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Recently a clean-up project was started related to importxml and importhtml.

Rightnow the importxml wiki includes a quotation of the official help article which only describes the syntax and point users to W3School to learn about xPath. I think that we could improve it.

IMPORTXML requires two arguments, an URL to a file to be examined, I call it "the source file", and a xPath query.

Also I think that most of the questions about IMPORTXML fall in at least one of the following categories:

• The source file doesn't follow the XML markup rules

  • Usually the answer is the xPath query of the topmost node that could be retrieved by IMPORTXML then suggest the use of other spreadsheet functions to get the required content.
  • The wiki could include the suggestion to use the W3C Markup Validation Service prior to post the question as part of the OP research effort.

• The source file doesn't contain the content to be parsed

  • The answer is that Google Sheets built-in functions aren't able to get that content.
  • The above could be because the content isn't included on the publically available source code of the page
  • The wiki could include recommendations to use other tools or to point users to Software Recommendations

• The source file follow the XML markup rules but the OP has problems to figure out the xPath

  • The answers could include a working xPath.
  • The wiki could include instructions about how to get one.

• The issue isn't related to the source file

  • The wiki could include links to questions about Google Sheets functions and formulas common errors
  • Another common question is about the the automatic refresh of the imported results

Does it makes sense to extend the importxml wiki or should it be better to proceed in a different way, like looking for/creating canonical questions? Is it too soon?

---

I was bold and jumped in into extending the [importxml] wiki. Also I created a self-answered question that could be used as reference on questions:

• How to know if Google Sheets IMPORTDATA, IMPORTFEED, IMPORTHTML or IMPORTXML functions are able to get data from a resource hosted on a website?

I will wait a bit for feedback about it prior to add the it's link to the [importxml] wiki.

---

NOTE: Searching for [importxml -\[importxml\] is:q][1] returns 33 questions.

Recently a clean-up project was started related to importxml and importhtml.

Rightnow the importxml wiki includes a quotation of the official help article which only describes the syntax and point users to W3School to learn about xPath. I think that we could improve it.

IMPORTXML requires two arguments, an URL to a file to be examined, I call it "the source file", and a xPath query.

Also I think that most of the questions about IMPORTXML fall in at least one of the following categories:

• The source file doesn't follow the XML markup rules

  • Usually the answer is the xPath query of the topmost node that could be retrieved by IMPORTXML then suggest the use of other spreadsheet functions to get the required content.
  • The wiki could include the suggestion to use the W3C Markup Validation Service prior to post the question as part of the OP research effort.

• The source file doesn't contain the content to be parsed

  • The answer is that Google Sheets built-in functions aren't able to get that content.
  • The above could be because the content isn't included on the publically available source code of the page
  • The wiki could include recommendations to use other tools or to point users to Software Recommendations

• The source file follow the XML markup rules but the OP has problems to figure out the xPath

  • The answers could include a working xPath.
  • The wiki could include instructions about how to get one.

• The issue isn't related to the source file

  • The wiki could include links to questions about Google Sheets functions and formulas common errors
  • Another common question is about the the automatic refresh of the imported results

Does it makes sense to extend the importxml wiki or should it be better to proceed in a different way, like looking for/creating canonical questions? Is it too soon?

---

I was bold and jumped in into extending the [importxml] wiki. Also I created a self-answered question that could be used as reference on questions:

• How to know if Google Sheets IMPORTDATA, IMPORTFEED, IMPORTHTML or IMPORTXML functions are able to get data from a resource hosted on a website?

I will wait a bit for feedback about it prior to add the it's link to the [importxml] wiki.

---

NOTE: Searching for importxml -[importxml] is:q returns 33 11 questions.

Recently a clean-up project was started related to importxml and importhtml.

Rightnow the importxml wiki includes a quotation of the official help article which only describes the syntax and point users to W3School to learn about xPath. I think that we could improve it.

IMPORTXML requires two arguments, an URL to a file to be examined, I call it "the source file", and a xPath query.

Also I think that most of the questions about IMPORTXML fall in at least one of the following categories:

• The source file doesn't follow the XML markup rules

  • Usually the answer is the xPath query of the topmost node that could be retrieved by IMPORTXML then suggest the use of other spreadsheet functions to get the required content.
  • The wiki could include the suggestion to use the W3C Markup Validation Service prior to post the question as part of the OP research effort.

• The source file doesn't contain the content to be parsed

  • The answer is that Google Sheets built-in functions aren't able to get that content.
  • The above could be because the content isn't included on the publically available source code of the page
  • The wiki could include recommendations to use other tools or to point users to Software Recommendations

• The source file follow the XML markup rules but the OP has problems to figure out the xPath

  • The answers could include a working xPath.
  • The wiki could include instructions about how to get one.

• The issue isn't related to the source file

  • The wiki could include links to questions about Google Sheets functions and formulas common errors
  • Another common question is about the the automatic refresh of the imported results

Does it makes sense to extend the importxml wiki or should it be better to proceed in a different way, like looking for/creating canonical questions? Is it too soon?

---

NOTE: Searching for [importxml -\[importxml\] is:q][1] returns 33 questions.

Recently a clean-up project was started related to importxml and importhtml.

Rightnow the importxml wiki includes a quotation of the official help article which only describes the syntax and point users to W3School to learn about xPath. I think that we could improve it.

IMPORTXML requires two arguments, an URL to a file to be examined, I call it "the source file", and a xPath query.

Also I think that most of the questions about IMPORTXML fall in at least one of the following categories:

• The source file doesn't follow the XML markup rules

  • Usually the answer is the xPath query of the topmost node that could be retrieved by IMPORTXML then suggest the use of other spreadsheet functions to get the required content.
  • The wiki could include the suggestion to use the W3C Markup Validation Service prior to post the question as part of the OP research effort.

• The source file doesn't contain the content to be parsed

  • The answer is that Google Sheets built-in functions aren't able to get that content.
  • The above could be because the content isn't included on the publically available source code of the page
  • The wiki could include recommendations to use other tools or to point users to Software Recommendations

• The source file follow the XML markup rules but the OP has problems to figure out the xPath

  • The answers could include a working xPath.
  • The wiki could include instructions about how to get one.

• The issue isn't related to the source file

  • The wiki could include links to questions about Google Sheets functions and formulas common errors
  • Another common question is about the the automatic refresh of the imported results

Does it makes sense to extend the importxml wiki or should it be better to proceed in a different way, like looking for/creating canonical questions? Is it too soon?

---

I was bold and jumped in into extending the [importxml] wiki. Also I created a self-answered question that could be used as reference on questions:

• How to know if Google Sheets IMPORTDATA, IMPORTFEED, IMPORTHTML or IMPORTXML functions are able to get data from a resource hosted on a website?

I will wait a bit for feedback about it prior to add the it's link to the [importxml] wiki.

---

NOTE: Searching for [importxml -\[importxml\] is:q][1] returns 33 questions.