Import Products .. categories, descriptions, images

[nomadfaa]

I have a shop with 1,000 products, with categories, descriptions, pricing, weight, sizes and images
Is it possible to import these into Phoca?
<fingers crossed>

[dmlwebal]

Hi,

Yes, but you must use the CSV import (built into Phoca). So, the best way is to create a XAMPP demo store, add a manufacturer, category and product then export a csv file from Phoca Cart Admin.

This will allow you to download and open a copy of the spreadsheet complete with your product. In turn you can now view the fields that require data.
Follow the structure for the rest of your products.
Certain fields cannot be empty or they will not display in your Store or AdminProduct List. Must have an ID and manufacturer. Descriptions can be pasted as raw text or html tagged text into the description field
Image urls *can* be imported (of course you need to upload the images to the corresponding folders) but, it is better to add these manually using the Admin. Adding them manually gives better control of the thumbnail generation built into Phoca.

Best method is:
Create Tax method
Create categories in Phoca Cart Admin
Create Manufacturers in Phoca Cart Admin
Create One product for each manufacturer and category complete with size, weight, image and description data

Export the CSV that you can now create in Phoca Admin Export. Open with Libre Office Calc (it is free and displays the CSV better then MS Excel or Open Office)
Follow the examples that you have exported. **CSV exports using the semi-colon ';' as a field delimiter** I do not advise changing this so Libre Offic Calc is the best spreadsheet for Phoca Cart exports!

Note, new products must be appended to the exported csv file otherwise you risk writing over existing data. So always export the existing CSV first then add new products to that file, then Import.

I run a store with 18,000 products and this method works best.

Regards

David

[nomadfaa]

Thanks for that.
Most comprehensive.
Time to do the testing

[bizsmith]

Hi
Did you have any luck importing the products?
I am trying a similar import, following the steps in David reply
Created my CSV to import
Uploads to the Import Admin section, says ready to import 611 items but stops there.
Will not complete import.
Any thoughts?
Greg

[Jan]

Hi,

- try to enable logging in Phoca Cart and see if there is some error message
- try to see developer console, the importing works on ajax method





(check if the status of the ajax is 200, if not try to see if there is some error message rendered)



Jan