Import Formatting Guide for Ecommerce Products
Answerbase has several ways of syncing with your product and product categories for your ecommerce site, most are automated but there are some cases where you may need to import your product data. First, identify whether this is needed or not for your integration. Here are the ways that Answerbase syncs with your product information:
Below is the content formatting guide you should use when looking to import products. For a smooth import we recommend that you do the following:
Here are the guides for formatting your data.
Please contact support if you have any questions or needs, and we'll make sure your import goes smoothly.
Some additional notes on product imports:
- Automated Through Widget Parameters: If you've already installed our Q&A widget on your product pages and category pages, then through that integration we'll automatically be able to identify and save the product and category information and you shouldn't need to import manually. Please note, that it will only save your product data if/when each individual product pages loads, so you'll want to wait a bit of time after you integrate to ensure your site traffic has led to a visit of each product or category page and we should have the information for all of your visited product pages over time. If you want to check how many products have been saved, you can see that under "System Settings > Ecommerce Module" and you'll see a tab for product categories and products available to review. There are select ecommerce platforms that we can sync automatically with, so reach out to Answerbase to see if that is an option if that is desirable.
- Importing Products: In most cases customers can just allow the widget parameters to synce their product categories and products, which is a much easier approach. But, if there are cases where customers want to (for example) import a lot of Q&A content from a previous Q&A platform and want that content publishing immediately from day one. In that case, a product import would be necessary so that you can then import your Q&A content and ensure that content is associated with the appropriate products. In that case, follow the documentation below to successfully import your product information.
Below is the content formatting guide you should use when looking to import products. For a smooth import we recommend that you do the following:
- Download the CSV template provided in the Answerbase administration portal and copy and paste your data into that template, so all column titles are consistent with what Answerbase is expecting to see.
- Please double check that the data that you're trying to import conforms to the type of data represented below along with the special instructions for each column.
- Ensure that your file is UTF-8 encoded (not ANSI) which will ensure any special characters in titles, descriptions, etc. are managed effectively
- Make sure that your import file doesn't contain more than 10K records. If you manage more than 10K products, then split them into separate files that contain no more than 10K products each before you import. For enterprise plan accounts, Answerbase can manage your imports for you so if you'd like more information around that service please contact your account representative.
Here are the guides for formatting your data.
Column | Data | Data Type | Required | Character Limit | Special Instructions |
Column 1 | SKU | Plain Text | Yes | 100 | Provide the unique SKU number for the product that is being imported. |
Column 2 | External ID | Plain Text | Yes | 100 | Provide the unique external ID that your ecommerce platform has assigned the product that is being imported. |
Column 3 | Product Name | Plain Text | Yes | 100 | Provide the name of the product that is being imported. |
Column 4 | Description | Plain Text | No | 1000 | Provide the description of the product that is being imported. |
Column 5 | Product page url | Plan Text | Yes | 500 | Provide the URL of the page where the product is being sold, this should be the product details page on your ecommerce store. The url should include the "https://" or "http://" portion so it's a complete URL. |
Column 6 | Product Image Url | Plain Text | Yes | 500 | Provide the URL of the image of the product, so we’re able to display the product within your administration area and next to the content. The url should include the "https://" or "http://" portion so it's a complete URL. |
Column 7 | Price | Plain Text | No | 20 | Provide the price that the product will be sold for. This should just be a number and not have any additional currency characters or attributes added to it. This can be a decimal, so some examples would be "7" or "7.50". |
Column 8 | Existing CategoryExternalId | Plain Text | No | 100 | This is the ID that you use within your platform of the category that the product is associated with. |
Column 9 | New Root Category | Plain Text | No | 100 | Provide the root level category name that matches a category that you’ve already saved into the system or you also have the ability to have the system create and populate the category structure defined in your CSV during the import. |
Column 10 | New Root CategoryExternalId | Plain Text | Yes if you've defined a value in Column 9 | 50 | This is the ID that you use within your platform of the root category that the product is associated with. |
Column 11 | New Level 2 Category Name | Plain Text | No | 100 | Provide the second level subcategory name in your hierarchy for the product that either matches a category that you’ve already saved into the system or you also have the ability to have the system create and populate the category structure defined in your CSV during the import. If you don’t have a category structure with 2 levels, this can be left blank. If you do define this field, it will be created or identified as a subcategory of the root category defined in Column 9 and Column 10. |
Column 12 | New Level 2 CategoryExternalId | Plain Text | Yes if you've defined a value in Column 11 | 50 | This is the ID that you use within your platform of the level 2 product subcategory that the product is associated with. |
Column 13 | New Level 3 Category Name | Plain Text | No | 100 | Provide the second level subcategory name in your hierarchy for the product that either matches a category that you’ve already saved into the system or you also have the ability to have the system create and populate the category structure defined in your CSV during the import. If you don’t have a category structure with 3 levels, this can be left blank. If you do define this field, it will be created or identified as a subcategory of the root category defined in Column 11 and Column 12. |
Column 14 | New Level 3 CategoryExternalId | Plain Text | Yes if you've defined a value in Column 13 | 50 | This is the ID that you use within your platform of the level 3 product subcategory that the product is associated with. |
Column 15 | New Level 4 Category Name | Plain Text | No | 100 | Provide the fourth level subcategory name in your hierarchy for the product that either matches a category that you’ve already saved into the system or you also have the ability to have the system create and populate the category structure defined in your CSV during the import. If you don’t have a category structure with 4 levels, this can be left blank. If you do define this field, it will be created or identified as a subcategory of the root category defined in Column 13 and Column 14. |
Column 16 | New Level 4 CategoryExternalId | Plain Text | Yes if you've defined a value in Column 15 | 50 | This is the ID that you use within your platform of the level 4 product subcategory that the product is associated with. |
Please contact support if you have any questions or needs, and we'll make sure your import goes smoothly.
Some additional notes on product imports:
- If you attempt to import a product SKU and Answerbase finds that product SKU has already been saved, it won't create a duplicate sku but will update any of the other product information that has been saved to make sure it's up to date with the latest entry provided.
