Spreadsheets are typically either automated exports or updated manually. Generally, an automated export of your data will be formatted correctly in Grow; however, if you are manually entering data you may need to do some prep work.
This applies to spreadsheets in Dropbox, Google Sheets, Box, File Uploads, or FTP connections.
Here are a few basic principles to formatting spreadsheets:
- Google Sheets cannot have a colon in the name of the spreadsheet. This will return the error "totalRowCount Undefined."
- The spreadsheet should be set up so the dates are in a column. This way you can filter for specific date ranges and select the data to display much easier.
- Column headers belong in the top row (row 1).
- All column headers need to be unique.
- Remove any empty rows or columns.
- Dates should be in YYYY-MM-DD format.
- Currencies and percentages should just be number values. Don’t include special characters like $, £, €, %, etc.
- Remove any commas from numbers.
- Categories and values need to be consistent. For example, if you have a column of states or cities, make sure they are all using the same spellings or abbreviations.
- Do not include a "Total" row.
Here are two examples of spreadsheets before and after applying these guidelines:
Cleaning Up A Spreadsheet
This video will go through the process of fixing up the most common formatting issues that could cause issues in Grow: