And while we're at it, the unicode support, and clear instructions on how to format languages with accents (think: french) that should be tackled directly at the inDesign import moment :)

I would LOVE to avoid the text/code editor technical switch between LF and BOMs before importing CSV from Google Spreadsheets :)

The issue I am having may be related but, in an attempt to create multiple records per page (via data merge), that feature is grayed out (this is at work). However, on my home version I am able to complete that task without effort. What's the deal?

I hope to see other Excel-related suggestions also to be in the backlog, e.g. importing (or linking) charts.

That would be rad. Even better if you could link xlsx — to update without addtl plug ins.

XLSX support would be greatly appreciated. CSV is just a pain (e.g. line breaks).

Also please incloude ods-Files from libreoffice.

Instead of just accepting .csv-files, there shuld also be .txt, .xlsx and other spreasheet (and database) formats

XLSX support would be a great thing. XLS is from 2011 (or older) so not strongly required.

All of our clients submit their data via Excel. And it's every time a start from the scratch.

Meanwhile we use Mydatamerge (https://mydatamerge.com) which claims itself to be the missing interface for Indesigns data merge.
And it does a perfect job. We can just swap excel files while keeping all of our configurations. New client data -> two clicks... merge. Have a look Adobe - that's how modern data merge interface looks like.

One thing MyDataMerge already does would be great also: Please support sheet selection and keeping linebreaks from within cells!

Please support XLS and XLSX file extensions.

CSV is very annoying indeed - you just need someone to open it with the wrong settings or save it with the wrong encoding and you're screwed – Something that wouldn't happen using .xls files.

e.g.: file seperated with tabs gets opened with different options and saved again => broken ; If that file had "komma" values like 3,5 ... it could also end up with more clumns than it had before if it gets handled wrong. and sadly enough this happens a lot.

Also extra tabs etc. in Data break it way too easily.

DataMerge is awesome and we use it to produce thousands of pages for Mailings, etc. – but it could be improved a lot.

Also i'td be nice to be able to export in .pdf chunks of 500 "Entries" per Page.
+ using facing pages with datamerge has been broken forever - if you need more than one page it only works with single pages... - i could go on and on and on... :·)

I thought adobe products would improve with montly cloud fees :/ feels like it's only getting worse in some parts... kinda makes me sad.

A revamp of Data Merge is much needed: it is becoming increasingly buggy and less useful as time goes on. (preview bug, missing values bug, @symbol needed in image columns,…)

Using an ExCel file as a source is a much needed addition:
1/ ExCel is a standard spreadsheet format.
2/ Most Data used in a lay-out is delivered to us through ExCel, so we win quite some time/money if we can skip conversions.
3/ Most spreadsheet apps can reliably convert to ExCel, but conversion to CSV remains problematic.
4/ Changing data rapidly is easier if the data file is a simple ExCel file.
5/ If a solid ExCel standard (.xlsx?) can be decided upon, this could become a standard way of working with data.

re. 1.: I would suggest allowing to link multiple source files and use any column of any linked file anywhere in the document.
re. 2.: Either require a master file as soon as more that one source file is linked or treat heads like formats: In case of identical names, assume their data is to be cumulated under one and the same head. In case of non-identical names, assume it’s a new column and add a new head to the panel.
re. 3.: Using an XLS(X) with contemporary text encoding support of course saves time and possible errors compared to having to create CSVs with very limited text encoding support.

1. In the case of serial letters, give it often several languages or other variations. For all this variations you need to create a new file.
2. For example, the table heads can be simply listed, so that the contents can be used wherever you need.
3. Actually, Excel is used by many users. Now a CSV-File must be created from every Excel-Data. In case of subsequent changes, the procedure starts from the beginning. In several variants (e.g., languages) is it very tough