Import poems with PoemShuttle

Upload .txt, .csv, .docx, or .html files and land them as private drafts.

Reviewed regularly to match the current app.

PoemShuttle allows you to import your poems, individually or in bulk, via different document formats. It provides you with an easier method of importing your poems rather than creating them one by one.

PoemShuttle can be accessed in two ways:

• Method #1: In the header, click-tap the profile photo. In the drop-down, select Import Poems.
• Method #2: On the poem listing page, click-tap the Import button on the far right above the poem list table.

Formatting Instructions

Each file format has its own instructions on how the file should be formatted for a clean import. Please note:

• You can add up to 10 files to the queue at once.
• Each file cannot be more than 25 MB.
• You can import up to 3 files per day.

See the instructions for each format below:

• Plain Text Format (.txt): By default, one file equals one poem, and the first line becomes the title. To fit several poems in a single .txt file, separate them with a line that contains only three or more of the same character: ---, ===, or ***. The line after each separator becomes the next poem’s title.
• CSV Format (.csv): Needs to have a header row with at minimum a content column (the poem body). Optional columns you can add: title, categories (comma-separated), year for the year written. Each data row becomes one poem.
• Word Format (.docx): Files must be .docx (Office 2007+). Legacy .doc is rejected with a message instructing you to save as .docx first. One file = one poem; the first paragraph becomes the title. To fit several poems in a single document, separate them with a page break (Ctrl+Enter on Windows, Cmd+Enter on Mac) or a line of --- / === / ***. Bold, italic, tables, images, headers, and footers are stripped — only paragraph text is imported.
• Web Page Format (.html / .htm): Upload an exported or saved web page — a poetry-site export (such as AllPoetry), a blog backup, a Word or Google Docs “Save as Web Page”, or hand-written markup. You don’t need to reformat the file: PoemShuttle detects the source and pulls out each poem automatically. Several poems are split when each poem sits in its own block — a separate section or <article>, a per-poem wrapper (for example a data-poem-id element in a site export), or its own <h1> / <h2> heading. Page navigation, sidebars, footers, comment threads, bylines, author notes, scripts, styles, and embedded media are removed automatically, and your line and stanza breaks are preserved. Imported poems are cleaned to the same formatting the in-site editor allows.

How to Upload A File

Click and drag a file from your device into the drop zone. Alternatively, you can just click-tap inside the upload box and select the file from your device.

In the Files section, you will see the files that were uploaded and each file will have a status badge.

There are several statuses you will see, as a file is being uploaded and/or after it’s uploaded:

• Parsing on server: This badge appears while the file is being read on our servers. Once completed the badge will change to another status.
• X Poems Detected: This green tinted badge appears if the file was accepted successfully.

When the file uploads successfully, and if the file was formatted properly, you will see a preview of the poems found. Each preview shows the detected title and the first line of the poem. You choose to keep and delete the poems you want. If you choose to cancel a file upload, simply click the X next to the chevron.

Below the files there are three notifications for you to track your uploads: Ready to import (successful uploads), In progress (still parsing) and With Errors (failed uploads).

When you’re happy with what’s in the queue, click Import X poems. A progress bar tracks the save, and a summary appears when it’s done. You can also click the Clear All button to clear all files in the queue if you’d like to start over.

Where to go next

Once your poems are in your My Poems list, you will need to edit them so you can categorize, tag, and publish successfully.

Troubleshooting

• “No readable content”— the file was empty or couldn’t be read as text. Open it in a plain-text editor and confirm there’s actual content before re-dropping.
• “CSV is missing a content column” — the parser looks for a header named content, body, poem, or text. Rename your column to one of those.
• “File too large” — individual files must be under 25 MB. For large spreadsheet exports, split the file into smaller chunks.
• Import button is grayed out— you need at least one successfully parsed poem in the queue. Files with errors don’t count toward the ready-to-import total.
• Imported poem has a weird title— the parser fell back to the filename or a row number because it couldn’t confidently identify one. Rename it from the poem’s edit page after import.
• Duplicate poems after re-import— PoemShuttle doesn’t deduplicate. If you accidentally re-imported the same file, delete the extras from My Poems. Click “Clear all” before re-dropping if you’re unsure.
• HTML imported as one big poem (or pulled in site menus) — if a saved web page merged your poems together or brought in navigation/footer text, make sure each poem sits in its own section, <article>, or under its own <h1> / <h2>heading. Exports from poetry sites such as AllPoetry are recognized automatically and don’t need editing.
• Author notes or byline missing after an HTML import — these are intentionally not imported from site exports. The poem body is brought in clean; re-add a note as a backstory from the poem’s edit page if you want it.