Google Base Feeder Support Thread [OLD]

[fakeDecoy]

I just installed 1.9.1. I was previously using 1.7.1a successfully. Last night it created and uploaded a product feed using 1.7.1a, and I haven't done any zc code edits since.

When I create a feed under 1.9.1, it hangs here, output below. I have about 2000 products.

Google Merchant Center Feeder v%s started 2011/06/21 00:43:13
Feed file - /home/mysite/public_html/feed/mysite_products.xml
Processing: Feed - Yes, Upload - No

What could be causing this? A recent post in this thread mentioned "debug", but I don't see any such setting for this mod.

I tried selecting Documents, of which I have zero, as the feed type, and it completed immediately as expected:

Google Merchant Center Feeder v%s started 2011/06/21 00:55:03
Feed file - /home/mysite/public_html/feed/mysite_documents.xml
Processing: Feed - Yes, Upload - No
Google Merchant Center File Complete In 0.014773 Seconds 0 Records

zc 1.3.9hp1

mods installed:
Zen Cart 20 Ways Conversion Pack
MZMT Shipping
Simple Google Analytics
Email address Exporter
EasyPopulate
CH Category
Recover Cart Sales
Request for Quote
CEON URI Mapping
Search Log
Mailbeez
Short Description for Categories
Google Merchant Center

[fakeDecoy]

So following up on my last post, I figured out that I needed to run all the SQL patch files in order since 1.7.1. So I did that, putting in the correct configuration_group_id value in each. I turned on debug, but how do I get the debug output? The popup window when I try to create a feed is still hanging at the same point, and the products output file contains only this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<rss version="2.0" xmlns:g="http://base.google.com/ns/1.0">
<channel>
<title>My Store</title>
<link>http://www.mysite.com</link>
<description>My store description.</description>

[fakeDecoy]

Nevermind my previous posts. I missed a file. Seems to work just fine. Great work on this mod!

[Hound]

I'm totally confused on what mods this particular mod needs to operate correctly.

I have the latest version of Zen and had Numinix install the Google Feed. For some reason I thought this would also install the Product fields as well but even with UPC etc turned on in the configuration, I do not have any place to enter those in the product pages.

After reading the documentation here and on Numinix's site which requires you to register and then NEVER sends you a confirmation email so that you can post to his forum directly I'm beginning to wonder if I need the following other mods to make this one work?

Auction Site Attributes
Product Fields
Magic SEO

Can you point me in the right direction please. I cannot get a response out of Numinix.

[delia]

You don't need another mod to make it work. He included settings in case you have those mods installed.

[Hound]

Would you be kind enough to tell me which mods I need in order to have UPC's in the product description and export? Any additional instructions/tips etc. would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[wizer]

Hi. I'm having issues with this.

I set it up fine a couple of weeks ago and it was all working well. Then we had some issues with PayPal and put the site into maintenance mode for a couple of days. Google sent me a message saying my site wasn't crawlable, which made sense. But since I've turned the site back on, I can't get Google to approve the feed. I have filled in their form a couple of times, but they just come back saying that googlebot can not access the links. I don't think I have any restrictions on this. Where would I check?

I have been playing with the settings and I did notice that the link wasn't using cPath. I've turned that on and it now appears to be the correct URL within the link tag. The only difference is the ampersand (&amp;) definitions, which I assume Google is sensible enough to convert ?

So for example my feed says:

<link>http://intelligentworkshoptools.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&amp;cPath=36,37&amp;products_id=88&amp;currency=GBP</link>

But the actual URL is http://intelligentworkshoptools.co.u...e=product_info&cPath=36,37&products_id=88&currency=GBP

Something else that is odd.

When I download the domain_products.xml through the admin panel it's a different file than when I download it via FTP. Yet the location is the same? I know this as the file sizes are different and also the content is different. In that it seems to be stripping out the cPath par of the URL in the <link>

V.Confused.

[wizer]

anyone?

[torvista]

v10.1
I found that accented characters were being corrupted on my hosting (linux, php 5.2) server and not on any test (windows PHP5.3) machines.

To fix this
in google_base.php in the infamous (to me anyway) google_base_sanita function

find

      if (phpversion() >= 5.3) {
        $str = htmlentities($str, ENT_QUOTES | ENT_IGNORE, 'UTF-8');
      } else {
        $str = htmlentities($str);
      }
      return $str; 

and change to

      if (phpversion() >= 5.3) {
        $str = htmlentities($str, ENT_QUOTES | ENT_IGNORE, 'UTF-8');//ENT_IGNORE silently deletes an invalid character
      } else {
        $str = htmlentities($str, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8');//Not having ENT_IGNORE returns an empty string if containing an invalid character
      }
      return $str; 

[gowzel]

v10.1
I found that accented characters were being corrupted on my hosting (linux, php 5.2) server and not on any test (windows PHP5.3) machines.

To fix this
in google_base.php in the infamous (to me anyway) google_base_sanita function

find

      if (phpversion() >= 5.3) {
        $str = htmlentities($str, ENT_QUOTES | ENT_IGNORE, 'UTF-8');
      } else {
        $str = htmlentities($str);
      }
      return $str; 

and change to

      if (phpversion() >= 5.3) {
        $str = htmlentities($str, ENT_QUOTES | ENT_IGNORE, 'UTF-8');//ENT_IGNORE silently deletes an invalid character
      } else {
        $str = htmlentities($str, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8');//Not having ENT_IGNORE returns an empty string if containing an invalid character
      }
      return $str; 

Is that a fix for general ampersands commas signs etc or just accents. I have just entered a couple of hundred products and its not reading the descriptions of any. Example below:

EDIT Now that I have pasted it here I see all the ##, those are spaces in the originals, is that the problem? how can I fix it without edting all the products

LED’s work on a set colour wave length, so if a white bulb is placed in a green
lens it will usually result in a blue-ish light. Therefore it’s important that a direct
colour replacement LED light bulb, ie. green for green, red for red, and white
for white is used.##<div>Shock resistant##</div><div>Produce only a small amount of heat when in use.##</div><div>Use only a fraction of the power used by the standard navigation light bulb##</div><div>Direct BAY15D replacement, can be used in most types of navigation lights.
Offset bayonet fitting with both positive and negative connections through base.##</div><div>Because of this, they will only work one way, so, if after fitting them they do not light, simply change over the + and - terminals in the light fitting.
Fitting the bulb with the terminals the wrong way round will not damage the LED
light bulb.</div><div><br /></div><div><u><b>Buy all 3 colours for only £29.00</b></u></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>20 LED direct replacement navigation light bulb.##
</div><div>Life expectancy 80,000 - 100,000 hours##</div><div>Power Draw 1.5 Watts##</div><div>Light output 60 Lm / 20 Watts approx##</div><div>Fitting BAY15D##</div><div>Voltage Rating 12 or 24 volts DC##</div><div><br /></div><div>Dimensions:##</div><div>## ##Height 55-60mm##</div><div>## ##Diameter##</div><div>## ## ##Bulb 25mm##</div><div>## ## ##Base 15mm</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Light Colours:##</div><div>## ##White##</div><div>## ##Red##</div><div>## ##Green</div>