Installation and configuring plug-in Import Manager

The plugin imports products and other catalog data into your nopCommerce store from CSV, XLSX, TXT and XML files. You create an import template once - what to import, where the file comes from and how its columns map to the nopCommerce fields - and run it by hand or on a schedule.

It's easy to configure the plugin. See pictures.

1. After the installation you find the plugin in the admin menu FoxNetSoft > Import manager. 'Templates' is the list of your import templates, 'Report' shows the results of all imports, 'Configure' holds the general settings.

2. The configure page. Enable 'Use Load Balancer (remove https)' only when your store runs behind a load balancer and the plugin can't call the store over https.
'Task run timeout' is the time (in seconds) for the import of one template. Leave it empty for small files. For big files set it, and set the nopCommerce 'Schedule task run timeout' (Configuration > App settings > Common, in milliseconds) larger than it, because one scheduled run can import several templates one after another. When the nopCommerce value is empty, a scheduled import stops after 100 seconds.

3. You can have several templates. Each template imports one entity from one source with its own column mapping. The list shows if the scheduler is on and the result of the last import of each template. Press 'Import now' to run the template at once. Use 'Entity' and 'Format' to find a template.

4. Press 'Add new' and select the 'Entity' - what the template imports: products, product attributes, values and combinations, pictures, specification attributes, tags, videos, tier prices, categories, manufacturers, the product-category and product-manufacturer mappings and more. The Simple Collection entities are in the list only when the Simple Collection plugin is installed.
You can't change the entity later. Press 'Save and Continue Edit' to fill in the rest.
The values of the nopCommerce lists (product type, inventory method, attribute control type...) are here.

5. The main settings of the template.
'Entity Key (Product Key)' - how the plugin finds the existing entity for a row of the file: 'Id', 'Sku', 'Gtin', 'Manufacturer part number' or 'Name'. You must map one column of the file to 'Key (Product Key)'. For a category template with the key 'Name' you can give the full path, e.g. Computers>>Desktops.
'Format' - CSV, XLSX, TXT or XML.
'Action' - 'Insert and Update' adds new entities and updates existing ones, 'Insert' only adds new ones, 'Update' only changes existing ones, 'Delete' removes them.
'Encoding' - keep 'Auto'. Select UTF-8, Windows-1251, ISO-8859-7 or Unicode if letters come out wrong.
'Source of file(s)' - 'Folder' (a folder on the server, you can use a mask, e.g. d:\feeds\stock_*.csv), 'Url' (a direct link to one file), 'FTP/FTPS/SFTP', 'Upload zip-file' (one feed file plus the pictures it uses) or 'Upload file'. A .zip feed is unpacked automatically.

6. FTP/FTPS/SFTP. 'File name' is the path on the server, a mask is allowed, e.g. /export/products_*.csv. Select the 'Protocol', fill in 'Host Name', 'Port', 'User Name' and 'Password'. Enable 'Passive Mode' if a plain FTP connection hangs. Press 'Check FTP connection' to test it.
'Server fingerprint'. SFTP: the plugin saves the key of the server on the first connection and later connections must show the same key. Clear the field if your supplier changed the key on purpose. FTPS: you need it only for a certificate that is not trusted (self-signed). The import report shows the value to enter.
Enable 'Enable BackUp' to keep a copy of every imported file in the 'Backup folder'. Use a folder outside the site, e.g. d:\backup, or ~/App_Data/FoxNetSoft.ImportManager/Backup. Don't use a folder inside Plugins or wwwroot: nopCommerce serves those files, so anyone could download your backups.

7. Import settings. Enable 'Skip first line in the csv/txt/xlsx file' when the first line holds the column names. 'Column delimiter' - a comma, a semicolon or tab for a tab-separated file. 'Field enclosure' - the quote char around the values, e.g. ". 'DateTime format', e.g. dd.MM.yyyy. 'Decimal Delimiter' - 'Dot' for 123.25, 'Comma' for 123,25.
'Warehouse' updates the stock of one warehouse only. 'Manufacturer' and 'Vendor' limit the import to the products of one manufacturer or vendor, e.g. when two manufacturers use the same part number.
'Remove old pictures', 'Remove old category mappings' and 'Remove old manufacturer mappings' delete the old values of a product before the plugin adds the ones from the file. Only the products in the file are touched.
'Add new specification option' creates a missing option instead of skipping the value.

8. Column mapping. 'Column source' is the column name from the first line of the file, or the column number starting from 0. 'Column destination' is the nopCommerce field. Don't forget the column for 'Key (Product Key)'.
Categories, manufacturers and specification options can be given by name or Id. Separate several values with '|', e.g. Apple|Mobiles. Every specification attribute of your store has its own destination: add a column 'Color' with the values Red or Red|Black.
'Picture' takes a file path or a URL, e.g. d:\pictures\1.jpg or https://yoursupplier.com/1.jpg.
To import the same value into every row, write 'StaticValue:' and the value as the column source, e.g. 'StaticValue:True' for 'Published'.
For localized values map a column to 'Language Id'. It takes the language Id, name or culture, e.g. 2, German or de-DE.
'Export to CSV file' and 'Import from CSV file' copy a mapping to another template. The import replaces the old mapping list.

9. For an XML file the column source is the path of the element, e.g. products/product/id for 'Key (Product Key)'. A repeated element, e.g. products/product/pictures/picture, imports all its values.

10. To add a mapping, type the 'Column source' and select the 'Column destination'. The list has every field of the entity. Type a few letters to find one.

11. Schedule. Enable 'Enable Scheduler', tick the days and the times. The times are in UTC, not in the time zone of your store. The nopCommerce schedule task 'Import Manager' (System > Schedule tasks) starts the templates every 30 minutes, so keep it enabled.

12. Reports. Every import writes a report: the file, how many rows it has, how many were updated, and the errors with the row and the reason. Use 'Emulate import (test)' for the first run of a new template: the plugin reads the file and writes the report, but doesn't change your catalog.

13. Import manager > Report shows the reports of all templates in one place. Filter them by date and 'Error level'. 'View' opens the template.

14. 'Copy' on the template page makes a new template with the same settings and mapping. It's the quickest way to start a similar import.
Back up your database before the first big import.
Video tutorials (made with an older version of the plugin, the steps are the same): video 1, video 2, video 3.