Apsona ShopAdmin for Zen Cart
M.A. Sridhar of Apsona ShopAdmin for Zen Cart has asked me to write an assessment of the import process in Apsona ShopAdmin. I am happy to oblige as without his kind assistance it would have taken many more weeks for me to get my new store online. (http://webbermusic.net/newstore/). My store sells music and I am a composer and music publisher. I've recently upgraded from selling only virtual downloads (pdf music scores and mp3 audio files) to including printed music. This means that from a store with about 220 products (titles) I now have a store with over 1800 titles (220 titles plus orchestral material and parts for each title.
The problem was to update the mysql dbase by adding instrumental parts - up to 35 for each title/product. I have tried alternatives and found them far from easy and so was resigned to several weeks of adding products in zen admin.
Apsona ShopAdmin is a free zen cart add on available from:
http://apsona.com/
One has to sign up to get it tho - don't just click the download link on the home page, it took me a while to figure out why it would not install, only by signing up and getting a link do you get all of the files needed.
At this point I discovered Apsona ShopAdmin. Altho far from perfect (understandable, it's only been available a few months and is still being developed) it has not only great potential but has superb support and is free. This sounds just too good to be true and I suspect that it will become a commercial product at some point. But in the mean time it is already a useable and reliable tool for doing mass updates to a zen mysql dbase.
My dbase was updated on a MacBook Pro with the help of Filemaker 9. I have to admit that most of the problems were my own fault in that I am hopelessly ignorant of good database design. In this apsona is quite stringent, it has to know the Model (best if unique), the Name and the Product Type for every product imported. Once the initial import was accomplished (and this was my biggest headache - ensuring every item had a unique Model entry) updting was quite easy and quick. I would make changes in Filemaker, export as a .mer file (for the header) and copy and past into apsona. From exporting from FMaker to finished zen import - maybe a minute.
Preparing the import file:
This is probably the most important step. In apsonaAdmin click on the 'Settings' tab to see the available tables. I have no idea what 'Allowed combinations are' but the others are pretty much self explanatory. Click on whatever table (in the 'Label' column) you wish to import.
A text file may be created in the Downloads folder by clicking on 'CSV'. This file will list the fields and field types (text, number, date, etc.) but not whether a field is required (useful????)
Make a note of all the fields. These fields need not have an entry for every record - so you can update/import for some records and not for others.
Make an note of required fields. These fields must have an entry for every record.
Some fields have to be unique - usually Model (sometimes Name?) and, obviously, any Id field.
If the column headers in the import file are the same as in the Settings tab then apsona will 'Set up fields' (below, import procedure 2.) for you. It's not a big deal to do it yourself tho.
Here is the import procedure:
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Provide Data
1a. prepare a csv or tab (suffix is irrelevant - I usually use .txt) file.
1b. In apsonaAdmin click on the appropriate tab for whatever you want to import (Orders, Customers, Products, etc.) go to Tools -> Import/update, copy/paste the csv or tab file into the box.
1c. Click on 'Import new records'.
1d. Products and Manufacturers only: From the Duplicates drop menu choose either 'Reject' or 'Add (no checking)'.
1e. Tell apsona what the field serator in the file is: comma tab, or semicolon.
1f. Find out whether you are in the US or India (it would seem that India formats the date as we do in Britain).
1g. Products only: If there are no categories defined in zen admin click 'Create missing categories'.
1h. Click 'Next'.
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Set up fields
2a. If the headers match apsona's headers (pretty much the same as zen's) then the drop menus will be set, otherwise set the drop menus to the correct fields.
2b. Choose from the 'On data errors' drop menu either 'Stop and show errors' or 'Omit erroneous records'. Common errors are a duplicate model or an empty required field (every record must have a Model, Name and Product Type).
2c. Click 'Next'
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Finish import
3a. If 'Stop and show errors' was chosen above (2b.) then you will be presented either with a list of errors (cf. 2b) in a pop up window (which can be exported to a text file) or a button to Import. Pressing the 'Import' button commits you.
3b. Press done.
Now go back to whatever tab you started from (Orders, Customers, Products, etc.) and 'Refresh' and the imports should appear.
The only fields I imported (and updated) were: Manufacurers, Products and Product attributes. All successfully. I could not figure out how to import categories separately (ie other than when importing products) and had to create links in zen admin. I understand this is a Mac problem which is being worked on.
My import order was: Manufacturers -> Products -> Attributes. This seems the logical way to do it and I suspect it might be more difficult to import Manufacturers after importing products. I think this is one of those relational dbase issues that sends my head spinning.
Summa summarum:
Both MA Sridhar and Apsona shopAdmin have been extremely helpful to me. There are many cosmetic enhancements that would make it easier to use and the documentation also leaves much to be desired. I could not have successfully imported over 1800 records without (almost daily) emails and screen sharings. Based on my personal interactions with MA Sridhar I believe him to be seiously dedicated to this project and I believe that in time the documentation and user interface will make this an invaluable tool. I wish him the best of luck and hope this will prove helpful to whoever reads it
John Webber
Composer Publisher
http://webbermusic.net/newstore/
