Import Channels
Last updated
Last updated
Use import channels to upload your products' catalog's feed to our platform, this feature will also keep your catalog updated according to the feed.
To start creating an Import Channel, we must first create the catalog which will contain the products imported by the feed, to create a catalog follow the steps in the Catalogs article, we also will need to have a products feed to use as a source for our import channel.
Import Channels can import data from HTTP, FTP or SFTP websites. Google Merchant's XML format is the standard for creating catalogs and the easiest to work with, but the import channel can be configured to use CSV or other XML formats.
Fill in the details on the 3 tabs:
General Tab On this tab, you will find the general details related to your import channel, use the examples to help you fill in all the details.
Name: Set a name for your Import channel.
Tags: Set tags for your organization.
Catalog: Select the catalog you've created to receive the products on the feed.
When to create or update products: Set the period in which your products will be created or updated.
When to remove products:
Never: Products created or updated at the source will be modified or added to the catalog. However, products deleted at the source will not be removed from the catalog.
Before each importation: All products will be deleted from the catalog before each import process. Then, products that exist at the source will be added to the catalog. Beware! The catalog will remain empty until the importation is completed, which might result in empty ad banners during this period. All product metrics will be preserved.
Hours after being imported: Define how long after importation products should remain in the catalog if not re-imported. As long as the import frequency is shorter than the product expiration time, the catalog will not become empty. All product metrics will be preserved.
Source Tab This tab contains the source details related to your import channel, use the examples to help you fill in these details according to your source option.
Protocol: Select the protocol of your source and fill in the details according to your choice.
HTTP:
URL: Inform your feed's URL
SFTP and FTP:
Host: Inform your source's host.
Port: Inform your source's Port.
User: Inform a user to access your source.
Password: Inform the password to validate your user at the source.
Path: Inform the path to your source.
Detected Records: Display your feed's records in table format.
Issues: Display the problems that can affect your import job.
Raw: Display your feed file source code.
Charset: Inform the source's charset, which was previously detected on the source test result.
File Format: The source test result will automatically fill these fields, however, you can change them manually. Select between these options:
CSV: Source feed based on a file with comma-separated values.
Delimiter: insert the character that separates your file values.
XML: Source feed based on an XML file.
Item tag: insert the item tag on your XML file.
Mapping Tab You will find on this tab the mapping details related to your import channel, use the examples to help you to configure your mapping.
Template Format: Select between these two options:
Google Shopping: Select this option if you are using a Google Shopping Feed.
Advanced: For any other kind of feed file, select this option.
Filters Tab In this tab, you will be able to set filters to select the products that you need to import. This can be useful for reducing the costs of import jobs by importing only the products you need.
Path: Inform a path value, such as one of the feed column labels.
Operator: Select one of the operator values, this value will establish the filter.
Value: Inform the value you need to filter from your catalog's feed, such as a brand name, or range of product ids.
After filling out the fields, you will also need to input the same data into the displayed template. You must change only the values you are filtering, otherwise, it will not work properly.
Example 1: In this picture, you will notice that a filter was established using the description column of the feed file as a reference for the path, the chosen operator was 'Contains', and the Value was 'Cerdo', meaning that this import channel will only import products that contain the word 'Cerdo' in their description. You will also notice that on the template, the content of the line 'description' was modified to match the filter value.
Example 2: You will also notice a filter using the 'url' column as a reference for the path; this one was manually added. To manually add new columns to your filters, they must be present in your feed's mapping too. You also need to respect the template semantics: columns are comma-separated, and a colon is used to separate a column label from its value. Column labels and values must be declared between quotation marks.
Click on to start creating your Import Channel.
Test Source: This button, , allows you to test your source and retrieve relevant data for the next fields. There are three tabs for the source test result:
After finishing the test click on to close the source test result window and automatically fill the next fields with your test results.
Detect Template: Click on to detect the best template based on your feed file.
Test Template: Click on to access a preview of how your products will be displayed in your catalog. If there are any failures with the mapping or the feed file, you will notice them on this test.
Click on to proceed.
You can add as many filters as necessary by clicking on , and also remove them by clicking on at the same row as the filter you want to delete.
Once you have finished the steps above, check your settings to ensure everything is correct, then click on to save your Import Channel.
Click on to start a manual job for importing your products:
Click on to start importing your products.
It's also possible to import only a few products to test if everything works fine before starting the full import. We can do this by checking the box 'Testing Mode', filling in the details and then clicking on .
Follow your import at the Jobs tab, at this tab we can see the issues with our import or if they were completed. It's possible to understand the problem by clicking on or on the same row as the failed job.
We can edit our import channels by clicking on at the same row that the import channel you need to edit. All details are available for editing.
We can delete unused import channels by clicking on at the same row that the import channel to be deleted is, however, this will also delete the metrics related to it, so proceed with caution, alternatively we can also archive these import channels by clicking on at the same row that the import channel to be archived, to view archived import channels, turn on the option 'Archived' above the import channels' list.
