Thanks for your patience during our recent outage at scalar.usc.edu. While Scalar content is loading normally now, saving is still slow, and Scalar's 'additional metadata' features have been disabled, which may interfere with features like timelines and maps that depend on metadata. This also means that saving a page or media item will remove its additional metadata. If this occurs, you can use the 'All versions' link at the bottom of the page to restore the earlier version. We are continuing to troubleshoot, and will provide further updates as needed. Note that this only affects Scalar projects at scalar.usc.edu, and not those hosted elsewhere.
Scalar 2 User's GuideMain MenuGetting StartedExplains account and book creation, and some interface basics.QuickStartsA path of all QuickStart content in this user's guide.Working with MediaHow to get the most out of your use of media in Scalar.Working with ContentCreating and editing content in Scalar.Working with WidgetsWorking with StructureHow to use Scalar's many options for structuring publications.Editorial WorkflowHow to use features for performing editorial review of content.VisualizationsExploring the contents of a book visually.LensesAn introduction to lenses, a tool for searching and visualizing Scalar content.Advanced TopicsDescribing Scalar's more advanced features.Third Party Plugins and Platforms
Bulk importing spreadsheets using the Transfer tool
12017-01-10T11:07:35-08:00Craig Dietrich2d66800a3e5a1eaee3a9ca2f91f391c8a689349032961plain2017-01-10T11:17:35-08:00Craig Dietrich2d66800a3e5a1eaee3a9ca2f91f391c8a6893490The Transfer tool is located in the Dashboard's Import/Export tab. (The tool is a Scalar plugin and might not be present if the administrator of your Scalar install hasn't installed it separately from Scalar itself.) Its primary function is to allow for migration of Scalar books from one place to another, for example, migrating a Scalar book from one Scalar install to another. Though, it can also be used to bulk import pages and media from a spreadsheet.
The steps for importing a spreadsheet are straight forward: create spreadsheet (e.g., in Google Spreadsheets or Excel), add rows that constitute pages, make each column heading match Scalar's brand of metadata fields, the export a Comma Separated Values (CSV) document for use importing. Here are the steps in detail:
Create a spreadsheet
The first row should hold the metadata field names. For example: "dcterms:title" "dcterms:description" "art:url" "sioc:content" (see more below)
Add rows that constitute pages and media. For pages make sure there is content in the "sioc:content" field that constitutes the text of the page. For media make sure the "art:url" field has a value representing the URL to the media file
Export the spreadsheet as a Comma Seperated Values (CSV) text file
Head over to the Transfer tool, then click on the "Upload File" tab. The "destination book" fields should already be filled in if you came to the tool via your Scalar book
Choose your CSV file, the click Continue
That's it! You should now have pages and/or media present in your Scalar book.
Any Dublin Core fields can be used as column headings. For example: "dcterms:title" "dcterms:description" "dcterms:source" (title is required. In addition, you must have one of: "art:url" or "sioc:content". Scalar supports other ontology prefixes such as "bibo:(field name)" and "iptc:(field name)".