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Import categories and locations

Create a large category or location tree in one go by uploading a CSV spreadsheet.

Typing a hundred categories or locations one by one takes an afternoon. With the import tool you prepare them in a spreadsheet, save it as CSV and upload it in seconds. For locations, also look at importing a whole country, which needs no spreadsheet at all.

Moving a whole site? Move your site to Yclas creates the categories and locations your listings use, by name, at the top level. Import your tree here first if you want listings filed under subcategories.

Import categories

  1. Prepare your file in the format below and save it as CSV.
  2. Go to Listings › Categories.
  3. In Import from a spreadsheet, click Choose a CSV file and pick your file.
  4. Click Upload.

Categories file format

The first row must be exactly this header:

name,category_parent,price,order
Vehicles,,0,1
Cars,Vehicles,0,1
Motorbikes,Vehicles,0,2
Property,,0,2
Flats for rent,Property,5,1
Column What to put
name The category name.
category_parent The name of the parent category, exactly as written. Leave empty for a top-level category.
price The price to post in this category, or 0. Use a dot for decimals.
order Its position among its sister categories (1, 2, 3…).

Import locations

  1. Prepare your file in the format below and save it as CSV.
  2. Go to Listings › Locations (stay at the top level).
  3. In Import, under Or a spreadsheet, click Choose a CSV file and pick your file.
  4. Click Import.

Locations file format

name,location_parent,latitude,longitude,order
Spain,,40.4168,-3.7038,1
Madrid,Spain,40.4168,-3.7038,1
Barcelona,Spain,41.3874,2.1686,2
Column What to put
name The location name.
location_parent The name of the parent location, or empty for the top level.
latitude, longitude Coordinates in decimal degrees, or 0 if you don’t have them.
order Its position among its sister locations.

The panel’s Download example links give you a ready-made sample file for each.

Rules the file must follow

  • The header row must match exactly: lower case, in this order, no extra columns. Otherwise the import stops with Something went wrong, please check format of the file!
  • Commas separate the columns. Put a name that contains a comma in double quotes: "Bed, bath and table".
  • Parents come first. A parent is looked up by its name when its row is read, so list parents above their children (or create them before you import). A parent name that isn’t found puts the row at the top level.
  • Duplicates are skipped: a row with the same name and parent as an existing category or location isn’t added again, so you can safely re-upload a corrected file.
  • Size: up to 1 MB and 10,000 rows per file. Split bigger lists into several files.
  • Two places with the same name (a Valencia in Spain and in Venezuela) confuse the parent lookup. Give them distinct names, or add the deeper levels by hand.

Saving from Excel: use CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited). Excel adds an invisible marker at the start of UTF-8 files, which can make the header not match; if the import complains about the format although the header looks right, save the file from Google Sheets (File › Download › Comma-separated values) or LibreOffice instead.

After importing

  • Imported items always go to the top level of the tree (or under the parents named in the file), never inside the location you have open.
  • If subcategories don’t sit where you expect on your site, drag any category in the tree and drop it back: this refreshes the levels of the whole tree.
  • Add icons, descriptions and SEO texts to the new items one by one from their edit pages.

If you click Upload and end up on a page called Import categories and locations with nothing imported, choose your file again on that page (under Import categories or Import locations) and click Upload there. The Import a country’s locations link on the Tools page opens the same page.

Updated 20 October 2026 · Suggest an edit