How to Publish Excel to the Web: Converting Excel Data to a Web Page
October 21, 2020
Do you need to publish your Excel spreadsheets onto the Web?
Perhaps it’s investment performance data, or inventory data to integrate with your eCommerce store, or monthly sales figures to share on your Intranet.
This easy-to-read article will guide you on the best ways to publish Excel to the Web.
We look at exporting different data types including CSV, PDF, and JSON. And how to publish the data directly online.
We also cover how to merge multiple spreadsheets together and clean them before exporting.
Here are the best and the easiest ways to export Excel data to the Web.
Why Publish Excel to the Web?
Businesses use Excel to store financial information, customer records, and sales data. But that information is often kept on a server or even a single computer.
The process of sharing sales and other data may rely on emails going back and forth. Too often the wrong data is sent. And the lack of central data storage point means no one is quite sure if things are up-to-date.
Publishing spreadsheets to a company’s intranet or secure Internet site has solved those issues.
Current information can be pushed to the right people at the right time. Data automatically updates charts and graphs on a web page. And everything is accessible from a mobile device.
Sounds great! But how do you export Excel data to the Web?
Data Format Options
Before we look at how, let’s look at what.
Excel spreadsheets contain different data types like numbers, currencies, and text but also visual data. The latest version of Excel hosts over 18 types of charts including doughnut and waterfall.
You may need to export a combination. For example, today’s stock prices with a graph of yesterday’s performance.
The good news is all those data types can be saved directly from Excel or via a third-party application.
You have several options to choose from including HTML, PDF, and image format for visual data. And for database integration, you can save text and numeric data as JSON, XML, and CSV.
HTML Web Markup
HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language.
It’s the code behind every web page. Your browser reads HTML and visually recreates it on the screen.
Excel data like tables, headings, and graphs can be translated into HTML. That means it’s ready to be viewed on any web device.
Single File Web Page
A single file web page is HTML with all associated images etc. stored in one place.
You send one document instead of multiple files. This reduces errors and turns the file into a standalone web app.
PDF Files
The Portable Document Format or PDF displays data in exactly the same way on any device.
It’s now an open standard meaning any application can create and read a PDF file. PDFs are used by millions of businesses to store and share important information.
And Excel spreadsheets can be saved in the PDF format with a simple click. Colleagues don’t need Excel to open and view them. And PDFs can be read online.
Image Files
Excel lets you save graphical data as an image file.
You can choose from popular formats such as JPEG, PNG, GIF, and BMP. The first three are standard across the Web so they work on any computer, tablet, or phone.
JSON Format
JavaScript Object Notation or JSON is the modern way to transfer and share data online.
JSON uses a key/value pair system which is great for spreadsheet headers and rows. The format can work directly with interactive web pages and is easy to import into a database.
XML Format
This older yet still widely used data format is much like JSON. It looks like HTML but describes the data within it.
Interestingly, all modern Excel files are stored as XML! It’s an open standard so anyone can open and edit an XML file or import it into their systems.
CSV Files
Comma Separated Values or CSV is the granddaddy format. Data is stored like a spreadsheet table, with a comma separating each field.
CSV files are still a foundation for many systems. You can choose the value to separate content like the tab symbol. And databases like MySQL make it simple to import files in this format.
Export Excel Data
So how do you convert Excel to web pages and JSON?
- Open your spreadsheet and navigate to the File tab
- Choose ‘Save As..’
- The dialog box gives a list of all data type options. Select one
- Then select where you want the file saved e.g. Documents
- Click the ‘Save’ button and Excel does the rest
Depending on the type, you should be able to view the new file in your web browser. CSV files will open in Excel by default but you can also open them in Notepad.
Publishing Excel to the Web
When you export data from Excel you can manually publish it or use a third-party app to automate the process.
WordPress lets you upload Excel data directly using CSV or JSON. The Import Content plugin offers posts and pages integration. And it also works with WooCommerce.
You can insert PDFs and images directly into your posts. And you can copy HTML generated content and paste it into your pages.
Publish Live Excel to Web Databases
There are plenty of free PHP scripts online that import Excel data files to a database. But for MySQL, use phpMyAdmin.
phpMyAdmin lets you upload .xls, .xlsx, .json, and .csv files. Data gets added to the selected table. A web API then feeds the new content to your web pages, applications, and other sites if you wish.
You’ll need help, of course. But storing data in a scaled database system offers a long-term solution to sharing data online.
Automated Export and Publishing
You can publish live CSV to web databases without having to lift a finger.
Export your data to a shared folder and a script can automatically upload it to your website. From there, a CRON job, or automated service, imports that data into your database.
You’ll need the right software developer to set this up but once they do everything will run by itself.
Just make sure your content is clean and correct. And if you use several spreadsheets you’ll need a way to consolidate them into one accessible file.
The ‘Seymour’ Solution
You can use the above methods to publish Excel to the web. You can export data in multiple formats and add your spreadsheets into your online database.
But what if you need to save multiple Excel documents to the web?
You have to combine the data. Then you need to clean and consolidate it before exporting. It’s a difficult task which soon becomes difficult and monotonous.
The Bridge Digital has the perfect product to import, clean, and consolidate your Excel data.
Our Seymour app combines several spreadsheets and filters that data before exporting.
Import sales records, share prices, and inventory stock into one place. And as Seymour is a SaaS running in the Cloud, you can access it from anywhere.
Register for a free trial today by contacting us. You’ll discover why the Seymour solution is perfect to publish your business data directly to the web.