diff --git a/settings-api/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/Settings.java b/settings-api/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/Settings.java
index bdc64b5..24f2778 100644
--- a/settings-api/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/Settings.java
+++ b/settings-api/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/Settings.java
@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@ public interface Settings extends AutoCloseable {
 
         private static SettingsBuilder createBuilder() {
             ServiceLoader<SettingsBuilder> serviceLoader = ServiceLoader.load(SettingsBuilder.class);
-            Optional<SettingsBuilder> optionalConfigLogger = serviceLoader.findFirst();
-            return optionalConfigLogger.orElse(null);
+            Optional<SettingsBuilder> optionalSettingsBuilder = serviceLoader.findFirst();
+            return optionalSettingsBuilder.orElse(null);
         }
 
         private static final Settings emptySettings = createBuilder().build();
diff --git a/settings-api/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/SettingsBuilder.java b/settings-api/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/SettingsBuilder.java
index 8c97ad8..1666e37 100644
--- a/settings-api/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/SettingsBuilder.java
+++ b/settings-api/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/SettingsBuilder.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package org.xbib.settings;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.sql.Connection;
@@ -36,9 +37,9 @@ public interface SettingsBuilder {
 
     SettingsBuilder put(Map<String, String> settings);
 
-    SettingsBuilder loadFromString(String source);
+    SettingsBuilder loadFromString(String resourceName, String content);
 
-    SettingsBuilder loadFromResource(String resourceName, InputStream inputStream) throws SettingsException;
+    SettingsBuilder loadFromResource(String resourceName, InputStream inputStream);
 
     default SettingsBuilder fromJdbc(Connection connection, String statement, String[] params) throws SQLException {
         try (PreparedStatement preparedStatement = connection.prepareStatement(statement, params);
diff --git a/settings-api/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/SettingsLoader.java b/settings-api/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/SettingsLoader.java
index dbbe866..69cbb09 100644
--- a/settings-api/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/SettingsLoader.java
+++ b/settings-api/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/SettingsLoader.java
@@ -20,11 +20,14 @@ public interface SettingsLoader {
      * Loads the settings from a source string.
      * @param source the source
      * @return a Map
-     * @throws IOException if load fails
      */
     Map<String, String> load(String source) throws IOException;
 
+    /**
+     * Loads the settings from a map.
+     * @param source the map with the source
+     * @return a Map
+     */
     Map<String, String> load(Map<String, Object> source) throws IOException;
 
-    boolean canLoad(String source);
 }
diff --git a/settings-api/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/SettingsLoaderService.java b/settings-api/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/SettingsLoaderService.java
index bb23481..54a2d02 100644
--- a/settings-api/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/SettingsLoaderService.java
+++ b/settings-api/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/SettingsLoaderService.java
@@ -44,20 +44,6 @@ public final class SettingsLoaderService {
         throw new IllegalArgumentException("no settings loader for " + resourceName + " in " + settingsLoaderMap.keySet());
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Returns a {@link SettingsLoader} based on the actual source.
-     * @param source the source
-     * @return the settings loader
-     */
-    public SettingsLoader loaderFromString(String source) {
-        for (SettingsLoader loader : settingsLoaderMap.values()) {
-            if (loader.canLoad(source)) {
-                return loader;
-            }
-        }
-        throw new IllegalArgumentException("no settings loader");
-    }
-
     public Set<String> getSuffixes() {
         Set<String> suffixes = new HashSet<>();
         for (Set<String> set : settingsLoaderMap.keySet()) {
diff --git a/settings-content-json/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/content/json/JsonSettingsLoader.java b/settings-content-json/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/content/json/JsonSettingsLoader.java
index 712773d..cfd4280 100644
--- a/settings-content-json/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/content/json/JsonSettingsLoader.java
+++ b/settings-content-json/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/content/json/JsonSettingsLoader.java
@@ -21,8 +21,4 @@ public class JsonSettingsLoader extends AbstractSettingsLoader {
         return Set.of("json");
     }
 
-    @Override
-    public boolean canLoad(String source) {
-        return source.indexOf('{') != -1 && source.indexOf('}') != -1;
-    }
 }
diff --git a/settings-content-json/src/test/java/org/xbib/settings/content/json/JsonSettingsTest.java b/settings-content-json/src/test/java/org/xbib/settings/content/json/JsonSettingsTest.java
index cc2e8a2..c4c390a 100644
--- a/settings-content-json/src/test/java/org/xbib/settings/content/json/JsonSettingsTest.java
+++ b/settings-content-json/src/test/java/org/xbib/settings/content/json/JsonSettingsTest.java
@@ -47,9 +47,9 @@ public class JsonSettingsTest {
     }
 
     @Test
-    public void testLoadSettingsFromString() {
+    public void testLoadSettingsFromString() throws IOException {
         String json = "{\"Hello\":\"World\"}";
-        Settings settings = Settings.settingsBuilder().loadFromString(json).build();
+        Settings settings = Settings.settingsBuilder().loadFromString("json", json).build();
         assertEquals("{Hello=World}", settings.getAsMap().toString());
     }
 
diff --git a/settings-content-yaml/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/content/yaml/YamlSettingsLoader.java b/settings-content-yaml/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/content/yaml/YamlSettingsLoader.java
index 500c3f8..5e07789 100644
--- a/settings-content-yaml/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/content/yaml/YamlSettingsLoader.java
+++ b/settings-content-yaml/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/content/yaml/YamlSettingsLoader.java
@@ -30,9 +30,4 @@ public class YamlSettingsLoader extends AbstractSettingsLoader {
         // replace tabs with whitespace (yaml does not accept tabs, but many users might use it still...)
         return super.load(source.replace("\t", "  "));
     }
-
-    @Override
-    public boolean canLoad(String source) {
-        return source.indexOf(':') != -1;
-    }
 }
diff --git a/settings-content/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/content/ContentSettingsBuilder.java b/settings-content/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/content/ContentSettingsBuilder.java
index 4057bb8..91643b9 100644
--- a/settings-content/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/content/ContentSettingsBuilder.java
+++ b/settings-content/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/content/ContentSettingsBuilder.java
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ import java.util.function.Function;
  */
 public class ContentSettingsBuilder implements SettingsBuilder {
 
-    private final SettingsLoaderService settingsLoaderService = SettingsLoaderService.getInstance();
+    private final SettingsLoaderService settingsLoaderService;
 
     private final Map<String, String> map;
 
@@ -41,7 +41,8 @@ public class ContentSettingsBuilder implements SettingsBuilder {
     private TimeUnit timeUnit;
 
     public ContentSettingsBuilder() {
-        map = TinyMap.builder();
+        this.settingsLoaderService = SettingsLoaderService.getInstance();
+        this.map = TinyMap.builder();
     }
 
     public String remove(String key) {
@@ -227,24 +228,6 @@ public class ContentSettingsBuilder implements SettingsBuilder {
         return this;
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Loads settings from the actual string content that represents them using the
-     * {@link SettingsLoaderService#loaderFromString(String)}.
-     *
-     * @param source source
-     * @return builder
-     */
-    public ContentSettingsBuilder loadFromString(String source) {
-        SettingsLoader settingsLoader = settingsLoaderService.loaderFromString(source);
-        try {
-            Map<String, String> loadedSettings = settingsLoader.load(source);
-            put(loadedSettings);
-        } catch (Exception e) {
-            throw new SettingsException("Failed to load settings from [" + source + "]", e);
-        }
-        return this;
-    }
-
     /**
      * Loads settings from an URL.
      *
@@ -267,16 +250,31 @@ public class ContentSettingsBuilder implements SettingsBuilder {
      * @return builder
      */
     @Override
-    public ContentSettingsBuilder loadFromResource(String resourceName, InputStream inputStream) throws SettingsException {
-        SettingsLoader settingsLoader = settingsLoaderService.loaderFromResource(resourceName);
+    public ContentSettingsBuilder loadFromResource(String resourceName, InputStream inputStream) {
         try {
-            Map<String, String> loadedSettings = settingsLoader
-                    .load(ContentSettings.copyToString(new InputStreamReader(inputStream, StandardCharsets.UTF_8)));
-            put(loadedSettings);
+            return loadFromString(resourceName, ContentSettings.copyToString(new InputStreamReader(inputStream, StandardCharsets.UTF_8)));
         } catch (Exception e) {
-            throw new SettingsException("Failed to load settings from [" + resourceName + "]", e);
+            throw new SettingsException("failed to load settings from [" + resourceName + "]", e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Loads settings from the actual string content that represents them using the
+     * {@link SettingsLoaderService#loaderFromResource(String)} (String)}.
+     *
+     * @param resourceName the resource name ("json", "yaml")
+     * @param content the content
+     * @return builder
+     */
+    @Override
+    public ContentSettingsBuilder loadFromString(String resourceName, String content) {
+        try {
+            SettingsLoader settingsLoader = settingsLoaderService.loaderFromResource(resourceName);
+            put(settingsLoader.load(content));
+            return this;
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            throw new SettingsException("failed to load settings from [" + resourceName + "]", e);
         }
-        return this;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/settings-content/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/content/PropertiesSettingsLoader.java b/settings-content/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/content/PropertiesSettingsLoader.java
index ed2e83a..f101291 100644
--- a/settings-content/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/content/PropertiesSettingsLoader.java
+++ b/settings-content/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/content/PropertiesSettingsLoader.java
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ public class PropertiesSettingsLoader implements SettingsLoader {
 
 
     @Override
-    public Map<String, String> load(Map<String, Object> source) throws IOException {
+    public Map<String, String> load(Map<String, Object> source) {
         Properties props = new Properties();
         props.putAll(source);
         Map<String, String> result = new HashMap<>();
@@ -51,11 +51,6 @@ public class PropertiesSettingsLoader implements SettingsLoader {
         return result;
     }
 
-    @Override
-    public boolean canLoad(String source) {
-        return source != null && source.charAt(0) == '#';
-    }
-
     public Map<String, String> load(BytesReference ref) throws IOException {
         Properties props = new Properties();
         try (Reader reader = new InputStreamReader(ref.streamInput(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8)) {
diff --git a/settings-content/src/test/java/org/xbib/settings/content/test/SettingsTest.java b/settings-content/src/test/java/org/xbib/settings/content/test/SettingsTest.java
index 58e6c63..540b71b 100644
--- a/settings-content/src/test/java/org/xbib/settings/content/test/SettingsTest.java
+++ b/settings-content/src/test/java/org/xbib/settings/content/test/SettingsTest.java
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ public class SettingsTest {
     @Test
     public void testPropertiesLoaderFromString() {
         Settings settings = Settings.settingsBuilder()
-                .loadFromString("#\na.b=c")
+                .loadFromString("properties", "#\na.b=c")
                 .build();
         assertEquals("{a.b=c}", settings.getAsMap().toString());
     }
diff --git a/settings-datastructures-json/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/datastructures/json/JsonSettingsLoader.java b/settings-datastructures-json/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/datastructures/json/JsonSettingsLoader.java
index eb12297..987e33a 100644
--- a/settings-datastructures-json/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/datastructures/json/JsonSettingsLoader.java
+++ b/settings-datastructures-json/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/datastructures/json/JsonSettingsLoader.java
@@ -16,9 +16,4 @@ public class JsonSettingsLoader extends AbstractSettingsLoader {
     public Set<String> suffixes() {
         return Set.of("json");
     }
-
-    @Override
-    public boolean canLoad(String source) {
-        return source.indexOf('{') != -1 && source.indexOf('}') != -1;
-    }
 }
diff --git a/settings-datastructures-json/src/test/java/org/xbib/settings/datastructures/json/test/JsonSettingsTest.java b/settings-datastructures-json/src/test/java/org/xbib/settings/datastructures/json/test/JsonSettingsTest.java
index b6033b1..2622986 100644
--- a/settings-datastructures-json/src/test/java/org/xbib/settings/datastructures/json/test/JsonSettingsTest.java
+++ b/settings-datastructures-json/src/test/java/org/xbib/settings/datastructures/json/test/JsonSettingsTest.java
@@ -1,10 +1,6 @@
 package org.xbib.settings.datastructures.json.test;
 
-import java.io.FileOutputStream;
-import java.util.logging.Level;
-import java.util.logging.Logger;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
-import org.xbib.datastructures.json.tiny.JsonBuilder;
 import org.xbib.settings.Settings;
 import org.xbib.settings.SettingsLoader;
 import org.xbib.settings.datastructures.json.JsonSettingsLoader;
@@ -53,7 +49,7 @@ public class JsonSettingsTest {
     @Test
     public void testLoadSettingsFromString() {
         String json = "{\"Hello\":\"World\"}";
-        Settings settings = Settings.settingsBuilder().loadFromString(json).build();
+        Settings settings = Settings.settingsBuilder().loadFromString("json", json).build();
         assertEquals("{Hello=World}", settings.getAsMap().toString());
     }
 
diff --git a/settings-datastructures-yaml/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/datastructures/yaml/YamlSettingsLoader.java b/settings-datastructures-yaml/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/datastructures/yaml/YamlSettingsLoader.java
index d96ca84..3716cc3 100644
--- a/settings-datastructures-yaml/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/datastructures/yaml/YamlSettingsLoader.java
+++ b/settings-datastructures-yaml/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/datastructures/yaml/YamlSettingsLoader.java
@@ -20,11 +20,6 @@ public class YamlSettingsLoader extends AbstractSettingsLoader {
         return Set.of("yml", "yaml");
     }
 
-    @Override
-    public boolean canLoad(String source) {
-        return source.indexOf(':') != -1;
-    }
-
     @Override
     public Map<String, String> load(String source) throws IOException {
         // replace tabs with whitespace (yaml does not accept tabs, but many users might use it still...)
diff --git a/settings-datastructures/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/datastructures/DatastructureSettingsBuilder.java b/settings-datastructures/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/datastructures/DatastructureSettingsBuilder.java
index e1cac3e..6179506 100644
--- a/settings-datastructures/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/datastructures/DatastructureSettingsBuilder.java
+++ b/settings-datastructures/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/datastructures/DatastructureSettingsBuilder.java
@@ -28,12 +28,13 @@ import java.util.stream.Collectors;
  */
 public class DatastructureSettingsBuilder implements SettingsBuilder {
 
-    private final SettingsLoaderService settingsLoaderService = SettingsLoaderService.getInstance();
+    private final SettingsLoaderService settingsLoaderService;
 
     private final TinyMap.Builder<String, String> map;
 
     public DatastructureSettingsBuilder() {
-        map = TinyMap.builder();
+        this.settingsLoaderService = SettingsLoaderService.getInstance();
+        this.map = TinyMap.builder();
     }
 
     public String remove(String key) {
@@ -218,24 +219,6 @@ public class DatastructureSettingsBuilder implements SettingsBuilder {
         return this;
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Loads settings from the actual string content that represents them using the
-     * {@link SettingsLoaderService#loaderFromString(String)}.
-     *
-     * @param source source
-     * @return builder
-     */
-    @Override
-    public DatastructureSettingsBuilder loadFromString(String source) {
-        SettingsLoader settingsLoader = settingsLoaderService.loaderFromString(source);
-        try {
-            put(settingsLoader.load(source));
-        } catch (Exception e) {
-            throw new SettingsException("failed to load settings from [" + source + "]", e);
-        }
-        return this;
-    }
-
     /**
      * Loads settings from a resource.
      *
@@ -244,7 +227,7 @@ public class DatastructureSettingsBuilder implements SettingsBuilder {
      * @return builder
      */
     @Override
-    public DatastructureSettingsBuilder loadFromResource(String resourceName, InputStream inputStream) throws SettingsException {
+    public DatastructureSettingsBuilder loadFromResource(String resourceName, InputStream inputStream) {
         SettingsLoader settingsLoader = settingsLoaderService.loaderFromResource(resourceName);
         try (BufferedReader bufferedReader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(inputStream, StandardCharsets.UTF_8))) {
             Map<String, String> loadedSettings = settingsLoader.load(bufferedReader.lines().collect(Collectors.joining()));
@@ -255,6 +238,25 @@ public class DatastructureSettingsBuilder implements SettingsBuilder {
         return this;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Loads settings from the actual string content that represents them using the
+     * {@link SettingsLoaderService#loaderFromResource(String)} (String)}.
+     *
+     * @param resourceName the resource name
+     * @param  source the source
+     * @return builder
+     */
+    @Override
+    public DatastructureSettingsBuilder loadFromString(String resourceName, String source) {
+        SettingsLoader settingsLoader = settingsLoaderService.loaderFromResource(resourceName);
+        try {
+            put(settingsLoader.load(source));
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            throw new SettingsException("failed to load settings from [" + source + "]", e);
+        }
+        return this;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Load system properties to this settings.
      *
diff --git a/settings-datastructures/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/datastructures/PropertiesSettingsLoader.java b/settings-datastructures/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/datastructures/PropertiesSettingsLoader.java
index b41cde5..bed385e 100644
--- a/settings-datastructures/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/datastructures/PropertiesSettingsLoader.java
+++ b/settings-datastructures/src/main/java/org/xbib/settings/datastructures/PropertiesSettingsLoader.java
@@ -41,9 +41,4 @@ public class PropertiesSettingsLoader implements SettingsLoader {
         }
         return result.build();
     }
-
-    @Override
-    public boolean canLoad(String source) {
-        return source != null && source.charAt(0) == '#';
-    }
 }
diff --git a/settings-datastructures/src/test/java/org/xbib/settings/datastructures/test/SettingsTest.java b/settings-datastructures/src/test/java/org/xbib/settings/datastructures/test/SettingsTest.java
index af7eac9..52005f5 100644
--- a/settings-datastructures/src/test/java/org/xbib/settings/datastructures/test/SettingsTest.java
+++ b/settings-datastructures/src/test/java/org/xbib/settings/datastructures/test/SettingsTest.java
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 import org.xbib.settings.Settings;
 
 import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.time.LocalDate;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
@@ -126,7 +127,7 @@ public class SettingsTest {
     @Test
     public void testPropertiesLoaderFromString() {
         Settings settings = Settings.settingsBuilder()
-                .loadFromString("#\na.b=c")
+                .loadFromString("properties", "#\na.b=c")
                 .build();
         assertEquals("{a.b=c}", settings.getAsMap().toString());
     }