[PAID] Google Merchant Static Feed

[Martin]

Sorry.. I suspect you tried to reach me while I was running around sorting out various retail related jobs and then as I hit "Dad mode" with my little boy.

I need your help with a few things so I'll drop you a PM with some details but here's a quick skinny on some work I've been doing this evening (and plan to do shortly) to try and reduce the stress levels with this module.

• I've written an Add-On module that allows Administrators to set the variables via the Admin CP rather than trying to write into the code
• I've added in the much sought after override setting so you can allow the GM modules to use the SKU's (Stock code) value for products automatically as MPN's.
• I've also added an override setting for Brands so you can force brand information to be made available in the feed even if it's not shown on your normal product pages

What I still need to do is:

• Write a proper "How To" document explaining how to install this module properly and how it should be used with some concrete examples.
• Disable the bloody useless POS original ISC Froogle module as most of my customers don't realise that this module is completely separate from the ISC version and doesn't help or hinder it at all.
• Upgrade the functionality to 6.1.6 compatiblity
• This doesn't include the updates for things like variations, etc... which I'm still trying to get my head around

I know folks are desperate to get all this done and working but this stuff takes time and with the add-on now almost complete it'll make things a whole lot clearer and easier to setup from the get go without having to teach everyone Coding 101 which up until now has seemed a requirement.

[Martin]

Ok... I'm out of time but the good news is that my Add-on is working as intended.

I'll need to spend some time getting the whole thing ready for distribution, most likely Monday now...

Sorry, but better to do this right than rush and really cack the whole thing up...

[Martin]

Version ISC 6.1.1
Feed V1.3.1

You do have an old version of the feed so best to grab 1.4.1 beta1 as that has a lot more fixes in and is working...

1. Product category is missing, we only use one category on all our products as they are the same type, is there a quick way or anyway to add it to all our products in the feed?

I can't remember what caused this but I think I did resolve it in 1.4x ...

2. Attribute: product type, out of 756 products 36 are showing as missing ? I have checked the products in ISC and they all seem fine to me, not hidden or out of stock etc...

This is the same as product category so the two are related...

Try upgrading to 1.4.1 beta 1 and let me know what you get in terms of errors then.. (paraphrase and/or PM the results if it's a big long list).

[Martin]

I cannot seem to direct the feed to fetch the products properly-I keep on getting "invalid response code error 404, no matter how I place the address in google data feeds area.

What to pass on to Froogle/GoogleBase
The URL for your product list will be
http:// yoursite.url/[store_directory?]/cache/[COUNTRYISO2]_froogle-export.xml
eg: yoursite.com/store/cache/GB_froogle-export.xml (for a UK feed)

To generate the feeds themselves you first need to have visited:
http://www.kwickargo[editmeout].com/froogle.php
(I've just done this)

This then generates the feed files at least once... if you have a LOT of products (which I think you might have) then it may require multiple visits to the froogle.php link until the feed is fully generated. The reason for this is that PHP has a habit of timing out on Mahoosive product databases but it can pick up from where it left off and eventually complete the feed..

Anyway... after about 1.5 minutes it seems to have worked as you now have a valid feed here:
http://www.kwickargo[editmeout].com/cache/US_froogle-export.xml

My site is http://www.kwickargo.com using ISC version 6.1.6, the latest.

I don't have access to that code (and I'm not about to pay for a maintenance upgrade either!) but it seems the code is still compatible (for now at least).

I overwrote all of the files you sent in the zip file. I checked them as for if installed and they are. The area in ISC that used to be used for froogle sends under the marketing tab is now whited out, and unclickable in the admin portion of ISC now. I assume it is because of the module changes.

The module shouldn't affect the existing Froogle functionality in ISC unless you've overwritten original ISC files (that shouldn't be necessary).

My stupidity probably lies in what to pass to google.
PLEEZE HELP!!!

The US_froogle-export.xml link above will now work but you do need to sort out a regular scheduled visit to the froogle.php link before each new feed submission (see CRON information in first post).

Hope that helps dig you out of the immediate hole...

[pplageman]

OK, that seems to open up some feeding to the google froogle machine!
But now I'm getting the following warnings....

Missing recommended attribute: google product category (245 warnings)
While items missing recommended attributes will process successfully, we recommend including relevant attributes if they are available.
Examples:
Item ID Line Nr.
73-US 191 Show Item
75-US 243 Show Item
76-US 268 Show Item
93-US 580 Show Item
148-US 1,305 Show Item

Invalid price (242 warnings)
We don't accept non-numeric values or negative prices. If you are including the currency code or symbol, please make sure it matches the currency of the target country.
Examples:
Line Nr. Value
104 Show Item
182 Show Item
208 Show Item
234 Show Item
441 Show Item

Invalid string value in attribute: service (242 warnings)
The value you entered for this attribute is not a valid string. Please enter a contiguous sequence of numbers, characters, or symbols.
Examples:
Line Nr.
26 Show Item
51 Show Item
77 Show Item
129 Show Item
155 Show Item

These seem to be fixable in the code you sent. How do I do that?

[Martin]

Service and price are problems with the shipping services. More info and a workaround can be found posted yesterday.

The Google merchant category/type needs to be set by enabling the GM module(s) under shopping comparison and then editing your categories to choose appropriate type (see bottom if cat edit page).

[kurt]

Sorry if this question has been covered already. What do we do for product variations which should have multiple UPC Codes? Does the mod have a solution for this?

[Martin]

Sorry if this question has been covered already. What do we do for product variations which should have multiple UPC Codes? Does the mod have a solution for this?

Variations are not covered at all at the moment due to a complete lack of support for direct linking to variations. Currently the ISC code only allows for a link to the primary product and not to different variations so it would be impossible to meet GM requirements for a link showing the correct price and variation information pre-selected.

Add to that, version 7.x of BigCommerce was the first to provide support for UPC's on variations and in such a cack-handed way that I wouldn't use or recreate it anyway...

I am debating how best to tackle the problem and I also need to figure out what, if any, provision 6.1.6 made for these issues so I don't reinvent or break the wheel.

It's on the cards but unlikely to be for a few weeks, if not 1+ months depending on my other commitments.

[Martin]

New version released...

Version 1.4.2 beta 2 : Revision 368-370

• Added INSTALL.txt instructions on installation and settings (Hopefully that will deal with 90% of the support queries)
• Added Google Merchant Add-On which allows most common settings to be made in ISC Admin CP > AddOns > AddOn Settings
• Added option "Use Product Stock Codes (SKU) as MPN" (removes need to modify code)
• Added option "Include products that do not have an image"
• Added option "Override store Display setting for Brands" (removes need to modify code)
• No longer includes shipping costs if valid quote unavailable (Resolves missing "price" and "service" errors)
• Resolve PHP Notices regarding undefined variables

[Martin]

Doofus alert!

Just to note... I missed that there is now a setting in ISC that allows you to display prices that are both tax inclusive and exclusive on the product page (as well as elsewhere). If you are exporting your feeds for countries outside of your tax zone you will need to set this up so that both prices are correctly displayed to avoid Google (and your customers) getting antsy.

Setting can be found in the Admin CP > Tax Settings > (General) > "Show Prices on Product Pages"
Set to: "Including and excluding Tax"