Product On Pages vs Add To Pages

[dortchjm]

I downloaded all fields of my Shopsite Pro 9 database to a spreadsheet. Made corrections and uploaded those fields with changes back. Two of those fields were "Product On Pages" which I modified to include all pages the product should appear on, and "Add To Pages" which I totally deleted the fields. Now my website is really messed up. Short of going through and manually fixing each individual page, how can I do this with upload/download?

Please explain what the purpose is of these two fields, the Shopsite Help is confusing.

Thanks,
Janice

[tfoy]

Hi Janice,

The help does not say much, but it sounds more like the Add to pages is used to append the product on pages list, but does suggest not using the add to pages. My add to pages fields are all blank.

make sure in your spreadsheet your are formating your page list under the Product On Pages column as Page1|Page2 with no spacing and using the Page Name Field.

One thing for in the future if you don't usually do so, always download a backup first, then download the file you will be working with. Helps if something goes wrong.


Hope this helps,
Tom

[loren_d_c]

http://support.shopsite.com/kbase/view_answer.php?questionID=S5519

This is an old ShopSite Knowledgebase article describing a problem in ShopSite v8.1, however it also includes some clarification about these two fields:

The Add To Pages (previously known as In These Pages) field is additive-only, in other words the product will be added to pages listed in this field (if it is not already on them) but will not be removed from any pages that it may be on but that are not in this field.

The Product On Pages is new in v8.1 and it is absolute, in other words the product will be added to pages listed in this field (if it is not already on them) and removed from any pages in may be on that are not included in this field.

You should choose which one of these two fields best fits your needs and not use the other.

-Loren

[dortchjm]

I did some experimenting. By downloading, modifying spreadsheets, then uploading I was able to clean up the "Add To Pages" field so it contained only space. I then proceeded to find out what happened when I add a new page. I selected two records, one I updated manually through Shopsite products, that one worked perfectly. The second I tried updating through the upload. The results were weird. My original page was deleted from the "Product On Pages" and replaced with my new page. The "Add To Pages" now contained my old page. This product no longer appears on the original page.

My conclusion is to only update this field manually, although I personally hate going through the steps to update this field manually and would prefer to use a spreadsheet.

Janice

[dortchjm]

I just ran another test. I downloaded the database, only selecting the Name, SKU, Product ID, Product On Pages, Add To Pages fields. I removed all records except two test records, then uploaded to the database.

I wanted to see what happened if I downloaded the database, made changes to other fields, then uploaded.

The data in the "Product On Pages" was moved to the "Add To Pages" field. My products no longer show up on the specified page.

Is there a switch somewhere that I didn't hit or is this a real bug? I'm using Pro 9 with the latest update.

Janice

[tfoy]

Hi Janice,

I am not aware of any other places other then those two fields and possibly at the Database upload area under shopsite that might affect that field.

I know the help does warn of using both fields together that Add to pages will overwrite the Product on pages field.


What happens if you go into Shopsite and remove the assigned page from a product ( product on pages )

Then in the spreadsheet blank out both the Product on Pages and Add To Pages field for that product. Then upload it.

Check to see from shopsite if the product then shows that it still is not assigned to any page.

Finally try uploading the file again with just the Product on Pages field filled in.

[dortchjm]

I tried it. Wiped both fields clean, then entered the page in the "Products On Page" field, left "Add To Pages" blank, uploaded. The contents of "Products On Page" were moved to "Add To Pages" and my page did not appear where it was supposed to.

It seems to be doing the opposite of what the instructions state.

I noticed the problem about a month ago, I was with updating with spreadsheets, I know my pages all got messed up with linking of products, I manually fixed most of them and had no clue what was causing the problem. It seems anytime the "Products On Page" field is uploaded the contents are removed from the existing list and moved over to the "Add To Pages".

Janice

[tfoy]

I take it you have checked under The field matching to be sure that fields are properly matched.

Not trying to offend you, just asking to be sure.

I also came accross this http://support.shopsite.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=7442&sid=34a83487a003a0fdcaed94d43e21b362

It speaks of backing up your database first then Download products then emptying the products then re-uploading the database with nothing in the Add to pages, but titles in the Product on Pages

Might be something to consider if you can't get it fixed.


Tom

[dortchjm]

The fields are properly matched. My database is fixed, I know how to work around it. I'm getting ready to upload a ton of products and I'm just trying to figure out the easiest way to do it and how not to break it.

It appears the two fields are doing the opposite of what they should be doing. For example the Add field should be adding pages to the Products field, but instead it removes the page from the Products field. My experience tells me there is a bug in the Shopsite database upload program that only happens when doing an upload through spreadsheets. Manually updating the products individually or globally works.

By the way, the only way to even see the "Add To Pages" field is through a download, it's invisible in the manual Shopsite Product process. I thought that maybe at one time I had mistakenly filled in the wrong field, but after testing today, I know I didn't.

Janice

[tfoy]

I guess the important thing is that it is fixed now.

I use spreadsheets all the time to upload and have not had an issue so far.

Hopefully this won't be an ongoing issue for you.




Tom

[dortchjm]

Tom,

What version of Shopsite are you using?

Janice

[tfoy]

ShopSite® Pro 9.0.4 now, but have been using excel and openoffice calc since we started this a few years ago. not sure which version that was.

I know there was some issues in an older release as Loren stated.

I would still suggest if this keeps happening to try emptying the database after backing everything up.

depending who is your host, they may be able to help also. I know Lexiconn is always very helpful with issues we might have, even when I cause them. : )


One thing I notice reading the post Loren made:

The Add To Pages (previously known as In These Pages) field is additive-only, in other words the product will be added to pages listed in this field (if it is not already on them) but will not be removed from any pages that it may be on but that are not in this field.

blanking the Add to Pages field and uploading the file does not remove from an assigned page. So it looks like it may have to be done manually.

in shopsite remove the page assignment and check under the page it was on and make sure the product is not assigned still. Then re-download the product database and see if it still has it listed under add to pages field.


Tom

[dortchjm]

Lexiconn's my host. Great guys! I'll see if they have any ideas.

Thanks,
Janice