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Custom Variable Uploads gives you the ability to append additional data to your survey or customize your data set and create new filter options.

Please note currently you can only append data to the existing data set, you cannot add new respondents to an existing stats report with this feature. If you need to merge surveys please reach out to support for assistance.

To upload custom variables it must be a CSV file with a column containing the Response IDs and be labeled with ID or UID to map variables to your data set.

The easiest way to upload custom variables is first to download the Excel with coded map file. Note: both raw Excel and CSV contain a custom double header and will not work without editing.

Each column requires a label with the prefix “aytm:” when the file is uploaded, the platform will only map the Response ID column and any column with the aytm: prefix. Once the file is uploaded, the system will drop the prefix, and the label will be whatever comes after.

Each variable needs a unique label, and variable names are limited to 25 characters. Acceptable characters are letters, numbers, and the underscore symbol (ex. abcd_123).

You can upload multiple files, and new variables will be created if the column contains a unique label. If you added new variable data to a label already existing in the stats page, the latest data would overwrite the existing.

Summary of Limits:

Max Variables per survey: 100
Max Variable Name length: 25 characters 
Max Characters for a Variable: 5,000

Troubleshooting

Having trouble with your file? Check for any of these common troubleshooting tips. The system will provide a warning message if the file cannot be processed or if it has to adjust the file to upload.

  1. Is your file saved as a CSV?
  2. Variable names are too long: The platform will automatically trim to 25 characters.
  3. Variable names are repeated: Columns Q, R, and S contain the same variable titled "custom_var16". The platform only imported data from column Q and had to ignore R and S.
  4. Column AB and AC contained the same variable titled "custom_var25_name_is_too". We've only imported data from column AB and had to ignore AC.
  5. Too many variables: Max number of unique variables per survey is 100.
  6. Variable has too many characters: variables can contain up to 5,000 characters anything after that will be cut off.
  7. Variable name conflicts with our naming convention: you named a column MSA, but it's already being used by our system. To upload we will automatically add custom_ to the variable name.
  8. The file type is not compatible: the system will accept CSV or Excel but the file can not contain a double header. Both our raw Excel and CSV contain double headers. Use the Excel with coded maps or create a new sheet in Excel and save as a CSV.


Questions? Reach out to support@aytm.com for assistance!