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First of all prepare a .csv file for Magento import. Make sure it
contains all necessary fields and all data you are going to import is
listed in the table. Here's a list of fields that your .csv file may
include and detailed desctiption of those fields:
SKU - is required field for all products by Magento itself. It's a
standard, alphanumeric string that uniquely identifies the product, is
assigned to the product by manufacturer according to the procedure and
is used internationally. You should be able to receive the standard code
for all your products from your supplier easily. Just contact them with
this request. This field should have unique values and may be used for
identifying products during the Magento import, see step 6 for more about
product identification.
Product ID - this
is internal database field, it should be of numeric type only and must
have unique values across entire table. The value from .csv file will not be imported from the file or
changed at your store as it should be assigned automatically by shopping cart itself (other database tables can have references to this field pointing to specific products). During the import ID can be used for identifying products only. Check more about product identification below (step 7).
Price - should be the cost of the product before tax or shipping.
Do not include any rebates, coupons, or bulk discounts. Prices should
be whole numbers with a maximum of two decimal places. Price fields are
numeric; no text is permitted - do not include “$” or any other symbols.
Status - this field acquires "1" or "0" value only. It states availability of the product. For example, value "
1 "
means that product is available in stock. In case it has "0 " value than
the product is not available for purchasing and will not be displayed
at your Store. In case you skip this column, your products will be not updated. Products that are not listed in .csv file can be set as "Out of Stock", if you enable appropriate option at the last step of Magento import.To set the
value as in stock for all products you can specify
1 value for first
product in your .csv file and spread it for all products.
Quantity - you
can set product quantity here. Please note that if you indicate "0 " or
leave this field blank the product will be displayed at the your
store's front end as "Out of stock".
Category - specify the category your
product belongs to. If the product should be imported into
subcategory use pipe character "|" to separate parent and
subcategory, for example: "Computers|Keyboards" - the
product will be assigned to Keyboards category.
If
you need to assign the same product to multiple categories, use
double delimiter, in your .csv file. Here is the
example: "Computers|Keyboards||Computers|Other". After
that the product will be assigned both to Keyboards and to Other
category while Magento import.
In
our case Pipe is used as category delimiter. Category
delimiter character should
be specified on the 5-th step. It is used to separate category
names and specify full category tree path for given category.
Category path is very similar to directory path and is used to
specify full file name in Windows, where every directory separated by
backslash (\) character, like in the following example:
C:\Program Files\MagneticOne\Store Manager for ...\
In
case your supplier provides you with the file that has categories in
a separate columns, you can merge them to get appropriate format
using Expressions field or you can merge them using Excel manually. Please
follow these steps to merge categories using Expression field (is
recommended to use with Automated Product Import for Magento):
1. At the fifth step “Assign .csv Columns to Database Fields" of
Import Wizard find the “Category Name” field
2. Set
the following expressions for this field:
CONCAT([CSV_COL(1)],
'|', [CSV_COL(2)], '|' , ... , [CSV_COL(N)])
where:
[CSV_COL(N)] is the separate column of .csv file with the category
name (N is the column number or sort order)
'|' - is
category delimiter (which has been chosen at the previous step)
3. Complete
the Magento Import and check categories
In order to merge category
columns in
Excel, please,
use
the following formula:
=B2&"|"&C2
where
| - is category delimiter
B2
- is your parent category column in .csv file and
C2 - is
sub category column in .csv file.
Media Gallery - allows you to import
images for the product. You may upload
pictures from your local computer or external web URLs. Please note
that in order to import images you have to set-up a proper FTP connection. Please check these articles how to upload images from local pc and how to upload images if you have external image URLs if you need help.
If your vendor provides you product list in Excel, you can convert
your Excel files to the CSV format within the Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice application
by using the Save As option. To do this you need to use File -> Save As dialog box
which contains a list of alternative file formats. Among the file
extensions offered, you can find Text CSV file format. By saving your
file into CSV format, Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice will export the
first active worksheet with the correct delimiters.
If you want to synchronize Magento products with your supplier automatically on a schedule, you may be interested in Automated Product Import addon.
Are you interested to find out how many products it is possible to import to Magento? Click here to find the answer.
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To start Magento Import Products process click on Import/Export Products button 
which starts the Import/Export Wizard. Select "Import" and click "Next >" button to continue.
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Enter the .csv file you need to import or use browse button 
to select one.
Also you can Load Settings to avoid reconfiguring each time.
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Source file preview shows a part of .csv file selected to import.
There are no options to set, but you should pay some attention to this
page. What's so important to look for on this page is field delimiter
and quote character, if some is used.
If you carefully check the very first line of the example, you'll notice that some words enclosed in quotes (") and are separated by semicolon (;)
symbol. That are two important options you have to pay attention to -
you will have to setup these settings on next page. Usually it is enough
to see first line, no need to investigate entire file. Also you can
enable and set the row # you want to start Magento import from.
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Select fields delimiter and quote character page contains some
important settings. If you specify wrong values, Magento import may not work.
Delimiter character is the delimiter that is used to
separate values (columns) in the .csv file. Most popular delimiters are
comma (,), semicolon (;) and tab character ( ) however other symbols can
be used as well. On previous sample page we have noticed that comma
symbol was used as delimiter and values were quoted with " symbol.
Specify two first settings as shown above.
Note: csv file contains data in row - column format and
delimiter character are used to separate one column from another. If you
specify incorrect delimiter, file will not be parsed properly and Magento import of products will not be done.
Image Gallery delimeter character will be used to separate images in Image Gallery.
Category delimiter character is not native .csv setting, it
is used only in Store Manager. As you know categories are organized in a
form of tree, where parent category can contain one or more
subcategories, and subcategory can contain one or more other
categories. Category delimiter character is used to separate category
names and specify full category tree path for given category.See Step 1 - category column. Category
path is very similar to directory path used to specify full file name in
Windows, where every directory separated by backslash (\) character
like this one C:\Program Files\eMagicOne\Store Manager for Magento\.
As for example category path for "Sample Subcategory" (see image
below) will be Hardware|Graphics Cards|Sample Subcategory. Pipe (|)
character was used as separator.
Import files - allows you to upload files for downloadable products to your FTP. (Please note
that in order to import files you have to set-up a proper FTP connection).
Local directory with files - indicate the directory on your PC which contains the files you would like to upload.
Clear Image Gallery - if this option is checked, images for Imported products will be deleted (only Images' paths).
Delete Images from FTP - if this option is checked, images for Imported products will be erased from FTP.
Import images - Enable the option in order to upload images to
you server via ftp. Please make sure that you have specified correct FTP
defails in Tools -> Preferences -> FTP tab.
Generate new file name and upload as new image if image with current name already exists - if image in .csv file has the same name as already existing image then it will not replace the existing image - a new image with modified name will be created.
Local directory with images - indicate folder on your PC which contains images you would like to upload. Please note that images' names should be indicated in .csv file in correct columns and you will have to assign the columns with images' names to appropriate database columns (see step 7).
Resize rule - allows you to resize all Images you would like to Import.
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Select Store View.
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The next step allows you to Link columns from .csv file to appropriate database fields.
Link columns from .csv file to appropriate database fields. The left pane "Database Fields" shows the list of fields in your database that can receive Magento import data.
The topmost option on this page is First row in .csv file
contains field names but not values. Obviously it should be checked if
first row of .csv file contains data, otherwise uncheck this option.
Next option is Identify products by. Magento import products
Wizard will search for a product using selected method of
identification. The product will be modified if found, if not - new
product will be added.
Source .csv file can contain multiple records with identical Name
values. All these products will be considered as one - currently
imported product will overwrite previously imported with the same key
field values. Note that sometimes one of key fields may be blank.
Obviously blank fields contain the same value for all records. It is
required to assign .csv columns to key fields.
"Database Fields" shows the list of fields in your database that can receive Magento import data. It contains such columns:
- # - the number of the column in .csv file corresponding to this field - the link between database field and .csv column.
- Set Null - indicates that this field should not contain
any data but should be set to Null. You can either specify column name
or check this option, but not both of them at the same time.
- Set Default - used to set some default value to a field,
similar to Set Null, but in this case some value can be assigned to a
field.
- Default - enter the value assigned to a field.
- Expression - can be used for calculations while Magento import. It
is a good idea to use expressions to calculate the price (add 20% to
your supplier's price), add quantity to your current stock (add new
products to your current stock), etc. Please see an article for details.
To assign .csv column to database field you should select a field at the left pane and then click a column at the right pane.
[Auto Fill...] button - try to set correspondence automatically
for all fields. Auto fill option will work only if .csv column name is
the same as database field name ("translated").
[Clear] button - clear all "csv col" values at the left pane&
Click "Next" if you're done.
Store Manager requires a specific formatting for product attributes. You are welcome to export a few products with attributes and you'll see the format. Also you can see an example below. Please note, that you can use Excel to merge your attributes in case you have them in separate columns. You're welcome to contact your administrator for help or ask Google for help.
Also you can import attributes from separate columns of .csv file. Please, note that it is convenient to use if you are updating products from supplier .csv file. In case you are importing products from one store to another one, you can use default system of attributes import, where attributes specified for each products in separate row, not in columns.
To import attributes from separate columns you should create additional attribute field for each attribute. Once it is created, you will get 4 additional options: Option, Value, Prefix, Price. You need to assign attribute value, prefix and price for each attribute column of your file to appropriate attribute options of database in each additional field.
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The next Import Wizard page includes Base Formats and separators. They can be set by default.
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Products were not imported to your database yet. On Magento Import
Preview page you can see how .csv file was processed using Magento
product import settings, which you specified at previous steps. Check
whether all columns that you want to be imported are filled with data:
some of them may be blank. This means that either you haven't assigned
.csv column or it is empty in source (.csv) file. Columns that were not
assigned will not be imported whereas empty values will overwrite
existing.
Red blinking arrow 
will be shown to draw your attention if any errors occurred.
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Import options page settings may affect Magento Import results. Please read and check your selection carefully.
Default category. If category name is specified in .csv
file and column is assigned to database field, Store Manager will create
entire category tree for a product. If there's no "category name"
column (in .csv) or it is not assigned, all products will be imported to
a category specified as Default. If default category is not specified
and there's no other way to determine which category products should be
imported into, program will create "Default category" and place all new
products there.
Default manufacturer is set almost the same as for
category, except that product may not have manufacturer at all - it is
not important. Also you can uncheck option in case you do not want to
create new manufacturer if currently imported does not exist in
database.
Delete existing attributes when importing new - if
checked, Magento import will clear all current product attributes and then add
new. If unchecked it will just add new - this may cause duplicate
attributes.
Mark unlisted products as "Out of Stock" (in Magento this
is "In Stock" property of a product) - all products that were not
affected by Magento import will be marked as unavailable, but will not be
deleted.
Cache import data - this option may speedup Magento import process. How does it work?
Store Manager does huge number of database operations while
importing products. There are many tables affected by Magento import and lot
data should be processed. With slow database connection it may take too
long - several hours or even days - depending on number of records and
connection speed. If cache option is checked, Store Manager will
generate database backup file - the same as you can do using
Backup/Restore wizard with "Product related tables only" option. After
the backup is generated, program restores this backup on local database.
All further import operations will be made locally, much faster than
through remote connection. After Magento import is completed it will generate
another backup - from local database and then restore this backup on
your remote store.
With "Cache import data" option Magento import procedure will show several
backup/restore progress dialog - this is normal behavior.
Note: Cache import data option ignored when currently connected to Embedded database.
Import Method
Add and Modify - will add new product if it is not available in database yet and modify those products that were found
Add Only - only add new products
Modify Only - only update existing products and do not add new entries, even if current product was not found
Just Add - this option may produce product duplicates, since Store
Manager will not try to find existing products but will only add all
products as new
Save Import Configuration
All import settings can be stored under some configuration. You can
load it next time you decide to import products to Magento from a file
with similar formatting, column names etc.
Also you can shutdown computer after Magento import is complete.
Attention! Magento Import process will start, when you press
"Import" Button! Proceed only if all settings are made, otherwise press
"Back" Button and check settings once more!
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In the last window of Magento Import Products Wizard there will be shown if any errors occurred during import process.
Most frequent Magento import errors are date, time and number conversion
issues, caused by invalid format settings (specified at previous pages)
or improperly assigned column (i.e. if you assign column containing
category ID to parent_category database field). Date/time conversion
errors might be ignored whereas other errors like this one (Could not
find image: image_name.gif) has to be fixed.
In case you cannot see your products in Magento after import, please check related article:
http://mag-manager.com/i-cannot-find-see-new-products-on-my-magento-store-admin-what-should-i-check
Also here you can check related articles on Magento Import:
Magento Import: Fast, Cheap, High-Quality. Choose Any Two Options
How Many Products it is Possible to Import to Magento? Will it Work for a Million of Products?
7 Advantages of Import via Store Manager over Magento Admin Import
How to Import Products Avoiding Data Loss
Easy Import with Store Manager for Magento
How to Import Custom Options
Import Custom Options Easily
What is Magento Configurable Product and how to Import Magento Configurable Products?
Take Advantage of .xml Import with Store Manager for Magento
What is Expression? How to Use It Performing Magento Import?
How to Input Missing Data and Modify Existing On-The-Fly by Means of Expressions in the Process of Magento Import
If you use Standard Edition of Store Manager for Magento, the number of products available for import is limited to 3000.
