Product Feed Manager

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Leren over typen feed-bestanden en hoe feed te downloaden of te bekijken

A product feed is a file that contains a list of data and attributes from an online store.

A product feed usually includes title, description, price, category, image, etc. fields, and the file containing these fields can be made of different feed file types. Such as XML, CSV, TEXT, etc.

Different merchants require different file types, and in order to make them accept your feed file, you need to follow their requirements.

Now, in this guide, I will show you the different types of feeds and how to download or view the feed.

There are many types of feed files, but the most common of them would be XML, CSV, TEXT, TSV, and JSON file types.

Here, have a look at the file types:

XML #

XML file format is usually the most common file type used by popular merchants.

However, XML coding knowledge is required for you to create an XML feed. Once you create the XML feed and submit it to the merchant, this feed will be submitted in the .xml file format.

Here’s an example of an XML feed:

<products>
        <product>
               <id>14</id>
               <title>Hoodie with Logo</title>
               <price>55.00</price>

               <availability>in_stock</availability>
        </product>
</products>

CSV #

A CSV file is a simple text file, where product fields are separated by commas.

CSV files can be opened with almost any spreadsheet program, such as Microsoft Excel or Google Spreadsheets. Also, it contains only a single sheet in a file.

CSV files cannot save cells, columns, or rows, even if they can’t save any formulas.

Here’s an example of a CSV file type:

id,title,price,sale_price,availability
14,"Hoodie with Logo",55.00,,in_stock
15,T-Shirt,18.00,,in_stock
16,Beanie,20.00,18,in_stock
17,Belt,65.00,55,in_stock
18,Cap,18.00,16,in_stock
19,Sunglasses,90.00,,in_stock
20,"Hoodie with Pocket",45.00,35,in_stock
21,"Hoodie with Zipper",45.00,,in_stock

TEXT #

TEXT format is the Tab-separated file format, that can include a number of different formats exported as plain text.

For example, the TEXT file could contain any number of readable formats, including CSV, XML, or others.

Here’s an example of the TEXT file format:

id	title	price	sale_price	availability
14	Hoodie with Logo	55.00		in_stock
15	T-Shirt	18.00		in_stock
16	Beanie	20.00	18	in_stock
17	Belt	65.00	55	in_stock
18	Cap	18.00	16	in_stock
19	Sunglasses	90.00		in_stock
20	Hoodie with Pocket	45.00	35	in_stock
21	Hoodie with Zipper	45.00		in_stock

TSV #

A TSV (Tab-Separated Values) file contains its data with a tab in plain text format. This file format is similar to the CSV file type.

In the TSV format, each field value is separated by a tab character.

Here’s an example of a TSV file type:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<products standalone="yes" version="1.0"><title>t</title><link>http://localhost/pfm2/</link><description>t</description><datetime>2021-07-19 09:53:37</datetime><product><id>14</id><title>Hoodie with Logo</title><price>55.00</price><sale_price/><availability>in_stock</availability></product><products>

JSON #

JSON file type is the JavaScript Object Notation or JSON, it is quite different from a CSV file type to be used as a product feed.

Through this, you can utilize different attributes for each product entry. If your online shop has different kinds of products with different attributes, this file type can be especially helpful regarding this.

Here’s an example of the JSON file type:

[{"outline":"","product_model":{"merchant_product_model_id":"","product_model_attributes":{"name":"V-Neck T-Shirt"},"product_configs":[{"product_simples":[[],[],[]]}]}},{"outline":"","product_model":{"merchant_product_model_id":"","product_model_attributes":{"name":"Hoodie"},"product_configs":[{"product_simples":[[],[],[],[]]}]}},{"outline":"","product_model":{"merchant_product_model_id":"","product_model_attributes":{"name":"Hoodie with Logo"},"product_configs":[{"product_simples":[[]]}]}},{"outline":"","product_model":{"merchant_product_model_id":"","product_model_attributes":{"name":"Beanie with Logo"},"product_configs":[{"product_simples":[[]]}]}},{"outline":"","product_model":{"merchant_product_model_id":"","product_model_attributes":{"name":"WordPress Pennant"},"product_configs":[{"product_simples":[[]]}]}}]

So far I’ve shown you the most common types of product feeds, and to submit your feed to your preferred merchant, you will have to create a feed with the recommended feed type of the merchant.

You can create all types of feeds manually, but when your site contains a large number of products, it would be very difficult for you to generate a feed for all the products.

In this case, you can use a third-party feed creator that can help you create a feed with the above file types easily.

Let me show you how can do this with the Product Feed Manager for the WooCommerce plugin.

When you are trying to create a product feed with the Product Feed Manager plugin, in the Feed Configuration section you will get a File Type dropdown option just under the Merchant Type dropdown option.

Click on the dropdown and you will get the following options:

File type

You will see several file types, such as

  • XML
  • TEXT
  • CSV (Comma Separator – Default)
  • CSV (Semi-colon Separator)
  • TSV
  • JSON

Select your preferred merchant, and you will see that the file formats are changed as per the merchant’s accepted file types.

For example, if you select Bing as the merchant, you will be able to only create a feed in TEXT format. For Facebook, it would be only CSV.

Now, choose your required file type, map the attributes, and publish the feed.

Once the feed is published, go back to the top and you will see two new options on the right side

  • View Feed
  • Download Feed

From here you can view or download your feed anytime you want.