💡 Pro tips for Survey_Questions: All rating scale questions in a survey share the same scale. You can have two questions with identical text only if they are different question types. You can only have one eNPS question per survey.

(3) Option_Rating_Scale

Fill in one row only with four values: the minimum scale number, the label for the minimum (e.g., Strongly Disagree), the maximum scale number, and the label for the maximum (e.g., Strongly Agree). This single row defines the scale that applies to all rating questions in your survey.

⚠️ One row only: Do not add more than one row of data to this tab. Additional rows will cause upload errors. If your survey had no rating scale questions, leave this tab completely empty except for the column headers.

(4) Option_Multiple_Choice and (5) Option_Single_Choice

List all the response options for each multiple choice or single choice question — one row per option. Options must be listed exactly as they appeared in the original survey.

⚠️ The 'Other' option rule: If you enabled the 'Other' option for a question in the Survey_Questions tab, you must also include 'Other' as one of the listed options in the corresponding tab here. If this is missing, the file will fail validation.

⚠️ Delete unused sample data: If your survey had no multiple choice questions, the Option_Multiple_Choice tab should be completely empty except for the column headers. Delete any leftover sample data — it will cause upload errors.

(6) Responses

This is the most important tab. One row per respondent. Each question is its own column.

Required columns for every row:

• Respondent Submission Date — format must be dd/mm/yyyy exactly (e.g., 21/01/2025). Excel may auto-reformat dates — verify the cell format after entering data.
• Unique ID or Email — at least one must be filled in per respondent to identify individuals. Unique ID can be any alphanumeric value.
• Full Name — optional.
• Level 1 Unit Name, Level 2 Unit Name, etc. — the respondent's unit path. Unit names must match your org structure exactly. Skip these columns entirely if you chose the 'Trend without org chart' option in Step 3.
• Demographic attributes — add custom columns after the unit columns (e.g., Tenure, Gender, Seniority). There is no limit on the number of attributes. If a cell is left blank, the platform assigns the respondent to the 'Unassigned' segment — this will not cause a validation error.

For question columns:

• Column headers must follow the exact format: Q: followed by a space, then the full question text (e.g., Q: How likely are you to recommend this organisation as a place to work?).
• Rating scale / eNPS — enter the scale number (e.g., 4).
• Yes/No questions — enter Yes or No (not TRUE or FALSE).
• Single choice — enter the exact option text as listed in the Option_Single_Choice tab.
• Multiple choice — enter all selected options separated by a semicolon (e.g., Option A;Option C).
• Open-ended — enter the free text response.

⚠️ Unit path rule: Do not leave a unit level column blank in the middle of a unit path. For example, if Level 1 and Level 3 are filled but Level 2 is blank, the file will fail validation.

Pre-upload checklist

Before uploading your completed template, run through this checklist:

• Org structure uploaded to the platform first.
• Unit names in the Responses tab match the platform org structure exactly.
• Surveys being uploaded in chronological order (oldest first).
• Date format in the Responses tab is dd/mm/yyyy.
• Yes/No fields use Yes or No — not TRUE or FALSE.
• All question column headers in the Responses tab use the format Q: + full question text.
• Column headers have not been edited or removed.
• No extra tabs added to the workbook.
• Sample data deleted from any option tabs that are not being used.
• Only one row of data in the Option_Rating_Scale tab.

Something not working?

• Date format error in the Responses tab — Dates must be in dd/mm/yyyy format exactly. After entering dates in Excel, check the cell format to confirm it has not been auto-reformatted to a different date style.
• File keeps failing on the same row — Open the error message carefully and check that row in the Responses tab. Common causes are a missing Unique ID or Email, a unit name mismatch, or an answer value that does not match the defined options.
• Upload errors with no clear cause — Check for leftover sample data in unused option tabs (Tabs 3, 4, or 5). Even one extra row of sample data can cause the whole file to fail.
• The 'Other' option is causing errors — If you enabled the Other option for a question in Survey_Questions, make sure 'Other' is listed as an explicit option in the corresponding Option tab.

Still Need Help?

If you are having trouble completing the import template, Reach out to us at support@engagerocket.co and we'll be happy to assist!