Worksheet · Fixes series 03

Content model worksheet: from one spreadsheet to a structure you can import

Open your product spreadsheet next to this page. Add a row to the worksheet for every column you find, give each concept a level and a decision, and give every column you drop a row in the exclusion record with a reason. The counts at the side and the import checks update as you go.

Goes withYour product data lives in a spreadsheet, and that is fine to start

AuthorBegüm Yüzgülen

How to use it

List every column in your file. Do not skip the embarrassing ones.
For each column, ask what it really is: a category, an attribute, a note, or a dead concept.
Give it a level from the guide below.
Write two or three real example values from your file, including the inconsistent ones.
Decide: import as it is, transform into something cleaner, or drop. If you transform, write what the transformation is in the note.
Anything dropped goes into the exclusion record under the worksheet, with a reason.

Level guide

Level 1: the top grouping. Changes rarely. Most files have one or two candidates.
Level 2: groups items by how they are used, sold or found. Only keep it if it drives navigation or filtering.
Level 3: the individual item. The thing a customer buys or a user looks up.
Attribute: a property of an item, such as colour, size, material or weight. Attributes are cheap. Levels are not. If in doubt, make it an attribute.
Not a concept: internal notes, legacy identifiers, stale columns. These are dropped or archived.

Three levels is usually enough. If you find yourself at four, check whether the fourth is really an attribute.

Fill it in below. Your result updates as you go.

The worksheet

One row per column in your file. The first seven rows are examples from an imaginary file: overwrite them with your own concepts or remove them. For every Transform row, write what the transformation is in the note.

Concept	Level	Example values from your file	Source column	Decision	Note

Exclusion record

Every column marked Drop gets one row here. This is the document you point to when the decision is questioned later.

Source column	Reason dropped	Where the archive lives	Decided by	Date

Before you import

Every column in the file has a row in the worksheet

Every row has a level and a decision

Every Transform row says what the transformation is

Every Drop row appears in the exclusion record with a reason

The full original file is exported and archived as read only

The hierarchy has no more than three levels, or the fourth has been justified in writing

The person who knows the products best has reviewed the worksheet

A half day content model workshop at a fixed fee.

You leave with the completed worksheet and a migration plan for your own file.

Ask about the workshop

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