Importing a logframe made in MS Excel

Before you start importing a logical framework made in Microsoft Excel, there are some preparations to be made:

  • Make sure that there are absolutely no merged cells (rows, columns) in the logframe table. If there are any, split these cells. If any merged cells remain in the table, the import process will come to an abrupt stop and you will get an error message.
  • Logframer re-numbers every item that is imported. If your MS Excel logframe has any numbering, make sure the numbers are in a separate column. If the number of an item is in the same cell as the text, you'll have to remove it either in the Excel version or after importing the table in the Logframer version.

To import a logframe from a MS Excel document:

  • In the File toolbar, go to the Import-Export section and click on the drop-down button with the MS Excel logo. Select the first option from the drop-down list: Import an existing logical framework.
  • You will see the Import dialogue, which has a four-step wizard to guide you through the whole process:
    • Step 1: click on the Open file icon to select the MS Excel document that contains your logframe. When you selected the document in the File dialogue, click the Next step button
    • Step 2: your Excel workbook will probably contain more than one worksheet. Select the right worksheet from the drop-down list. On the bottom of the window you will see the contents of the worksheet you selected. When you've found the right one, click on the Next step button.
    • Step 3: Use the drop-down lists to select the columns that contain: the objectives, the indicators, the verification sources and the assumptions. If your logframe has both number columns and text columns, only select the text columns. Logframer will do the numbering for you. When you're finished, press the Next step button.
    • Step 4: For each section of the logframe (goals, purposes, outputs and activities) enter the number of the row where the section starts and ends. It's best to skip any rows that contain titles because if you include these, Logframer will import them as actual goals, indicators, assumptions, etc. For the activities section, you also have to select whether the columns next to the activities contain resources and estimated costs, or process indicators with their verification sources.
  • Press the Import button to start the process

Step 1: select the Excel workbook that contains the logframe

Import logframe from Excel - step 1

Step 2: select the worksheet that contains the logframe

Import logframe from Excel - step 2

Step 3: indicate which columns contain objectives, indicators, verification sources and assumptions

Import logframe from Excel - step 3

Step 4: indicate the rows that contain the goals, purposes, outputs and activities

Import logframe from Excel - step 4

Note that you are not obliged to import all sections. If you leave the start row and final row of a section empty, Logframer will skip that section during the import.

When the process is finished, you will probably need to do some re-ordering. By default, Logframer places all the outputs under the first purpose and all the activities under the first output. Also, no distinction is made between main activities and sub-activities.

Please refer to the articles about moving logframe items and managing different levels of activities and indicators to finalise your logical framework.

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