Import Products from XML to PrestaShop 1.7 including data to existing Custom Fields
Budget: $30 – $250 USD
My DATA I want imported is <500 products that come from my eBay Store via an export using another software package I use to run my eBay business. It connects via eBay API & is called Sixbit. & fortunately it has a great EXPORT functionality. I will provide a SAMPLE XML export.
I am currently developing the site, & I need the products in now.
Out of ALL my products, I only have 3-4 that have eBay Variations (PrestaShop calls them "Combinations"). So it seems it would makes more sense to export the other ~400 products first, & then separately do the few like this (or skip them and enter them manually since I probably need to set up PrestaShop Combinations first anyway).
I currently have 4 Custom Product Fields, created with a 3rd party module. So the data will go into both the standard PrestaShop Product Table/Fields, as well as Tables/Fields where this module stores and uses the custom field data (4 tables as far as I see).
See attached (for structure and all)
If you're a PrestaShop or Magento guru, I suspect you may use Store Manager (from eMagicOne https://emagicone.com/ ).
I too am using Store Manager, & I already have the connection setup (actually 2, one using the Bridge Connector, & the other using the Direct to Database connection. I haven't used the PHP-mySQL Bridge method.
I mention this because, if you use it you probably know this could be helpful, in part because it has Import functionality beyond the native PrestaShop import functionality. Also, it has a way to save the import configuration, so once complete, I could use it to run future imports, which is better for me. More on that later though.
One challenge I thought about is how to handle the "Item Specifics" data from eBay, since on eBay, EVERY DIFFERENT CATEGORY of ITEMS has DIFFERENT item specifics.
Here is one "ITEM SPECIFICS" section of data values from the XML file shown in this screenshot
https://i.imgur.com/8oSjuKM.jpg
But since every different product could have different name/value pairs in this section, the "Challenge" for you and I as I see it is the question of "mapping" or where to import the data
So with the previously mentioned module ADVANCED CUSTOM FIELDS https://codecanyon.net/item/advanced-custom-fields-for-prestashop/23001846
I set up an "EDITOR" CUSTOM FIELD TYPE.
It's a WYSIWYG Editor data field, & can be set to display both on the backend & the store front end.
So we can take WHATEVER Fieldname/Value pairs exist between the <ItemSpecifics> nodes in the import file, & put ALL the item specific fields data into this field.
see last 2 attached
Ideally, we WRAP every record for this field in some basic HTML
i.e. just a DIV with a CLASS attached that would wrap each entire <ItemSpecifics> section values in the necessary markup for me to target, and a <BR /> in between each Name/Value pair with a <STRONG> around either the NAME or the VALUE to highlight/separate the label from the value.
I don't know whether or not you can do this during the import with some fancy SQL, or if it would be easier to do some slightly creative yet really fairly simple SEARCH/REPLACE's on the Import XML file BEFORE doing the IMPORT. This way the output will be something like
Brand: OKDnet Handmade Creations
Product: Wall Decor
Material: Mixed
I know this isn't a huge job, but it's huge (important) for me.
So I want to be clear what I want beyond the above scope
1- Someone that can COMMUNICATE WELL in ENGLISH. My above description should make it clear that I know how to communicate clearly, & I expect and appreciate the same. There are some great developers out there I can't/won't work with because they fail in this regard.
2- I work from home extended hours CST, but if you're only up when I'm sleeping, that's a problem. And this means if we're doing email, I can get a response in a reasonable timeframe that facilitates multiple emails throughout the day when necessary (even better if close to "real-time, or when necessary a CALL or CHAT).
Regards
I am currently developing the site, & I need the products in now.
Out of ALL my products, I only have 3-4 that have eBay Variations (PrestaShop calls them "Combinations"). So it seems it would makes more sense to export the other ~400 products first, & then separately do the few like this (or skip them and enter them manually since I probably need to set up PrestaShop Combinations first anyway).
I currently have 4 Custom Product Fields, created with a 3rd party module. So the data will go into both the standard PrestaShop Product Table/Fields, as well as Tables/Fields where this module stores and uses the custom field data (4 tables as far as I see).
See attached (for structure and all)
If you're a PrestaShop or Magento guru, I suspect you may use Store Manager (from eMagicOne https://emagicone.com/ ).
I too am using Store Manager, & I already have the connection setup (actually 2, one using the Bridge Connector, & the other using the Direct to Database connection. I haven't used the PHP-mySQL Bridge method.
I mention this because, if you use it you probably know this could be helpful, in part because it has Import functionality beyond the native PrestaShop import functionality. Also, it has a way to save the import configuration, so once complete, I could use it to run future imports, which is better for me. More on that later though.
One challenge I thought about is how to handle the "Item Specifics" data from eBay, since on eBay, EVERY DIFFERENT CATEGORY of ITEMS has DIFFERENT item specifics.
Here is one "ITEM SPECIFICS" section of data values from the XML file shown in this screenshot
https://i.imgur.com/8oSjuKM.jpg
But since every different product could have different name/value pairs in this section, the "Challenge" for you and I as I see it is the question of "mapping" or where to import the data
So with the previously mentioned module ADVANCED CUSTOM FIELDS https://codecanyon.net/item/advanced-custom-fields-for-prestashop/23001846
I set up an "EDITOR" CUSTOM FIELD TYPE.
It's a WYSIWYG Editor data field, & can be set to display both on the backend & the store front end.
So we can take WHATEVER Fieldname/Value pairs exist between the <ItemSpecifics> nodes in the import file, & put ALL the item specific fields data into this field.
see last 2 attached
Ideally, we WRAP every record for this field in some basic HTML
i.e. just a DIV with a CLASS attached that would wrap each entire <ItemSpecifics> section values in the necessary markup for me to target, and a <BR /> in between each Name/Value pair with a <STRONG> around either the NAME or the VALUE to highlight/separate the label from the value.
I don't know whether or not you can do this during the import with some fancy SQL, or if it would be easier to do some slightly creative yet really fairly simple SEARCH/REPLACE's on the Import XML file BEFORE doing the IMPORT. This way the output will be something like
Brand: OKDnet Handmade Creations
Product: Wall Decor
Material: Mixed
I know this isn't a huge job, but it's huge (important) for me.
So I want to be clear what I want beyond the above scope
1- Someone that can COMMUNICATE WELL in ENGLISH. My above description should make it clear that I know how to communicate clearly, & I expect and appreciate the same. There are some great developers out there I can't/won't work with because they fail in this regard.
2- I work from home extended hours CST, but if you're only up when I'm sleeping, that's a problem. And this means if we're doing email, I can get a response in a reasonable timeframe that facilitates multiple emails throughout the day when necessary (even better if close to "real-time, or when necessary a CALL or CHAT).
Regards