Hi,
I’d like to be able to post a Numbers spreadsheet on my website, which would automatically update as the master spreadsheet on my iMac is updated.
Is this possible?
Thanks.
Doing this from memory, used to do it regularly. methods may vary a bit but here’s general info.
The fact that you use Numbers is likely to be irrelevant to the solution. You’ll be working with online version of a spreadsheet in any case. you can author thing in Numbers, but you’ll be likely sending a CSV or Json file somewhere for processing.
Google sheets is insanely robust and does what you want. For non-coders the use of a webhook service like Zapier or IFTTT should get you going.
I think with that info you’ll find the right path for your situation.
This works with Google docs, including sheets and you just paste in the link. It might also work with a Numbers file shared via your iCloud account.
If you want to use numbers to create a spreadsheet for your website, you can do it, but it can’t automatically update your online site by simply editing the numbers page - there has to be some connection between the two in order to do this. However, you can do it another way that will update the display of your embedded spreadsheet if you don’t mind uploading the amended spreadsheet to a folder on your server.
The way I do it is to create the numbers spreadsheet and style it however it is needed. It can include charts and graphs and anything else that is needed. I then select everything on the page and copy it. Then open a keynote presentation and create a custom size slide (say 900 x 900 px). In the single page presentation, paste your spreadsheet. This now becomes an editable spreadsheet inside a keynote page. Save the keynote file as your editable spreadsheet for website use.
The final step is to then export the keynote page to HTML (give it a name like spreadsheet-data). This creates a folder which you upload to the root of your domain on the server.
Back in blocs, you simply add a piece of html code via the code widget. The code is essentially an iFrame that points to the spreadsheet-data folder on your server. This never has to be changed again. It should work in preview and online.
When you want to change your data, just edit the spreadsheet in keynote and re-export the new html. You then upload the modified folder to your server so that it overwrites the existing one. Your displayed spreadsheet will be updated automatically.
Another, possibly simpler, alternative is to output a pdf from your numbers app and upload the PDF to the server. You would then use the iFrame option to point to the PDF file on the server. By embedding the PDF in an iFrame, the document will open in the page as opposed to downloading it. It can also be made scrollable in case the PDF becomes longer over time. The only thing to remember is that the PDF you upload to the server must have the same name, otherwise it won’t update what is displayed in your web page. Here is how it looks in a blocs page:
Wow, thanks guys… plenty to mull over there.
Some experimenting coming up!
Webhooks will be a robust solution allowing you to collect information at the POS or from kioske etc. and realtime update your spreadsheet which will be embedded on the page. No idea if you need that power but I just wanted to point it out. Other methods simply won’t do all that. you’ll need to upload and replace versions.