How to prepare your draw list: format rules and troubleshooting

Supported formats

• .xlsx (Excel 2007 and later — by far the most common)
• .xls (the older Excel 97-2003 format)
• .csv (comma-separated text, useful when exporting from another system)

All three are parsed locally, on your own machine. Nothing is uploaded to any server.

The simplest layout that always works

The most reliable arrangement: put names in the first column, and optionally a department or staff number in the second. Start writing data on the very first row instead of adding a serial-number column.

If the first row is a header reading exactly Name (or Full Name) in column A or B, it is detected and skipped automatically. Headers that read anything else — "Employee Name", "Department", "Remarks" — are not recognised, so that row would be imported as a real person; see Header rows below.

How rows are read

Only the first worksheet is used; any others are ignored. Each row is then read by one of two rules:

1. Column A holds a whole number → that number becomes the participant's number and column B is the name. 3 | Li Na gives no. 3, Li Na.
2. Anything else → column A is the name, and the person is numbered in the order they appear (1, 2, 3 …).

Rows are skipped if the number falls outside 1–500 or the name is blank. The cap is 500 people.

Avoid mixing the two layouts in one sheet. In rule 1 the number comes from column A, but in rule 2 it is produced by counting rows — so a mixed sheet can yield two people with the same number, and a duplicate number overwrites the earlier person.

Importing merges into the current list rather than replacing it: a row whose number already exists overwrites that person, and the rest are added. Use Reset first if you want to start from an empty list.

Practical advice: when in doubt, put the names in the first column and leave the numbers out. That layout always works, and the numbers are then generated for you.

Header rows

A first row is skipped automatically when column A is one of No. # Num Number ID Index (a trailing colon is fine), or when column A or B is Name or Full Name — case does not matter. If your header row says anything else, either rename that cell to Name or simply delete the row before importing.

Common errors and how to fix them

Text comes out garbled after import

This almost always means the CSV file is not UTF-8 encoded. Open it in a spreadsheet program and use "Save As", choosing CSV UTF-8 (comma delimited), then import again.

Fewer people than expected

Check these in order, most likely first:

1. A duplicated number: only the last person holding a given number survives — earlier ones are overwritten. This is the most common cause of a short list, and it happens when one sheet mixes both layouts.
2. Merged cells: a merged cell only holds a value in its top-left corner, so the rows underneath read as blank and blank names are dropped. Unmerge first, then use "Go To Special → Blanks" to fill the gaps.
3. Formula cells: if names are produced by a formula and the file has never been saved by a spreadsheet app, there is no cached value and the cell reads as empty. Copy the column first and use "Paste Special → Values".
4. A number outside 1–500: those rows are discarded. In an 800-row sheet, everything numbered above 500 never makes it in.
5. A real person in row 1 named "Name": the first row is treated as a header and skipped. Move that row elsewhere and import again.

One thing that is not a problem: a blank row in the middle does not break the read. It is skipped, later rows are still read, and it leaves no gap in the numbering.

Everything past 500 people is ignored

The current version supports up to 500 participants per session, and that cap is fixed — the participant count in the People panel only accepts values from 1 to 500, so you cannot raise it above that. If you import a list of 800 rows, entries numbered above 500 are skipped.

You have two options:

• Split the list into two sessions and draw separately
• Include only the people who are eligible for this round of prizes

Trailing or leading spaces in names

It shows up as a name displayed like "Zhang Wei ". Fix it in your spreadsheet with the TRIM() function on a helper column, then paste the values back over the original.

Validate the import before you draw

Do not start drawing straight away. After importing, do three things:

1. Compare the participant count in the People panel with the number of rows in your spreadsheet
2. Spot-check the first few and last few entries to confirm no whole column was read wrongly
3. Run one trial draw to confirm the flow works, then reset everything before the real thing

Exporting the results

After the draw, click Export winners in the top bar. You get one row per winner with four columns: Round, No., Name, Prize. Save a copy to a USB stick or send it to your work group immediately — do not leave it only on the laptop you drew with.

If you want something to put on a screen or share in a chat, Generate poster produces a PNG summary of the winners instead.

Related reading

Once your list is ready, continue with preventing repeat winners and the on-site emergency handbook to close off the remaining failure points.