Best plugin to populate multiple products - Newbie question

Good morning!

I'm running ZC 1.5.5d at www.tattingcorner.com

Currently, I have a company who does pretty much everything, except I load new products manually and maintain the store side. But I have a product launch coming up with around 2000 new listings, and I'm losing the company that would normally do that for me so that I don't have to load them one by one. The new companies I'm quoting for hosting, etc., don't perform that sort of service.

The company owner has told me that he can give me FTP access to the server so that I can have a plugin that will allow me to do bulk product upload. Having never done anything like this before, I came to the forums looking for answers. I've looked at Easy Populate Version 4 (probably not an option because I don't use Open Office, just Excel), Apsona, and DBIO.

I have to confess I don't understand a lot about PHP, so my questions are going to be a little on the blonde side:
- Will these programs also upload the image files?
- Do I need FTP access in order to run these programs?
- Which is the easiest to use from my list above, or are there others I haven't found?

Thanks!

Lisa

I can "speak to" the answers for the DbIo Manager:
- It does not upload the images, but the Image Handler plugin does that ... and more!
- You do not need FTP access to run the DbIo, but you'll need either FTP or cPanel access to install the plugin.
- "Easiest" is in the eye of the beholder, so I won't weigh in on that answer.

The three options you have mentioned are the only three options.
Easy Populate has a long and checkered history and is maintained and supported on the forum. Your comment about not using Open/LibreOffice should be discounted, they are easy to use if it makes csv manipulation easier, and they DO. Excel is crap with respect to handling accented characters, Libreoffice the best.

Apsona is probably the easiest to use, but unsupported by the developers. It is supported on the forum by me, more or less, but only when it breaks, not for user questions.

DBIO is maintained and supported on the forum and was written from new this century. It's my recommended option.

Ease of use is "debatable" or open to interpretation. I would advise to consider how you plan to do your routine updates and what information is to be included.

Some noted differences are that for some, being able to upload just the columns/fields that need to be changed is the preferred method. For others, they want to see every column in their import/export. They each have some sort of "control" structure (filename format, field containing a specific identifier, presence of a specific field, etc...) such that one thing maps to another or to something.

The issues that have been recently seen for any/all of the three have basically been installation (similar to any plugin), then using whatever tool is to be used to generate the csv file (typically issues that are covered by the instruction). Beyond that, the software itself for the most part is a "translator" taking input and placing it to the database or taking the database and pushing it to an exported file.

Thanks for everyone's input. I think I'll look closer at DBIO. Re: my comments about OpenOffice...I've just used Microslop products for so long that it's difficult for me to transition to a new software. I know my shortcuts and a lot of times those shortcuts don't work in open source programs. :)

Lisa

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CraftCorner

Thanks for everyone's input. I think I'll look closer at DBIO. Re: my comments about OpenOffice...I've just used Microslop products for so long that it's difficult for me to transition to a new software. I know my shortcuts and a lot of times those shortcuts don't work in open source programs. :)

Lisa

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There are those that have been using Excel with the other plugins as well. All three can be installed at the same time as they should not conflict with one another. There are obviously differences between each that would need to be recognized (simple export of the same data from each and comparing should identify anything of importance.)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mc12345678

There are those that have been using Excel with the other plugins as well. All three can be installed at the same time as they should not conflict with one another. There are obviously differences between each that would need to be recognized (simple export of the same data from each and comparing should identify anything of importance.)

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Thanks! I'm kind of groping my way around here, so figuring out one program is probably going to be my limit, especially since I run my retail store at the same time. :)