If your team has items outside of ItemLogic, you may import major portions of simple items via a CSV file. (Simple items are those with text-based stems and text-based responses.) Once you create a CSV file containing the item information and necessary metadata/properties, you can import the CSV file into a particular item bank. Each row of the CSV file creates a new item and commits it to the bank into which it was imported. Its status is set to "In Development" and its "Author" becomes the user who imported the file.
Formatting the CSV File
Before importing a CSV file, the file must be in the required format. The column headers in the CSV file contain required and optional information for creating the item (e.g., vendor ID (required), item type (required), subject (optional), etc.).
- One column header (and only one) must be ItemVendorID, which identifies the item you want to create. (Refer to Finding Items for more information on item identifiers.)
- One column header (and only one) must be ItemType, which identifies the type of item being created.
- Other column headers are for optional item metadata/properties or custom tags.
- Each row of the file indicates a single item to be created.
The table below outlines which column headers/properties you may include in the file, as well as the values supported for each property.
Important: All values (including column titles) are case-sensitive.
Column Header Title | Item Property | Multivalue property? | Allowed Values |
ItemVendorID (required) |
ItemLogic Vendor ID (for identifying an item to edit via Vendor ID) |
No | Any set of characters representing an existing item's Vendor ID. Example: i-4-1-2 |
ItemType (required) |
Interaction Type | No | 4-letter code representing an interaction type. See "Interaction Types" (below) for a list of codes. Example: SRSP |
Stem | Stem prompt of the item | No | Plain text Example: Where did the puppy go? |
Choice[A-Z] Examples: ChoiceA ChoiceB |
Item Responses for Selected Response items only (SRSP) |
No | Plain text Example: Home |
Answer | Correct answer(s) to item for Selected Response and Extended Text items only (SRSP and TEXT) |
No | Letter or group of letters corresponding to the correct answer choice(s). Examples: A BD ACD Or, if the item you are importing is an Extended Response type (ie. code TEXT for ItemType), you may enter a number in the "Answer" column in order to specify a Max Score. Example (to set the Max Score to 4 for an Extended Response item) : 4 |
Rationale[A-Z] Examples: RationaleB RationaleC |
Rationales for item responses for Selected Response items only (SRSP) |
No | Plain text Example: Student did not understand article |
Translations-Primary-ItemID Translations-Primary-GUID Translations-Primary-VendorID |
For translation items only: the Item ID, GUID, or VendorID of the associated primary item Note: Include only ONE of these column titles, depending on whether you want to provide the Item ID, GUID, or Vendor ID. See Managing Item Translations for additional information. |
No | Any set of characters representing an existing item's Item ID, GUID, or Vendor ID. Example: i-4-1-2 |
Subject | ItemLogic Subject | Yes | MATH, ELA, SS, HIST |
GradeLow | Lowest grade level applicable or single grade applicable Note: All grades between GradeLow and GradeHigh will be added if they are not equal. |
No | PK, K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 (Must be lower than GradeHigh if GradeHigh is included.) |
GradeHigh | Highest grade level applicable or single grade applicable Note: All grades between GradeLow and GradeHigh will be added if they are not equal. |
No | PK, K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 (Must be higher than GradeLow if GradeLow is included.) |
DepthOfKnowledge | ItemLogic DOK | No | 1, 2, 3, 4 (Recall, Skill/Concept, Strategic Thinking, Extended Thinking) |
BloomsTaxonomy | ItemLogic Bloom’s Taxonomy | No |
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 (Remembering, Understanding, Applying, Analyzing, Evaluating, Creating) |
Calculator | Type of calculator available when taking online test | No | Ba, Sc, Ex (Basic, Scientific, Basic Extended) |
Tools | Tools available when taking online test | Yes | PR, CM, RU (Protractor, Compass, Ruler) |
Passage | Item Context | Yes | Any valid ItemLogic Resource ID of a passage (or other resource). |
Language | Language of item content | No | Two-character abbreviation such as: EN, ES (English, Spanish) Refer to Valid Language and Locale Codes for a complete list. |
Locale | Locale associated with the Language | No | Two-character abbreviation (corresponding to the Language) such as: US, MX (United States, Mexico) Refer to Valid Language and Locale Codes for a complete list of Locale codes and the languages to which they correspond. If you specify a Locale, you must also specify a corresponding Language. |
AltItemID (May be used if AltItemGUID or AltItemVendorID are not present in the file.) |
Alternates | Yes | Any valid Item ID of an existing item. Example: 36026 Example: 36026,342,521 Note: If multiple versions of an item exist, the latest version is added as the Alternate. |
AltItemVendorID (May be used if AltItemID or AltItemGUID are not present in the file.) |
Alternates | Yes | Any valid Item Vendor ID of an existing item. Example: i-2343 Example: i-2343,i-9856,ia-2225 Note: If multiple versions of an item exist, the latest version is added as the Alternate. |
tag:difficulty | Custom tag called "Difficulty" | No | 1,2,3,4 |
tag:topic | Custom tag called "Topic" | Yes | Text that is a valid "Topic" |
tag:a-part | Custom tag called "A Part" | No | Any set of characters representing a valid "A Part" |
tag:b-part | Custom tag called "B Part" | No | Any set of characters representing a valid "B Part" |
tag:master-number | Custom tag called "Master Number" | No | Any set of characters representing a valid "Master Number" |
tag:[API Search Key] The API Search Key is associated with a tag. It is visible when editing a tag. (From choose a workspace, click the Tags panel and click on a tag. See Creating Custom Tags for details). The API Search Key is modeled after the title of the tag. Example: A tag called “Resource Grade Level” has the API Search Key resource-grade-level) Example: tag:resource-grade-level |
Any custom tag for items | Depends on definition in ItemLogic | Depends on definition in ItemLogic. May be:
|
Interaction Types
Refer to the table below for interaction type codes to use when specifying "ItemType" in the CSV file.
Interaction Type | Code |
Selected Response (Multiple Choice/Choice Multiple) | SRSP |
Selected Response Matrix | MTRX |
Extended Text | TEXT |
Inline Text | ITXT |
HotText | HTXT |
Order | ORDR |
Grid Response | GRID |
Slider | SLDR |
Associate | ASOC |
Matching | MTCH |
Gap Match | GMTC |
Graphic: Hotspot | GFXH |
Graphic Associate | GFXA |
Graphic Gap Match | GFXM |
Text Graphic Gap Match | GFXT |
Graphic: Select Point (Graphic Coordinate) | GFXX |
Graphic: Position Object | GFXP |
Graphic Order | GFXO |
Graphing: Cartesian Graph | GFCT |
Graphing: Bar Graph | GFBR |
Graphing: Line Graph | GFLN |
Graphing: Line Plot | GFLP |
Graphing: Number Line (Plot) | GFNL |
Graphing: Number Line (Placement) | GFNP |
Note: If you need to remove data while editing the CSV file in Excel, right-click on the selection and choose Delete; otherwise, empty data may be detected when imported.
Removing Property Values
To remove existing property metadata from an item, include the property in the CSV file and set the value to null.
Ignoring Properties
If you leave a cell empty, the system skips that value.
Indicating Multivalue Properties
Some properties can accept multiple values. To indicate multiple values for a single property (other than "Answer") a column must be repeated within the file so that the values are accumulated. For example, the following CSV file contents would give item 54 the Alternate Items whose Vendor IDs are 48 and 222:

Sample CSV File
The following image shows a sample of a CSV file appropriately formatted and opened in Excel (click to see it larger):
Importing the CSV File
Prior to importing items from a CSV file:
- Verify that the contents of the CSV file satisfy the criteria outlined in the section above titled, “Formatting the CSV File.”
- If you know an import was started, make sure you get an email indicating that it was processed before beginning another import.
When you are ready to import:
- Navigate to the Items panel for the Item Bank in which you want to create new items.
- From the Actions menu, choose Advanced > Import Items.
- The "Import New Items" dialog appears.

Drag the CSV file from its location in the File Explorer or your desktop to the blue space provided, or click on the blue space and select your file from its location.
Once you see the filename in the dialog, click Import.

You see a message indicating that the file is under review. It will be imported if no major problems are discovered.

Confirming the Import
After you click Import, the system reviews the file for any errors. If the file cannot be imported for any reason, you receive an email from ItemLogic explaining what needs to be fixed, and nothing is imported.
If no initial file problems are discovered, the system imports as much of the file as possible. If errors are encountered during the import process, the process terminates and ItemLogic sends you an email indicating that the process failed. The email includes the row at which the import failed and the reason for failure. If no errors are discovered during the import process, you receive an email indicating that the import finished.
Valid Language and Locale Codes
If you are importing language/locale information, enter the codes below for the corresponding language/locale.
Language | Corresponding Locale Code | Language/Locale |
---|---|---|
en | English | |
en | au | English-Australia |
en | bz | English-Belize |
en | ca | English-Canada |
en | cb | English-Caribbean |
en | gb | English-Great Britain |
en | en | English-India |
en | ie | English-Ireland |
en | jm | English-Jamaica |
en | nz | English-New Zealand |
en | ph | English-Philippines |
en | za | English-Southern Africa |
en | tt | English-Trinidad |
en | us | English-United States |
fr | French | |
fr | be | French-Belgium |
fr | ca | French-Canada |
fr | fr | French-France |
fr | lu | French-Luxemburg |
fr | ch | French-Switzerland |
de | German | |
de | at | German-Austria |
de | de | German-Germany |
de | li | German-Liechtenstein |
de | lu | German-Luxembourg |
de | ch | German-Switzerland |
pt | Portuguese |
|
pt | br | Portuguese-Brazil |
pt | pt | Portuguese-Portugal |
es | Spanish | |
es | ar | Spanish-Argentina |
es | bo | Spanish-Bolivia |
es | cl | Spanish-Chile |
es | co | Spanish-Columbia |
es | cr | Spanish-Costa Rica |
es | do | Spanish-Dominican Republic |
es | ec | Spanish-Ecuador |
es | sv | Spanish-El Salvador |
es | gt | Spanish-Guatemala |
es | hn | Spanish-Honduras |
es | mx | Spanish-Mexico |
es | ni | Spanish-Nicaragua |
es | pa | Spanish-Panama |
es | py | Spanish-Paraguay |
es | pe | Spanish-Peru |
es | pr | Spanish-Puerto Rico |
es | es | Spanish-Spain (Traditional) |
es | uy | Spanish-Uruguay |
es | ve | Spanish-Venezuela |
zh | Chinese | |
zh | cn | Chinese-China |
zh | hk | Chinese-Hong Kong SAR |
zh | mo | Chinese-Macau SAR |
zh | sg | Chinese-Singapore |
zh | tw | Chinese-Taiwan |