What CSV template should I use?
This guide is going to walk you through the steps you need to take to create (populate) your CSV file. Instead of manually creating your posts, you can import them into Publer's Bulk Uploader using a CSV file. You can import any kind of post such status update, link, photo, multi-photo post, album, and video depending on the columns that you fill.
In the Date column you want to insert the date and/or time when you want the post to be scheduled for (optional).
The preferred date format is YYYY/MM/DD and time format is HH:MM (24 hour military time), but other formats will work too.
This field is optional as you can specify the time once the posts are uploaded or you can pre-specify them with the help of Labelsin the CSV file too (point #6).
The Message column is where you should write the caption/description of the post. This column is required if your post is a status update, so a text-only post.
Modifying your text (making it bold, italic, or using any other styling) will simply change the text in the CSV file but this will not be shown on Publer, due to the way the CSV file is designed.
However, if you style your text in Publer, then copy and paste that to a Google Sheets file (not Excel), and then upload the Google Sheets file into Publer, the styled text will show up properly.
Whenever you want to include special characters (symbols, styled text etc.), it is recommended to use Google Sheets instead of Excel.
The message column is used also for captions of photos. To specify captions for your photos, separate your captions in the message field with a double pipe "||".
Keep in mind that the "first" caption is reserved for the description of your post/album. If you don't need a description, but need captions, type the following
|| First caption || Second Caption
The description of the post/album will be left blank (notice the trailing || in the front).
TIP: You can also upload #Reels or #Shorts easily, without having to select Reels or Shorts after the videos are uploaded. To do that, simply add the hashtag #Reels or #Shorts for Instagram or YouTube respectively, in the Message column.
In the Link column you can add an external URL when you want your post to be a link-post. This column takes precedence over the Media URLs column.
You can add here the link to an article, a website, or any link that you want to share. This link will automatically generate a thumbnail (link preview) on Publer.
If you want to create a Link post but change the thumbnail of the link preview, you have to add the link (of an article for example) in the Link column and the public URL of a photo in the Media URL column.
In the Media URL column, you can add the public link to an image on the Internet, to a video on the Internet (including YouTube, Facebook etc.).
You can also add several links to images on the Internet separated by a comma. Keep in mind that you cannot mix media types within the same post.
When importing Posts with multiple photos, in the Media URLs column you can add direct links of up to 50 external images on the internet.
The public URLs need to be separated by a comma, as shown below:
https://publer.io, https://publer.io, https://publer.io, ...
Keep in mind that photos to Albums, other than the Timeline photos will be posted without any specific order.
The Title of your Album or Video if your post is any of these two (optional).
The Title field is also used for creating new Facebook albums (specifically when you are creating posts with multiple photos).
Note: If you are NOT on the Business plan and are using the CSV file, you will get an error saying "You can't use multi-photo posts since they are not supported with your plan" even when you are using single-photos. For that case, try to use a CSV file without a title for Facebook, as it confuses the system.
The Label is where you can choose the label of your post, which will help you organize your posts better..
Just like links, you can add many of them and separate them by a comma.
You can also use this if/when AutoScheduling in Bulk, if the Date column is empty, and you have labels in your posting schedule for the specific account(s).
To make it easier for you, we have also created a Template with only the column names. You can simply download the Template, fill it with your posts using Excel or Google Sheets, and upload it to Publer.
If you don't like Excel, you can also use Google Sheets. Take a look at this working example. Simply make a copy of the Google Spreadsheet (File -> Make a copy). Fill in your posts (without changing/removing the column names) and save it as a CSV (File -> Download As -> Comma-separated values).
If you have a default watermark, it will be automatically added to each photo, video, and link thumbnail.
Now that you have created your CSV file, you can follow the steps here to upload it to Publer and schedule your posts.
The CSV file you're uploading needs to have 6 columns:
1. The Date column.
In the Date column you want to insert the date and/or time when you want the post to be scheduled for (optional).
The preferred date format is YYYY/MM/DD and time format is HH:MM (24 hour military time), but other formats will work too.
This field is optional as you can specify the time once the posts are uploaded or you can pre-specify them with the help of Labelsin the CSV file too (point #6).
2. The Message column.
The Message column is where you should write the caption/description of the post. This column is required if your post is a status update, so a text-only post.
Modifying your text (making it bold, italic, or using any other styling) will simply change the text in the CSV file but this will not be shown on Publer, due to the way the CSV file is designed.
However, if you style your text in Publer, then copy and paste that to a Google Sheets file (not Excel), and then upload the Google Sheets file into Publer, the styled text will show up properly.
Whenever you want to include special characters (symbols, styled text etc.), it is recommended to use Google Sheets instead of Excel.
The message column is used also for captions of photos. To specify captions for your photos, separate your captions in the message field with a double pipe "||".
Keep in mind that the "first" caption is reserved for the description of your post/album. If you don't need a description, but need captions, type the following
|| First caption || Second Caption
The description of the post/album will be left blank (notice the trailing || in the front).
TIP: You can also upload #Reels or #Shorts easily, without having to select Reels or Shorts after the videos are uploaded. To do that, simply add the hashtag #Reels or #Shorts for Instagram or YouTube respectively, in the Message column.
3. The Link column.
In the Link column you can add an external URL when you want your post to be a link-post. This column takes precedence over the Media URLs column.
You can add here the link to an article, a website, or any link that you want to share. This link will automatically generate a thumbnail (link preview) on Publer.
If you want to create a Link post but change the thumbnail of the link preview, you have to add the link (of an article for example) in the Link column and the public URL of a photo in the Media URL column.
4. The Media URL column.
In the Media URL column, you can add the public link to an image on the Internet, to a video on the Internet (including YouTube, Facebook etc.).
You can also add several links to images on the Internet separated by a comma. Keep in mind that you cannot mix media types within the same post.
When importing Posts with multiple photos, in the Media URLs column you can add direct links of up to 50 external images on the internet.
The public URLs need to be separated by a comma, as shown below:
https://publer.io, https://publer.io, https://publer.io, ...
Keep in mind that photos to Albums, other than the Timeline photos will be posted without any specific order.
5. The Title column.
The Title of your Album or Video if your post is any of these two (optional).
The Title field is also used for creating new Facebook albums (specifically when you are creating posts with multiple photos).
Note: If you are NOT on the Business plan and are using the CSV file, you will get an error saying "You can't use multi-photo posts since they are not supported with your plan" even when you are using single-photos. For that case, try to use a CSV file without a title for Facebook, as it confuses the system.
6. The Label column.
The Label is where you can choose the label of your post, which will help you organize your posts better..
Just like links, you can add many of them and separate them by a comma.
You can also use this if/when AutoScheduling in Bulk, if the Date column is empty, and you have labels in your posting schedule for the specific account(s).
To make it easier for you, we have also created a Template with only the column names. You can simply download the Template, fill it with your posts using Excel or Google Sheets, and upload it to Publer.
If you don't like Excel, you can also use Google Sheets. Take a look at this working example. Simply make a copy of the Google Spreadsheet (File -> Make a copy). Fill in your posts (without changing/removing the column names) and save it as a CSV (File -> Download As -> Comma-separated values).
If you have a default watermark, it will be automatically added to each photo, video, and link thumbnail.
Now that you have created your CSV file, you can follow the steps here to upload it to Publer and schedule your posts.
Updated on: 21/09/2022
Thank you!