Importing Products and Combinations with csv's

[alwayspaws]

PS 1.6.1.11

How can I create products with combinations and upload them via CSV? I have images uploaded and online for these products.

Thanks!

[Havouza]

We used the built in features in PS plus bought a cheap but VERY good module called mass combination updater. We created combination of furniture, in all over 3000 combinations. I tested SC but I cant see any time difference really. The combination generator in PS do a very good job

[alwayspaws]

@Havouza Can you please tell me the exact name of that module or its link? I keep searching for mass combination updater and get many results. Do you mean this one?

Prestashop Mass product combinations editor:

https://mypresta.eu/modules/administration-tools/mass-product-combinations-editor.html

Thank you very much for your reply!

[Havouza]

https://addons.prestashop.com/en/fast-mass-updates/17917-mass-combinations-update.html

[alwayspaws]

Thank you, @Havouza It has a back office demo which I will try. It's currently under maintenance. :) Story of my life. lol

[alwayspaws]

Do you suggest that we not buy any add-ons for now, either?

[crosscut01]

@alwayspaws said in Learning curve for Product Combinations with Store Commander?:

How much of a learning curve is there for creating products with combinations with Store Commander?

If you are doing a mass .csv import of say 30 products at a time with combinations, images, features, etc. it can be fairly daunting.

If you want to create products one at a time and then add the images, features, etc. using the SC interface it's very very easy.

[alwayspaws]

Michael, I'm sorry about that.

@crosscut01 Thanks for clarifying this. I hoped to do a mass .csv import of a huge amount of products but I find it's too complicated because I don't want to manually create product references codes with all the colors and sizes, which is what the PS combinations spreadsheet example looks like to me, so I'm going to add products with combinations and images one at a time.

Since SC and PS admin both seem to have similar techniques, I'll just use PS combinations generator. It's easy enough and I already have all the data in spreadsheet form and all my images are already on the server. I'll just have to copy and paste. I'm not at all happy about this situation, but it is what it is.

One last comment is that I did not create my website from the open source PrestaShop. I bought the template and additional services from TemplateMonster

[spidawebs]

If you upload your products with a csv file, why don't you just use the same file to upload the combinations? I have about 10,000 products and almost every one has size/colour combinations. Here's what I do:

I create a spreadsheet with every field I need, which in my case is this:

ID Reference # Combination Reference Name Combination Name Combination Value Supplier Code Combination Supplier Code EAN Combinations EAN Quantity Combination Quantity Categories RRP inc Tax Tax ID Cost Price Our price Discount Amount Supplier Manufacturer In Stock Text Out Stock Text Image URLs Feature Name:Value ASM Warehouse ShopID Description Weight

I fill that in for every new product, then use the CSV import tool under Advanced Parameters to import the new products (save the fields relevant to the new product, excluding the combinations).

Then import the combinations using the same file, again saving the relevant fields but this time only the ones related to the combinations.

Using this method I can import hundreds of new products a day with thousands of combinations.

[Havouza]

@spidawebs said in Learning curve for Product Combinations with Store Commander?:

If you upload your products with a csv file, why don't you just use the same file to upload the combinations? I have about 10,000 products and almost every one has size/colour combinations. Here's what I do:

I create a spreadsheet with every field I need, which in my case is this:

ID Reference # Combination Reference Name Combination Name Combination Value Supplier Code Combination Supplier Code EAN Combinations EAN Quantity Combination Quantity Categories RRP inc Tax Tax ID Cost Price Our price Discount Amount Supplier Manufacturer In Stock Text Out Stock Text Image URLs Feature Name:Value ASM Warehouse ShopID Description Weight

I fill that in for every new product, then use the CSV import tool under Advanced Parameters to import the new products (save the fields relevant to the new product, excluding the combinations).

Then import the combinations using the same file, again saving the relevant fields but this time only the ones related to the combinations.

Using this method I can import hundreds of new products a day with thousands of combinations. Spidawebs have you tested the csv import in TB? its very buggy. Not from 1.6 it seems. From 1.7 I would be cautious

[spidawebs]

01488524146618New Product Import.csv

Attached is an example of the csv file I use incase it is of use. Just open in Excel and edit. The columns in white are the fields I import using the products csv import, the ones in yellow I import using the combinations csv import. When importing the combination just made sure you use the ID field so the products are matched.

[spidawebs]

@Havouza No, I haven't tested this in TB yet. Thanks for the tip - I thought TB was supposed to be less buggy than PS! The CSV import is one of the few things that actually works fine in PS!!!

[Havouza]

@spidawebs I have only tested category import and it flips out totally so I have given up

[alwayspaws]

@spidawebs I will download your spreadsheet and try it out when I get back to the office. Thank you very much. It's good to know it works in PS 1.6. Products are my only concern right now.

@Havouza have you tried to import a product with @spidawebs spreadsheet? This may help @mdekker figure out which importer is better.

[Havouza]

@alwayspaws No I turned to xml instead and that works for now

[alwayspaws]

@spidawebs said in Learning curve for Product Combinations with Store Commander?:

01488524146618New Product Import.csv

Attached is an example of the csv file I use incase it is of use. Just open in Excel and edit. The columns in white are the fields I import using the products csv import, the ones in yellow I import using the combinations csv import. When importing the combination just made sure you use the ID field so the products are matched.

@spidawebs - Your file is precisely what I've been hoping for! Although the file shows as .csv in your post, it downloads like this: 1488524135738-new-product-import.bin

I downloaded it twice and once renamed it with an .xls file extension and once with .csv extension, but there's no highlighting and some data is moved to the wrong columns. I really want to use this file. What other format will open it, please? I'm on a Mac and use openoffice calc but I also have MS Office for Mac.

Thank you very much!

[alwayspaws]

@Havouza said in Learning curve for Product Combinations with Store Commander?:

@alwayspaws No I turned to xml instead and that works for now

What software did you use for the xml format?

[Havouza]

I work with dropshipping from different suppliers in all the shops and now I use a module from prestashop.butikki.dk. With a little tweaking it now works perfect.

[spidawebs]

@alwayspaws 01488615363864New Product Import.ods

@alwayspaws try the attached. I have saved it in Open Office format.

[alwayspaws]

@spidawebs The .ods file is absolutely perfect! Thank you so much.

[alwayspaws]

@Havouza I'm glad that works for you.

[alwayspaws]

@spidawebs I created three products via product.csv.

1. Can I remove all the columns that are empty for less scrolling across the spreadsheet?

2. I tried several times to figure out how to create the reference numbers for the combinations.csv. I'm using .ods until it's ready for upload.

On your spreadsheet, reference numbers look easy (as 1 - 2 - 3)

15620-1, 15620-2, 15620-3

I used the product combination generator for one of the shirts to see what mine looks like and it was mind boggling:

One color and one size: color - baby blue, size - XS (8) Each shirt, for example, comes in seven same sizes, but in varying amounts of colors from 4 to 11.

I'm attaching two abbreviated spreadsheets and a screenshot. If you have time to look at them, I'd appreciate it.

My [colors and sizes attributes](https://www.alwayspaws.com/combo-snafus/colors and sizes attributes and values.jpg).

014887462239023-dog-shirts-products-3-5-17.ods

014887462558113-dog-shirts-combinations-3-5-17.ods

If this is too much, I understand. (And I'm doomed!)

[spidawebs]

@alwayspaws Yes, just remove any column you do not use. Your requirements are likely to be different to mine.

Regarding your reference numbers they look a bit strange. What I do is go to Catalog > Products, and sort my products my ID to find the last ID number. It should be something like 16342. So my next product on the spreadsheet would be 16343 and the first combination would be 16343-1. Even if you have 100 combinations for this product, you just click the mouse in 16343-1 field and pull it down 100 lines and you instantly have 100 reference numbers from 16343-1 to 16343-100 which are all unique.

I find it much less work to just have one spreadsheet rather than two. Then when you go to Advanced Parameters > CSV Import, I have two configurations setup, one for new products and one for new combinations. Each one ignores certain fields on the spreadsheet. See attached screenshots for my setup.

Hope this helps.

[alwayspaws]

@spidawebs Thank you very much. I created a brand new spreadsheet with everything together. I misunderstood and thought you meant I should create two. Less work is always welcome! :)

I'm on the job now. Thanks again. I'll post the outcome.

Update. Got distracted by new posts and tried to vote for yours and I can't vote any more today. I voted 5 times. I'm sorry. I'll vote tomorrow. I did vote for another of your posts.

[alwayspaws]

@spidawebs I'm so sorry. I really don't intend for this to be a lifelong project, but how will PS know which colors go with which tee-shirts?

Should I just limit my specific products (like the tee shirts) to the colors all of them have and delete the colors they don't have in common?

Also, do I put a separate combination name for the sizes and for the colors?

Thank you!

[spidawebs]

As long as all the combinations have the same product ID then it will match the combinations to the same product. So if you have a T-Shirt from Small to XXL in black and white, the columns for Product ID, Combination Ref, Product Name, Combination Name and Combination Value would be as follows:

1000, 1000-1, T-Shirt, Size;Colour, Small;Black 1000, 1000-2, T-Shirt, Size;Colour, Medium;Black 1000, 1000-3, T-Shirt, Size;Colour, Large;Black 1000, 1000-4, T-Shirt, Size;Colour, XL;Black 1000, 1000-5, T-Shirt, Size;Colour, XXL;Black 1000, 1000-6, T-Shirt, Size;Colour, Small;White 1000, 1000-7, T-Shirt, Size;Colour, Medium;White 1000, 1000-8, T-Shirt, Size;Colour, Large;White 1000, 1000-9, T-Shirt, Size;Colour, XL;White 1000, 1000-9, T-Shirt, Size;Colour, XXL;White

Even if you have 100 combinations for one product you just continue like this and can easily add them all in minutes.

All the combinations need to be together in one field separated by a semi colon as in my spreadsheet.