One quick mod that I made to this module:
In line 135:
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$desc = strip_tags($row['proddesc']);
I changed it to:
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$desc = strip_tags($row['prodmetadesc']);
The reason for this is because the description field for MANY (if not most) of my items do not include any human-readable descriptive text. Instead the "proddesc" field contains an "include" statement that causes ISC to automatically fetch-and-insert an external html document that is displayed to customers as the product description.
For example... my product description would be:
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%%Include._myvendors/vendorName/productDetails.html%%
Somtimes the included html file is the ONLY description for the product. Other times, the included html is just some commonly-used introduction text. ~~ For my purposes, this allows me to have a neatly formatted description that can be easily changed or updated (and any changes will apply globally to every product that uses it as an "include" file).
The disadvantage of using "includes" in this manner is that the %%Include...%% command that appears in the "proddesc" field also appears in the exported file. This information is not appropriate for a product feed.
I did not want to give up the convenience of using %%Include.%%" statements, so I edited the module to retrieve a plain-text human-readable description from the "prodmetadesc" field instead.
Drawbacks: You have to remember to type in a concise but complete description in the MetaDescription field. But after you get into a routine, it shouldn't be too difficult. ~~ Or, you'll have to edit any existing Meta Description info so that it's more appropriate to be used as the primary description in the product feed.
To make things easier for me, I plan on rearranging some fields on the ISC "Edit Product" page. I'd like to move the "MetaDescription" field from the "Other Details" tab, and put it right up front on the "Product Details" tab.
Moving this field to the first tab will give me quick access with less clicking, and I can easily glance at the field to make sure something is there. (For now, this is a low-priority project, so I'll just continue to click the "Other Details" whenever I need to edit the MetaDescription data.)
Okay, that's all. Just thought I'd share...
Charlie
PS: Martin, thank you very much for this!
