diff --git a/src/main/java/com/metaweb/gridworks/commands/edit/CreateProjectCommand.java b/src/main/java/com/metaweb/gridworks/commands/edit/CreateProjectCommand.java
index 07d334f34..06fd015ae 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/metaweb/gridworks/commands/edit/CreateProjectCommand.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/metaweb/gridworks/commands/edit/CreateProjectCommand.java
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ public class CreateProjectCommand extends Command {
             }
             
             CharsetDetector detector = new CharsetDetector();
-            detector.setDeclaredEncoding("utf8"); // the content on the web is encoded in UTF-8 so assume that
+            detector.setDeclaredEncoding("utf8"); // most of the content on the web is encoded in UTF-8 so start with that
             
             Reader reader = null;
             CharsetMatch[] charsetMatches = detector.setText(bytes).detectAll();
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/metaweb/gridworks/importers/ImporterUtilities.java b/src/main/java/com/metaweb/gridworks/importers/ImporterUtilities.java
index d4e4387dc..31649182a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/metaweb/gridworks/importers/ImporterUtilities.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/metaweb/gridworks/importers/ImporterUtilities.java
@@ -2,10 +2,6 @@ package com.metaweb.gridworks.importers;
 
 import java.io.Serializable;
 
-import com.metaweb.gridworks.expr.ExpressionUtils;
-import com.metaweb.gridworks.model.Cell;
-import com.metaweb.gridworks.model.Row;
-
 public class ImporterUtilities {
 
     static public Serializable parseCellValue(String text) {
@@ -27,78 +23,4 @@ public class ImporterUtilities {
         return text;
     }
 
-    static public boolean parseCSVIntoRow(Row row, String line) {
-        boolean hasData = false;
-        
-        int start = 0;
-        while (start < line.length()) {
-            String text = null;
-            
-            if (line.charAt(start) == '"') {
-            	StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer();
-            	
-            	start++; // skip over "
-            	while (start < line.length()) {
-	                int quote = line.indexOf('"', start);
-	                if (quote < 0) {
-	                	sb.append(line.substring(start));
-	                	start = line.length();
-	                	break;
-	                } else {
-	                	if (quote < line.length() - 1 && line.charAt(quote + 1) == '"') {
-	                		sb.append(line.substring(start, quote + 1)); // include " as well
-	                		start = quote + 2;
-	                	} else {
-	                		sb.append(line.substring(start, quote));
-	                		start = quote + 1;
-	                		if (start < line.length() && line.charAt(start) == ',') {
-	                			start++; // skip ,
-	                		}
-	                		break;
-	                	}
-	                }
-            	}
-            	
-                text = sb.toString();
-            } else {
-                int next = line.indexOf(',', start);
-                if (next < 0) {
-                    text = line.substring(start);
-                    start = line.length();
-                } else {
-                    text = line.substring(start, next);
-                    start = next + 1;
-                }
-            }
-            
-            Serializable value = parseCellValue(text);
-            if (ExpressionUtils.isNonBlankData(value)) {
-                row.cells.add(new Cell(value, null));
-                hasData = true;
-            } else {
-                row.cells.add(null);
-            }
-        }
-        
-        return hasData;
-    }
-
-    static public boolean parseTSVIntoRow(Row row, String line) {
-        boolean hasData = false;
-        
-        String[] cells = line.split("\t");
-        for (int c = 0; c < cells.length; c++) {
-            String text = cells[c];
-            
-            Serializable value = parseCellValue(text);
-            if (ExpressionUtils.isNonBlankData(value)) {
-                row.cells.add(new Cell(value, null));
-                hasData = true;
-            } else {
-                row.cells.add(null);
-            }
-        }
-        return hasData;
-    }
-
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/metaweb/gridworks/importers/TsvCsvImporter.java b/src/main/java/com/metaweb/gridworks/importers/TsvCsvImporter.java
index f91b3f9b6..64559733e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/metaweb/gridworks/importers/TsvCsvImporter.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/metaweb/gridworks/importers/TsvCsvImporter.java
@@ -6,7 +6,11 @@ import java.io.Reader;
 import java.util.Properties;
 
 import org.apache.commons.lang.NotImplementedException;
+import org.apache.commons.lang.StringUtils;
 
+import com.metaweb.gridworks.importers.parsers.CSVRowParser;
+import com.metaweb.gridworks.importers.parsers.RowParser;
+import com.metaweb.gridworks.importers.parsers.SeparatorRowParser;
 import com.metaweb.gridworks.model.Column;
 import com.metaweb.gridworks.model.Project;
 import com.metaweb.gridworks.model.Row;
@@ -18,10 +22,11 @@ public class TsvCsvImporter implements Importer {
         
         LineNumberReader lnReader = new LineNumberReader(reader);
         try {
-            String         sep = null; // auto-detect TSV or CSV
-            String         line = null;
+            String      sep = options.getProperty("separator"); // auto-detect if not present
+            String      line = null;
             boolean     first = true;
             int         cellCount = 1;
+            RowParser   parser = (sep == null || (sep.length() == 0)) ? null : new SeparatorRowParser(sep);
             
             int rowsWithData = 0;
             while ((line = lnReader.readLine()) != null) {
@@ -29,18 +34,20 @@ public class TsvCsvImporter implements Importer {
                     continue;
                 }
                 
-                if (sep == null) {
+                if (parser == null) {
                     int tab = line.indexOf('\t');
                     if (tab >= 0) {
                         sep = "\t";
+                        parser = new SeparatorRowParser(sep);
                     } else {
                         sep = ",";
+                        parser = new CSVRowParser();
                     }
                 }
                 
                 if (first) {
-                    String[] cells = line.split(sep);
-                    
+                    String[] cells = StringUtils.splitPreserveAllTokens(line, sep);
+                                        
                     first = false;
                     for (int c = 0; c < cells.length; c++) {
                         String cell = cells[c];
@@ -57,7 +64,7 @@ public class TsvCsvImporter implements Importer {
                 } else {
                     Row row = new Row(cellCount);
                     
-                    if ((sep.charAt(0) == ',') ? ImporterUtilities.parseCSVIntoRow(row, line) : ImporterUtilities.parseTSVIntoRow(row, line)) {
+                    if (parser.parseRow(row, line)) {
                         rowsWithData++;
                         
                         if (skip <= 0 || rowsWithData > skip) {
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/metaweb/gridworks/importers/parsers/CSVRowParser.java b/src/main/java/com/metaweb/gridworks/importers/parsers/CSVRowParser.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1ae8e4be2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/com/metaweb/gridworks/importers/parsers/CSVRowParser.java
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+package com.metaweb.gridworks.importers.parsers;
+
+import java.io.Serializable;
+
+import com.metaweb.gridworks.expr.ExpressionUtils;
+import com.metaweb.gridworks.importers.ImporterUtilities;
+import com.metaweb.gridworks.model.Cell;
+import com.metaweb.gridworks.model.Row;
+
+public class CSVRowParser extends RowParser {
+
+    public boolean parseRow(Row row, String line) {
+        boolean hasData = false;
+        
+        int start = 0;
+        while (start < line.length()) {
+            String text = null;
+            
+            if (line.charAt(start) == '"') {
+                StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer();
+                
+                start++; // skip over "
+                while (start < line.length()) {
+                    int quote = line.indexOf('"', start);
+                    if (quote < 0) {
+                        sb.append(line.substring(start));
+                        start = line.length();
+                        break;
+                    } else {
+                        if (quote < line.length() - 1 && line.charAt(quote + 1) == '"') {
+                            sb.append(line.substring(start, quote + 1)); // include " as well
+                            start = quote + 2;
+                        } else {
+                            sb.append(line.substring(start, quote));
+                            start = quote + 1;
+                            if (start < line.length() && line.charAt(start) == ',') {
+                                start++; // skip ,
+                            }
+                            break;
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+                
+                text = sb.toString();
+            } else {
+                int next = line.indexOf(',', start);
+                if (next < 0) {
+                    text = line.substring(start);
+                    start = line.length();
+                } else {
+                    text = line.substring(start, next);
+                    start = next + 1;
+                }
+            }
+            
+            Serializable value = ImporterUtilities.parseCellValue(text);
+            if (ExpressionUtils.isNonBlankData(value)) {
+                row.cells.add(new Cell(value, null));
+                hasData = true;
+            } else {
+                row.cells.add(null);
+            }
+        }
+        
+        return hasData;
+    }
+    
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/metaweb/gridworks/importers/parsers/RowParser.java b/src/main/java/com/metaweb/gridworks/importers/parsers/RowParser.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e424312b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/com/metaweb/gridworks/importers/parsers/RowParser.java
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+package com.metaweb.gridworks.importers.parsers;
+
+import com.metaweb.gridworks.model.Row;
+
+public abstract class RowParser {
+    
+    public abstract boolean parseRow(Row row, String line);
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/metaweb/gridworks/importers/parsers/SeparatorRowParser.java b/src/main/java/com/metaweb/gridworks/importers/parsers/SeparatorRowParser.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1a1f0947c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/com/metaweb/gridworks/importers/parsers/SeparatorRowParser.java
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+package com.metaweb.gridworks.importers.parsers;
+
+import java.io.Serializable;
+
+import org.apache.commons.lang.StringUtils;
+
+import com.metaweb.gridworks.expr.ExpressionUtils;
+import com.metaweb.gridworks.importers.ImporterUtilities;
+import com.metaweb.gridworks.model.Cell;
+import com.metaweb.gridworks.model.Row;
+
+public class SeparatorRowParser extends RowParser {
+
+    String sep;
+    
+    public SeparatorRowParser(String sep) {
+        this.sep = sep;
+    }
+    
+    public boolean parseRow(Row row, String line) {
+        boolean hasData = false;
+        
+        String[] cells = StringUtils.splitPreserveAllTokens(line, sep);
+        for (int c = 0; c < cells.length; c++) {
+            String text = cells[c];
+            
+            Serializable value = ImporterUtilities.parseCellValue(text);
+            if (ExpressionUtils.isNonBlankData(value)) {
+                row.cells.add(new Cell(value, null));
+                hasData = true;
+            } else {
+                row.cells.add(null);
+            }
+        }
+        return hasData;
+    }    
+    
+}
diff --git a/src/main/webapp/index.html b/src/main/webapp/index.html
index 5c9a8930a..c5d737726 100644
--- a/src/main/webapp/index.html
+++ b/src/main/webapp/index.html
@@ -1 +1 @@
-<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">
<html>
<head>
    <title>Freebase Gridworks</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/styles/common.css" />
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/styles/index.css" />
    
    <script type="text/javascript" src="externals/jquery-1.4.1.min.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="externals/date.js"></script>
    
    <script type="text/javascript" src="scripts/util/string.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="scripts/version.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="scripts/index.js"></script>
    
    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.freebase.com/labs/gridworks.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
    <div id="header">
      <a id="logo" href="http://www.freebase.com/" title="Freebase"><img alt="Freebase" src="images/freebase-headerlogo.png" /></a>
      <div id="path"><span class="app-path-section"><a href="./index.html">Gridworks</a></span></div>
    </div>
    
    <div id="body">
        <div id="body-empty">
            <table><tr>
                <td id="body-empty-logo-container"><img src="images/gridworks.png" /> Gridworks</td>
                <td id="body-empty-create-project-panel-container"></td>
            </tr></table>
        </div>
        
        <div id="body-nonempty">
            <table><tr>
                <td id="body-nonempty-logo-container"><img src="images/gridworks.png" /> Gridworks</td>
                <td id="body-nonempty-projects-container">
                    <div id="projects"></div>
                </td>
                <td id="body-nonempty-create-project-panel-container"></td>
            </tr></table>
        </div>
    </div>

    <div id="footer">
        <a href="about.html">About Freebase Gridworks</a>
        &bull; 
        &copy; 2010 <a href="http://www.metaweb.com/">Metaweb Technologies, Inc.</a>
    </div>
    
    <div id="body-template">
        <div id="create-project-panel">
            <h1>Upload Data File</h1>
            <form id="file-upload-form" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data" action="/command/create-project-from-upload" accept-charset="UTF-8">
                <div class="grid-layout layout-tight"><table>
                    <tr><td>Data File:</td><td>
                        <input type="file" id="project-file-input" name="project-file" />
                    </td></tr>
                    <tr><td>Project Name:</td><td>
                        <input type="text" size="30" id="project-name-input" name="project-name" />
                    </td></tr>
                    <tr><td>Load up to:</td><td>
                        <input id="limit-input" name="limit" size="5" /> data rows (optional)
                    </td></tr>
                    <tr><td>Skip:</td><td>
                        <input id="skip-input" name="skip" size="5" /> initial data rows (optional)
                    </td></tr>
                    <tr><td></td><td>
                        <input type="submit" value="Create Project" id="upload-file-button" />
                    </td></tr>
                </table></div>
            </form>
            
            <h1>Import Existing Project</h1>
            <form id="project-upload-form" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data" action="/command/import-project" accept-charset="UTF-8">
                <table id="import-project-panel-layout">
                    <tr><td>Project TAR File:</td><td>
                        <input type="file" id="project-tar-file-input" name="project-file" />
                    </td></tr>
                    <tr><td>Re-name Project:</td><td>
                        <input type="text" size="30" id="project-name-input" name="project-name" /> (optional)
                    </td></tr>
                    <tr><td></td><td>
                        <input type="submit" value="Import Project" id="import-project-button" />
                    </td></tr>
                </table>
            </form>
        </div>
    </div>
</body>
</html>
\ No newline at end of file
+<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">
<html>
<head>
    <title>Freebase Gridworks</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/styles/common.css" />
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/styles/index.css" />
    
    <script type="text/javascript" src="externals/jquery-1.4.1.min.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="externals/date.js"></script>
    
    <script type="text/javascript" src="scripts/util/string.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="scripts/version.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="scripts/index.js"></script>
    
    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.freebase.com/labs/gridworks.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
    <div id="header">
      <a id="logo" href="http://www.freebase.com/" title="Freebase"><img alt="Freebase" src="images/freebase-headerlogo.png" /></a>
      <div id="path"><span class="app-path-section"><a href="./index.html">Gridworks</a></span></div>
    </div>
    
    <div id="body">
        <div id="body-empty">
            <table><tr>
                <td id="body-empty-logo-container"><img src="images/gridworks.png" /> Gridworks</td>
                <td id="body-empty-create-project-panel-container"></td>
            </tr></table>
        </div>
        
        <div id="body-nonempty">
            <table><tr>
                <td id="body-nonempty-logo-container"><img src="images/gridworks.png" /> Gridworks</td>
                <td id="body-nonempty-projects-container">
                    <div id="projects"></div>
                </td>
                <td id="body-nonempty-create-project-panel-container"></td>
            </tr></table>
        </div>
    </div>

    <div id="footer">
        <a href="about.html">About Freebase Gridworks</a>
        &bull; 
        &copy; 2010 <a href="http://www.metaweb.com/">Metaweb Technologies, Inc.</a>
    </div>
    
    <div id="body-template">
        <div id="create-project-panel">
            <h1>Upload Data File</h1>
            <form id="file-upload-form" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data" action="/command/create-project-from-upload" accept-charset="UTF-8">
                <div class="grid-layout layout-tight"><table>
                    <tr><td>Data File:</td><td>
                        <input type="file" id="project-file-input" name="project-file" />
                    </td></tr>
                    <tr><td>Project Name:</td><td>
                        <input type="text" size="30" id="project-name-input" name="project-name" />
                    </td></tr>
                    <tr><td>Load up to:</td><td>
                        <input id="limit-input" name="limit" size="5" /> data rows (optional)
                    </td></tr>
                    <tr><td>Skip:</td><td>
                        <input id="skip-input" name="skip" size="5" /> initial data rows (optional)
                    </td></tr>
                    <tr><td>Separator:</td><td>
                        <input id="separator-input" name="separator" size="2" /> column separator (optional)
                    </td></tr>
                    <tr><td></td><td>
                        <input type="submit" value="Create Project" id="upload-file-button" />
                    </td></tr>
                </table></div>
            </form>
            
            <h1>Import Existing Project</h1>
            <form id="project-upload-form" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data" action="/command/import-project" accept-charset="UTF-8">
                <table id="import-project-panel-layout">
                    <tr><td>Project TAR File:</td><td>
                        <input type="file" id="project-tar-file-input" name="project-file" />
                    </td></tr>
                    <tr><td>Re-name Project:</td><td>
                        <input type="text" size="30" id="project-name-input" name="project-name" /> (optional)
                    </td></tr>
                    <tr><td></td><td>
                        <input type="submit" value="Import Project" id="import-project-button" />
                    </td></tr>
                </table>
            </form>
        </div>
    </div>
</body>
</html>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/webapp/scripts/index.js b/src/main/webapp/scripts/index.js
index d43e7065b..f47726763 100644
--- a/src/main/webapp/scripts/index.js
+++ b/src/main/webapp/scripts/index.js
@@ -29,7 +29,8 @@ function onClickUploadFileButton(evt) {
         $("#file-upload-form").attr("action", 
             "/command/create-project-from-upload?" + [
                 "skip=" + $("#skip-input")[0].value,
-                "limit=" + $("#limit-input")[0].value
+                "limit=" + $("#limit-input")[0].value,
+                "separator=" + $("#separator-input")[0].value
             ].join("&"));
     }
 }