Easy Populate 1.2.5.4 support

[Scrat]

blazed8 Without writing some bespoke software, EP can update stock levels and enable and disable products in the basic setup already (this does exclude Stock by Attributes works via a different database table/s).
In the last but one column in the complete file you will see v_status:
1 = Enabled
0 = Disabled
9 = Delete from database
Under v_products_quantity this the current stock available.
So using a table in OO or Excel you should be able to use your spread sheets !!

[schoolboy]

blazed8 Without writing some bespoke software, EP can update stock levels and enable and disable products in the basic setup already (this does exclude Stock by Attributes works via a different database table/s).
In the last but one column in the complete file you will see v_status:
1 = Enabled
0 = Disabled
9 = Delete from database
Under v_products_quantity this the current stock available.
So using a table in OO or Excel you should be able to use your spread sheets !!

Yes, this technique is possible... but you have to move with a bit of care...

I have found that v_status=9 tends to remove the product data (desired behaviour) AND its image (undesired behaviour if your intention is to re-upload modified data)

Bear in mind that the auto-increment feature in the product ID will put in a new ID when the dbase is re-populated with the refreshed data.

This is not an easy one... v_status=9 should ONLY be used when a product is well-and-truly discontinued. It shouldn't really be used to "temporarily" remove data about a product that is then "refreshed" with a clean EP import.

I used to work with a dropshipper who (fortunately) understood the needs of their agents and they produced FOUR separate datafiles daily:

1. DISCONTINUED PRODUCTS (To which we just said v_status=9)
2. OUT OF STOCK PRODUCTS (To which we just said v_status=0)
3. BACK IN STOCK PRODUCTS (To which we ran a v_status=1 and it would re-activate all relevant v_status=0 products)
4. NEW PRODUCTS (Which were added in a normal EP upload with v_status=1)

Put pressure on your supplier to do the same... They MUST have a stock management system, and are therefore able to generate these 4 files with relative ease.

[blazed8]

Scrat thanks for your response.

This is not an easy one... v_status=9 should ONLY be used when a product is well-and-truly discontinued. It shouldn't really be used to "temporarily" remove data about a product that is then "refreshed" with a clean EP import.

schoolboy, what will happen if I use v_status=9 and upload
products that are then "refreshed" with a clean EP import?

Thanks

[LovejonesBoutique]

Hello All,

Here I am once again trying to figure out EP at its best. But I am determined to complete this task till the end. Todays issue is Categories.
I have installed EP 1.2.5.4, on my ZC 1.3.8.
I used the sample files under Tools>Easy Pop to create my spreadsheet in excel and save as a txt delimited file to upload into the db.
The problem that im having now is when I look at the website, there are no updates made...but when i look in Admin>Catalog>Categories, it shows that there are 35 active products. When I click on the product folder to see what is listed...its blank!

Is there something Im missing? I thought all I would have to do is upload to db, and everything is all set.
Where do i begin to solve this problem?

Also, as for my images....just to be clear can I just upload the full image zip file into the image folder in the root directory?
public html/images
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Joann
www.lovejonesboutique.com

[Mike_Dean]

Hello All,

Here I am once again trying to figure out EP at its best. But I am determined to complete this task till the end. Todays issue is Categories.
I have installed EP 1.2.5.4, on my ZC 1.3.8.
I used the sample files under Tools>Easy Pop to create my spreadsheet in excel and save as a txt delimited file to upload into the db.
The problem that im having now is when I look at the website, there are no updates made...but when i look in Admin>Catalog>Categories, it shows that there are 35 active products. When I click on the product folder to see what is listed...its blank!

Is there something Im missing? I thought all I would have to do is upload to db, and everything is all set.
Where do i begin to solve this problem?

Also, as for my images....just to be clear can I just upload the full image zip file into the image folder in the root directory?
public html/images
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Joann
www.lovejonesboutique.com

Can you zip up the txt file you were using and link a copy here, that way we can upload it and have a look see in our test carts to see what is happening with it and try and narrow down your problems and provide a solution.


As for images.. if you don't want individual folders for different categories / brands/ suppliers etc, then yes, you can just upload all your images to the image directory, and then in EP, you would just use the actual files name of the image to be used for each product.


Mike

[Scrat]

blazed You would get a new product_id number which would then reflect on search engine index's. (ie you ranking in search engine results for that particular product).
As Schoolboy says just use 1 / 0 if you are regularly updating products, only use 9 if you never would have that product in again. By disabling the product this should not effect your shops speed and this product would not show in the cart if disabled.

LovejonesBoutique Did you enter a product manually in ZC first ? as if you uploaded via EP first, your products will not show up. I haven't done this myself but you might try 'Reset ALL Products Master Categories ID' in Store Manger.
From my experience you really want to put your images in separate folders and you can control this easier if you have hundreds of images.

[kenny724]

Ok, using version 1.2.5.6 and unfortunately it does not have meta tag support which I need. Then I download the CSV Easy Populate...and it has meta tag support, but doesn't have the sort order support I need. I like the interface and the custom forms on 1.2.5.6.....but how can I add the meta tags on that? Thanks.

[schoolboy]

I've added ALL the product table fields to 1.2.5.4 in the past. There is a post by Lankeeyankee describing the procedure.

Search for add fields to Easy Populate

Note: his procedure applies to 1.2.5.4 .

[mzimmers]

This may have been answered already in this thread, but...

What is the correct syntax for the directory specified in v_products_image? If I want to reference an image that's in /images/uploads/image.jpg, what do I put in this field in the spreadsheet?

Thanks.

[Mike_Dean]

This may have been answered already in this thread, but...

What is the correct syntax for the directory specified in v_products_image? If I want to reference an image that's in /images/uploads/image.jpg, what do I put in this field in the spreadsheet?

Thanks.

uploads/image.jpg