[PAID] Google Merchant Static Feed

[kurt]

IF this add-on produces a feed that passes Google's new requirements, I'll pay for it.

[Martin]

Hi Folks,

I figured I'd have a few queries on this today given that the new requirements are coming into force as of yesterday.

Right, first things first... I haven't abandoned anything but I have been a tad busy (to put it mildly) with a lot of changes, visits and the like over the past month with incorporation, VAT registration, move to new premises, a LOT of IT headaches, a funeral, wedding and the need to take the little one to visit various grandparents, etc... Yeah "busy" about covers it.

I'm looking at my schedule today and once I've sorted out my retail stores orders from the past 12 hours I'll get cracking on the code and see if I can sort things out.

@pitorian: If you could PM me your ftp login details (minus password) and then email me the password via info@[domain for this site] I can debug the VAT issue directly as it does need to be fixed.


The biggest headaches I'm facing regarding the new requirements are:

• The Google Taxonomy and how to enable that in the admin backend
• Variations: How to enable direct linkage to those pages

I hasten to add that both of these have been resolved in other Google Merchant add-ons that came out of nowhere a month back so you may want to consider getting one of those but I have no idea if they deal with all other requirements or issues like large product feeds, so ask questions if you're thinking that route.

As to ETA... at this point, I honestly have no idea... Working as hard as I can to get everything done but the list is very long and I'd rather be honest than feed false hope at a quick fix.

[Martin]

Hi Martin,

I hope things are going better for you.

Better? Yeah, life's good, crazy busy but good

I was wondering if you had any plans to modify this. We could pay for the changes as it seems like a lot of work (paying for a new download or sending an amount via paypal). It looks like the only thing we need added that's required is the "image_link" since taxes can be added in the merchant center I think (I'm not the one who deals with this feed so I could be wrong).

The images link should be working but I believe there's now an option to include more than one image and I do know there were issues in the past with different ways of getting the image information depending on which version of ISC you had. Additional images should be an easy fix. Tax is an unknown at present but relatively easy to resolve (I hope).

Some other issues I notice from looking at the feed are that there is a <summary> field whereas Google asks for a <description> field. The other issue is that the feed says <link href=""> whereas Google says it should be <link></link>. I don't know if the client is modifying this but I think it's wrong if this is what this program is generating.

Those differences come down to the type of feed you provide... I originally thought, like you, that the description field was required and summary deprecated/shelved, but it turns out that both are valid depending on your feeds format. Bottom line, the way the code now works (with my module at least) has been tested and will submit the correct information without chucking out errors (unless something else changed very recently).

[kurt]

Hi Folks,

I hasten to add that both of these have been resolved in other Google Merchant add-ons that came out of nowhere a month back so you may want to consider getting one of those but I have no idea if they deal with all other requirements or issues like large product feeds, so ask questions if you're thinking that route.

As to ETA... at this point, I honestly have no idea... Working as hard as I can to get everything done but the list is very long and I'd rather be honest than feed false hope at a quick fix.

hmm do you have links?

edit: Setting aside the variations and tax issue, if we use your feed, will Google list our products?

[Martin]

hmm do you have links?

I don't... I just remember seeing them on the spam infested forum... You can probably find them there still.

edit: Setting aside the variations and tax issue, if we use your feed, will Google list our products?

Right now? Possibly not... Bottom line, I wouldn't buy the feed until I've got it up and running properly...

I suspect the tax side of things will more likely prove the problem than the taxonomy unless you fall into one of the required categories...




Right now I'm trying to figure out when the shopping comparison functionality was put into ISC as that may provide a simple way to resolve the taxonomy issue.
EDIT: Bugger... 6.0.11 it looks like... So much for that as a simple fix.

[Martin]

Right... some progress has been made in the last 48 hours..

I've opted to implement the required taxonomy using the shoppingcomparison functionality available in 6.0.11 onwards first as it will at least provide a basis for a working version that I can try to rewrite later to provide similar functionality to earlier versions.

Plan of action:

• Finish taxonomy selection code for 6.0.11 onwards
• Incorporate taxonomy settings into Google Merchant feed <type></type> data
• Investigate tax settings with view to debugging and providing proper pricing data (see: bug for Pitorian) as shown on site
• Investigate means of redirecting to preselected product variations by URL (for use in feed)
• Generate variations as products where specific image set for the variation
• Set appropriate GM fields where variation title/label is equal (eg: color/colour)
• Set other GM fields as additional "specification" data tagged to end of description to ensure all variation data is recorded
• Try to write in the appropriate taxonomy code for pre-6.0.11 ISC versions.
• ...next problem that GM toss our way...

[jobloggs]

Hi Guys,

I anxiously read about Martins plugin, I was really interested in the way it created a temporary file. Like others, I had a problem of ISC timing out, killing itself out.

Even though martin wrote we shouldnt buy the feed until he has fixed current issues, i thought it couldnt be as bad as the ISC version after all.

After installing it, I made a few hacks to get it going, namely stripping out the <quantity> and making it output <availability> instead.

Finally got it my GB feed to output as follows (which allows the products to be added to merchant center):

<entry>
<title><![CDATA[Belkin Gold Series PC Monitor Cable 15m]]></title>
<g:id><![CDATA[XXXXX]]></g:id>
<link href="URL"/>
<g:image_link><![CDATA[URL]]></g:image_link>
<summary><![CDATA[PROD_DESCRIPTION]]></summary>
<g:expiration_date><![CDATA[2011-10-29]]></g:expiration_date>
<g:price><![CDATA[X.XX GBP]]></g:price>
<g:brand><![CDATA[BRANDNAME]]></g:brand>
<g:mpn><![CDATA[SKU]]></g:mpn>
<g:gtin><![CDATA[UPC]]></g:gtin>
<g:availability><![CDATA[in stock]]></g:availability>
<g:condition><![CDATA[new]]></g:condition>
<g:product_type><![CDATA[TV DVD & Blu-ray > TV Accessories > Audio Video Cables > Monitor Cables]]></g:product_type>
</entry>

Now, When i login got merchant cenre, it complains only about a few things:

1. Encoding problem in attribute: description (5 errors)
Some of the characters in your items seem to be invalid. Please verify that all the characters in your feed are valid for your selected encoding.

2. Missing recommended attribute: google product category (14901 warnings)
While items missing recommended attributes will process successfully, we recommend including relevant attributes if they are available.

3. Missing recommended attribute: product type (3397 warnings)
While items missing recommended attributes will process successfully, we recommend including relevant attributes if they are available.

4. Invalid UPC value (25 warnings)
Please make sure that the value is a valid UPC value

Rather than waiting for Martin, I am thinking of modifying isc_categories to include the google_category, and hard coding using the category taxonomy. This can then be easily output with each entry. I dont know how the plan is to include the google categories - but we need our feeds up on merchant centre asap and cannot wait. Ofcourse this is a massive headache to match categories - so i was wondering how you intend to implement this.

I also dont understand why not all products have the "product type" attribute set. Ofcourse all our products are in categories so why isnt this being output? Its missing them on 3397 of 14901 products. something in the function outputProduct($product_entry) function.

We also have a few products (5), which seem to give "Encoding problem in attribute". I have checked the products and they seem fine, no wierd characters in them. Maybe I can convert to utf-8 when its being output? - please advise.

Many Thanks

[Martin]

Taxonomy handling for 6.0.11 onwards is in the system and I just need to update the feed to read the information (15 minute job if that). If you have earlier ISC then there would be a manual workaround but a pain to do.

Re: Type. No idea why it's not pulling it out. Possibly a permissions related issue or show/hide setting. Couldn't tell without debugging in situ.

TBH, some of your hacks shouldn't be necessary either but I'll check if google changed something else re: availability.

I know you're in a hurry but you're almost certainly attempting to reinvent the wheel... It's on my radar for next week and I'm not about to let it slide.

[jobloggs]

Just had a look at taxonomy handling by the comparison sites, brilliant!

As for the availability field - it required now. It wouldnt even publish the feed without it.

Also UPC is 12 characters, it would be helpful if you can truncate if its longer than this. We use multiple UPCs seperated by commas,

Can you not do an intermediate version which can be released with the taxonomy ? It is needed more than the variations!

I dont mind waiting but it seems as though there are no definate dates!! Would be an idea to set a release date ?

Many Thanks

[Martin]

As for the availability field - it required now. It wouldnt even publish the feed without it.

Yeah... just loaded up the specification and they quietly changed that without me realising somehow. Working that one now.

Also UPC is 12 characters, it would be helpful if you can truncate if its longer than this. We use multiple UPCs seperated by commas,

I'll check the spec on that... I would have thought a UPC would be a single code rather than a comma delimited value or are you using it to cover your variants as well? I can certainly include something that explodes a delimited value and uses the first one it finds.

Can you not do an intermediate version which can be released with the taxonomy ? It is needed more than the variations!

That's the plan... The variations are going to require a fair amount more work and aren't required for every store type/feed so an interim release is definitely going to be the way forward for now.

I dont mind waiting but it seems as though there are no definate dates!! Would be an idea to set a release date ?

Simple answer to that is I haven't known when I'd have time once the VAT changeover and all the other associated tax, stock or other nightmares had been resolved. I'm working this today and probably Wednesday (Tomorrow is booked solid!) so a realistic ETA would be Thursday morning but I'm hoping to have something sooner.