Chapter 13 of 14
Import a roadmap
A spreadsheet, a deck or a PDF. Each row is read, then you check what becomes what before anything is saved. A second import of the same file updates without creating duplicates.
Choose the file
Import on the initiatives list (it also opens by itself after signing up). Drop a file, xlsx, csv, pptx or pdf, 25 MB at most, or paste a table: cells copied from a spreadsheet, or one title per line. Then Read the file. The reading announces its steps: the sheets, the column detection, the preparation of the review.
Review before writing
The What was read screen sums up: "n rows read, m initiatives: a new, b identical, c changed, d close to an existing initiative". On the left, what the file gave; on the right, the initiatives, one per row, to tick or untick.
| Block | What you check |
|---|---|
| Rows set aside | Rows without a title, identical ones, or repeated headers, with the reason. |
| Columns | Which column plays which role: Title, Programme, Group, When, Priority, Start, End, Dependencies, Description. Change one and the review is redone. |
| Structure | Programmes become portfolios (one portfolio per programme, its products under it) or bets; groups become products, those that already exist are marked. |
| Statuses | Each value of the "when" column becomes a status Now, Next, Later or Done. Without that column, everything starts in Later. |
| Dates, Dependencies | How many initiatives are dated, how many dependency mentions are linked; those not found stay in the description. |
Each initiative says what it will do: new, identical, left as is, changes the title, the dates…, or close to "…" with a choice: create anyway, update the existing one, leave aside. An initiative edited in the application since the last import stays as is, unless you tick it.
An update only touches what the file brings: title, dates, status, priority, description. The scores, the size, the bets and the decisions taken in the application stay.
The screen's footer counts "n to create · n to update · n left aside". Save writes the products and portfolios, then the initiatives, then the dependencies, and ends on Saved with the detail. Cancel during the write stops cleanly: what is written stays, the next import of the same file will find it.