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Version 1.2.0 Released

This is a major bug fix and any installations of 1.1.9 should be removed and/or upgraded as soon as possible as 1.1.9 was badly broken..

Changelog

• Version 1.2.0 : Revision 276
  • Fix basix PHP syntax issue (array_key_exists())
  • define ISC_CACHE_DIRECTORY if not defined. Resolves compatibility for earlier ISC versions
  • Fix odd code insertion from code editor autocomplete (added $search variable)
  • Resolve category/type fields retrieval properly
  • Fix various bugs relating to product type/category and group specific visibility

As always the new code is available to download from the Snailsol BC store for existing customers.

Version 1.2.1 (Release Candidate #1) Released

This release squashes a few more bugs and deals with compatibility issues within ISC version 4.x..
Note: Additional changes to support custom fields for "GTIN/UPC" and "Condition" values will be added in the future.

Changelog

• Version 1.2.1 : Revision 279
  • Minor adjustment to SQL ORDER BY for category retrieval
  • Added sanity check for incorrectly formatted categoryparentlist field
    (Stops extraneous blank product types appearing)
  • $exportFile setting/variable now in correct area to allow simple editing
  • Fixes for ISC version 4:
    • Doesn't export GTIN as not an available field
    • $defaultCondition setting/variable allows a default "condition" to be specified
      (Defaults to "new" if not set)
  • $verbose default setting now set to false

Code download/purchase availabl from the Snailsol BC store.
Note: Existing customers go to "Your Account" > "Completed Orders" to download the new version

Version 1.2.2 (Release Candidate #2) Released

A few additional tweaks following a deeper look at the feed specification for Atom 1.0 amongst other things.

Changelog

• Version 1.2.2 RC#2 : Revision 281
  • Foreign currency feeds now forced to use non-SEO links
    (Trying to resolve an issue with google merchant returning 404 errors for setCurrency links)
  • Applied CNAME encoding for all field values
  • Removed "model_number" as no longer used by Google Merchant
  • MPN field/attribute now uses SKU/Product Code
    (Code no longer 'makes up' an MPN as this is a huge GM policy infingement)
    (Contact http://www.google.com/support/merchants ... _exemption if you need an exemption)
  • Add $strictAtom to force application of strict Atom 1.0 spec' to feed
    (ie: summary instead of description, link as <link href="foo"/> format not <link>foo</link> )
  • Weight field/attribute now replaced by shipping_weight
  • Expiration date now defaults to 29 days for local and 7 days for foreign currency feeds
    (GM has a 3 day minimum for expiry)

Code download/purchase available from the Snailsol BC store.
Note: Existing customers go to "Your Account" > "Completed Orders" to download the new version[/quote]

Quick note..

It seems that while Google Merchant have included the Product "Type" attribute, they aren't keen for you to use all the categories your product is associated with.

At present the GM Static Feed code (versions 1.1.0 - 1.2.2) export up to 10 category breadcrumb trails as types but this may be having a negative effect on your products listing.

If you wish to limit the number of product "type"s output you just need to change this line:

Open: /includes/classes/class.froogle.php

Find: Change to: Example reduces the categories/type down to just 1 but you get the idea.

Not a release yet as I'm waiting to see how things work for a bit but here's some updates I've applied that will be coming in a future release.

• if a custom field exists for a product called 'mpn' (lowercase) then we use that field value as the MPN
• Added $brandExceptHide array of brandsIds to hide brand information for, regardless of show brand config setting
• Added $brandExceptShow array of brandsIds to show brand info' for regardless of show brand config
  (This allows you to show some brand information if you're keen to limit or open access to certain brand products)
• Added $typeCountLimit setting to limit the number of product types output per product
  (This avoids products being penalised for "spamming" product types)
• $country_streams easier to add/remove without risking syntax errors
• Added $dropiso2 setting to drop appended countryiso2 from product ID when only one country stream
  (This allows productID's from existing feeds to be maintained BUT only for single feed setups)

This avoids products being penalised for "spamming" product types

Interesting. And by "interesting" I actually mean "concerning".

Is this something you've read? An official position or statement from Google? Or is it just being considered in an abundance of caution?

It seems that this could really play havoc with a merchant who specializes in just a few types of products, yet has a LOT of different types/styles/varieties of products in those categories.

CharlieFoxtrot wrote:

This avoids products being penalised for "spamming" product types

Interesting. And by "interesting" I actually mean "concerning".

Is this something you've read? An official position or statement from Google? Or is it just being considered in an abundance of caution?

I should have clarified that it's essentially the same as the fix, ages ago, that stopped products appearing as duplicates because they were associated with multiple categories.

The new function just allows you to set a limit so that only one "type" will appear. It'll still follow the breadcrumb style so the structure will remain intact.

As to reason.. Well, there's no hard line to cross (as with so many Google Merchant "rules") but perceived limits indicate you want to avoid multiples unless there's good reason that won't just appear to be keyword tweaking.

CharlieFoxtrot wrote:It seems that this could really play havoc with a merchant who specializes in just a few types of products, yet has a LOT of different types/styles/varieties of products in those categories.

TBH It's rapidly becoming apparent that Google Merchant approaches to things like MPN, GTIN/UPC are going to force a lot of sellers to reconsider what they submit to GM.

If you read up on the current ruleset for submitting an MPN (Manufacturers Part Number) you realise that Google is looking to completely undermine the way some markets price, advertise and label their products. It's going to upset a LOT of sellers and even some buyers. Interesting times ahead that's for sure!

Does anybody know how this thing works? I don't see where to enter the UPC field and I can't find it within interspire or by running froogle.php. We're running ISC 5.5.4.

brian1 wrote:Does anybody know how this thing works? I don't see where to enter the UPC field and I can't find it within interspire or by running froogle.php. We're running ISC 5.5.4.

Just responded to our email but just to clarify on this point.

Interspire didn't add the UPC field for products until version 6.x of Shopping Cart so at present there's nothing standardised for this module to grab the data from. The simplest resolution for this is for earlier cart owners to either:
- input the UPC information into a custom field for each product
OR
- add the "upc" field to the products table and import your UPC data directly into the database using something like phpmyadmin.

Functionality to pull data from any custom fields called "upc" will be added in a future release of this module but if you have a massive amount of UPC data I'd recommend either upgrading ISC to version 6.1.1 or using the second work-around above.