Creating Imports

• Visual Field Mapping: Drag-and-drop interface for mapping source columns to WooCommerce fields
• Smart Duplicate Detection: Automatically detect and handle duplicate items
• Incremental Updates: Only update items that have changed
• Test Mode: Run imports in dry-run mode to validate before committing
• Background Processing: Long-running imports processed in the background
• Automatic Scheduling: Schedule recurring imports using WordPress cron
• Rollback Support: Undo imports if needed
• Anomaly Detection: Automatically detect price changes and data quality issues

Step 1: Welcome & Import Type Selection

• Products - Import WooCommerce products with all attributes
• Orders - Import orders with line items and customer data
• Customers - Import customer accounts and billing/shipping addresses
• Coupons - Import discount coupons and promotional codes
• Categories - Import product categories with hierarchy
• Tags - Import product tags
• Attributes - Import product attributes and terms
• Variations - Import product variations
• Reviews - Import product reviews and ratings
• Downloads - Import downloadable products

Step 2: Select Data Source

1. Upload from Desktop

Drag and drop or browse for files on your computer. Supported formats:

• CSV (Comma Separated Values)
• XML (Extensible Markup Language)
• XLSX (Excel Spreadsheet)
• XLS (Legacy Excel format)

2. Use Existing File

Select a file already uploaded to your WordPress uploads directory. Path format: /wp-content/uploads/primelink/yourfile.csv

3. Upload from Dropbox

Connect to Dropbox and select files directly. Requires Dropbox API token configured in Settings → Integrations.

• Enter file path: /Products/feed.xml
• Or paste a Dropbox shared link
• Use Browse to navigate folders

4. Upload from Google Drive

Access files from Google Drive. Two methods:

• Fetch: Works with API Key - paste file ID or share link (file must be public)
• Browse: Opens Google Picker to select files (requires Client ID and OAuth)

Configuration: Add Google Drive API Key or Client ID in Settings → Integrations.

5. Upload from OneDrive

Connect to Microsoft OneDrive. Requires OAuth configuration:

• Client ID
• Client Secret
• Tenant ID

Configure in Settings → Integrations → OneDrive.

6. Upload from FTP/SFTP

Connect to remote FTP or SFTP server to download files. Configure:

• Protocol: FTP, FTPS, or SFTP
• Host and Port
• Username and Password
• Root folder (optional)
• File path (optional)

Use Test Connection to verify credentials before fetching.

7. Remote URL

Import directly from a URL. Enter the full URL to your data file:

• Example: https://example.com/products.csv
• File must be publicly accessible
• Supports CSV, XML, XLSX formats

8. Import from Platform (Real-time) ⭐

Connect directly to e-commerce platforms for real-time imports:

• Shopify - Connect to Shopify store
• Magento - Connect to Magento store
• BigCommerce - Connect to BigCommerce store

Requires platform-specific credentials (API keys, access tokens). See Platform Connectors for detailed setup.

Step 3: Import Strategy

1. Import new items & Update Existing Items

This is the default and most common option. PrimeLink will:

• Create new items that don't exist in your store
• Update existing items that match (based on matching criteria set in Step 6)

2. Import new items only & Skip Existing Items

Use this when you only want to add new items:

• Creates new items that don't exist
• Skips any items that already exist (no updates)

3. Update Existing Items & Skip new items

Use this when you only want to update existing items:

• Updates existing items that match
• Skips any new items (no creation)

💡 Tip: The matching criteria for determining "existing" items is configured in Step 6 (Duplicate Detection). You can match by SKU, Title, Slug, or Post ID.

Step 4: Filters & File Preview

XML Scope (XPath)

For XML files, you can specify the XPath to target specific nodes:

• Detect Roots: Automatically detect XML root elements
• Root Node Path: Enter XPath like /products/product
• Leave empty to auto-detect items

Filter Builder

Create conditions to filter rows before import:

• Add conditions based on field values
• Use AND/OR logic
• Save filter presets for reuse
• Load saved presets

Example filters:

• Price > 100
• Stock Status = "instock"
• Category contains "Electronics"

Preview your data in a table format:

• See all detected columns/fields
• Navigate through pages of data
• Adjust rows per page (1-200)
• Verify data structure before mapping

Features:

• Live preview updates as you change filters
• Pagination controls
• Column detection

Step 5: Field Mapping Studio

Left Panel: File Fields

• Lists all detected fields from your source file
• Search functionality to find fields quickly
• Refresh button to reload fields
• Drag fields to mapping slots

Right Panel: Mapping Targets

• Organized into collapsible sections
• Search functionality for target fields
• Load/Save templates
• Auto-map feature
• Live preview of mapped data

1. Title & Content

• Post Title
• Post Content (description)
• Post Excerpt (short description)
• Slug (URL-friendly name)
• Status (published, draft, etc.)

2. Product Data

Organized into tabs:

• General: Product Type, Regular Price, Sale Price, Tax Status, Tax Class, Featured, Menu Order
• Inventory: SKU, Stock Quantity, Stock Status, Manage Stock, Backorders, Low Stock Threshold
• Shipping: Weight, Length, Width, Height, Shipping Class
• Attributes: Product attributes (Color, Size, etc.) with option to create variations
• Downloads: Downloadable products settings
• Variation Overrides: Override parent data for variations
• Linked Products: Upsells, Cross-sells, Grouped products

3. Images

• Featured Image
• Gallery Images (multiple fields supported)
• Add multiple gallery slots
• Supports URLs or file paths

4. Taxonomies

• Product Categories
• Product Tags
• Product Brands
• Custom taxonomies

5. Custom Fields

• Add custom meta fields
• Map to any custom field key
• Supports multiple custom fields

6. Other Options

• Global prefix/suffix for all fields
• Trim whitespace
• Auto-generate slug from title
• Fallback image URL
• Skip row if field empty

Field Options Editor

Click the gear icon on any mapped field to access advanced options:

• Prefix/Suffix: Add fixed text before/after values
• Separator: Split multi-values (e.g., comma-separated images)
• Default Value: Fallback if source field is empty
• Template: Use {value} placeholder for custom formatting
• Transforms: Trim, lowercase, uppercase, capitalize, title case, normalize HTML
• Advanced Transforms: Remove accents, slugify, extract numbers/text, URL encode/decode
• Number Transforms: Round, ceil, floor, format (comma, dot, space)
• String Operations: Substring, pad
• Date/Time Transforms: Format dates from one format to another
• Regex Replace: Pattern-based find and replace
• Replace Rules: Multiple find/replace pairs
• Price Adjustment: Increase/decrease by percentage or fixed amount
• Conditions: Apply mapping only if conditions are met

Auto-map Aliases

Create custom synonyms for automatic mapping:

• Example: Map "title" to also recognize "name", "product_name", "title_sku"
• Speeds up mapping for similar field names

Templates

• Save mapping configuration as template
• Load saved templates for similar imports
• Duplicate existing templates

Step 6: Options & Scheduling

Matching Strategies

• Single Field: Match by one field (SKU, Title, Slug, or Post ID)
• Multiple Fields: Match by several fields with AND/OR logic
• Fuzzy Matching: Find similar items using similarity threshold (0-100%)
• Hybrid: Try exact match first, then fall back to fuzzy matching

Choose what data to update on existing items:

• Update all data: Update everything
• Update Price/Stock Only: Only update pricing and inventory
• Choose which data to update: Select specific fields:
  • Title & Content
  • Product Data
  • Images
  • Yoast SEO (if installed)
  • Custom Fields
  • Taxonomies

Only update items that have actually changed:

• Uses hash comparison to detect changes
• Update modes:
  • Update if any field changed
  • Update only if price/stock changed
  • Update only if selected fields changed
• Option to skip unchanged items completely

• Use first gallery image as featured image if no featured image is mapped

Test your import without making changes:

• Enable Test Mode (Dry Run): Simulate all operations
• Test records limit (1-1000)
• Validate required fields
• Validate data formats
• Check for duplicate detection
• Simulate incremental import

Click Run Test Import to see validation results.

• Import Speed Optimization: Enable performance optimizations
• Iterative Processing: Process in batches (default: 20 records per iteration)
• Adjust records per iteration (1-500)

Set up automatic recurring imports:

• Enable Background Import Schedule
• Schedule Types:
  • Preset Intervals: Hourly, Twice Daily, Daily, Weekly, Monthly
  • Custom Cron Expression: Advanced scheduling (e.g., "0 2 * * *" = daily at 2 AM)
  • Advanced Options: Multiple time slots, weekday filters
• Additional Options:
  • Timezone selection
  • Start date and end date
  • Maximum runs limit
  • Retry on failure
  • Pause schedule on error
  • Email notifications with attachment

Configure email notifications for this import:

• Custom notification email
• Email template for completion
• Email template for errors
• Placeholders: {import_id}, {status}, {created}, {updated}, {skipped}, {errors}

Step 7: Review

Review Sections

• File: Source file information and preview
• Import Options: Strategy, matching, update settings
• Mapping: Summary of all field mappings

Warnings & Critical Issues

• Warnings for potential issues
• Critical missing fields highlighted
• Validation results

Step 8: Run Import

Run Options

• Start Import: Run immediately in foreground
• Run in Background: Start import and continue working
• Schedule: Schedule for later execution
• Pause: Pause running import
• Resume: Resume paused import

Progress Tracking

• Real-time progress bar
• Progress percentage
• Items processed / Total items
• Status indicator (Idle, Running, Paused, Completed, Error)
• ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival)

Statistics

• Total items
• Processed items
• Created items
• Updated items
• Skipped items
• Errors

Live Log

• Real-time log of import operations
• Success messages
• Warning messages
• Error messages with details