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Schedule Import And Export Of WooCommerce Products

Last updated on September 26, 2023

The Product Import and Export plugin for WooCommerce schedules the import and export of products. By providing the starting time and intervals, one can automate the import-export process at regular intervals from the input file present on the FTP Server. In this article, we will have a detailed look at cron, import and export of products using an FTP server and automating the import and export of products.

What is Cron?

The software utility, Cron is a time-based job scheduler in Unix-like computer operating system. It is most suitable for scheduling repetitive tasks. Scheduling onetime tasks are often more easily accomplished using this utility. Other functionalities include :

  • Automating system maintenance and administration.
  • Setting up and maintaining the software environments to schedule jobs (commands or shell script) and run periodically at fixed times, dates, or intervals.
  • Downloading files from the Internet and downloading emails at regular intervals because of its general-purpose nature.

Importing products using FTP Server

Sample CSV
View of sample CSV
  • The uploaded CSV file on the FTP server (you can use FileZilla) is as shown below:
Uploaded sample CSV
Uploaded sample CSV
  • From the WordPress admin panel’s menu, click on WebToffee Import /Export (Pro) > Import.
Import menu
Import menu
  1. Select the post type as Product.
  2. Select either Quick or Advanced import method.
  3. Select FTP under Import from and enter the following FTP details:
    • Select an FTP profile.
    • Choose the Import file path between Default and Custom.
    • Specify the Import file name.
    • After import, delete the import file if needed.
Import via FTP
Import via FTP
  1. Choose the delimiter and select the Date format.
  2. Move to step 3, to map the import columns.
  3. Proceed to step 4 and finish the process.

One can either directly import or automate the import process. Follow the steps in How to import products for a more detailed documentation. On successful import, the products will get added to your online store as shown below.

products page
Products added to store

Automate Product Import

Automate all your imports via FTP profiles and schedules. To schedule the import:

  • Click on Import/Schedule button.
  • Hit the Schedule option, and the cron schedule window will appear as shown below:schedule now screen

The plugin supports two different schedule types:

  1. WordPress Cron: Upon a visit, WordPress Cron will check to see if the time/date is later than the scheduled events, and if it is–it will fire those events.
    • schedules your job at the specified time. 
    • depends on your website visitors.
  2. Server Cron: You may need to trigger the URL every minute depending on the volume of data to be processed.You can use this option :
    • to generate a unique URL to add to your system in order to trigger the events. 
    • if you have a separate system to trigger the scheduled events.

Also, we can schedule the import on a daily, weekly, monthly, custom basis. One can also configure the time at which the import has to be scheduled. Click on Schedule now to finish.

Exporting products to the FTP Server

To export the following products as listed on the Product page.

Product page export
Products to export

From the WordPress admin panel’s menu, click on WebToffee Import /Export (Pro) > Export.

Export menu
Export menu
  1. Select the post type as Product.
  2. Select the required export method and move to the next of Advanced options or Filter data as required.
  3. After data filtration, proceed further by mapping and reordering the columns.
  4. On reaching step 5, select FTP for the option Download the file into and fill up the details:
    • Select the FTP profile.
    • Select the Export file path.
Export via FTP
Export via FTP
  1. Click on Export to finish.

One can either directly export or automate the product export process. Follow the steps in How to export products for more detailed documentation. On successful export, The CSV file gets exported to the FTP root folder on the server(you can use FileZilla) and it is as shown below:

Exported CSV file
Exported CSV file
Sample CSV
Sample view product CSV

Automate Product Export

Automate all your exports via FTP profiles and schedules. To schedule the export:

  • Click on Export/Schedule button.
    schedule-on-export
  • Hit the Schedule option, and the cron schedule window will appear as shown below:
    scheduling products during export

The plugin supports two different schedule types:

  1. WordPress Cron: Upon a visit, WordPress Cron will check to see if the time/date is later than the scheduled events, and if it is–it will fire those events.
    • schedules your job at the specified time. 
    • depends on your website visitors.
  2. Server Cron: You may need to trigger the URL every minute depending on the volume of data to be processed.You can use this option :
    • to generate a unique URL and add to your system in order to trigger the events. 
    • if you have a separate system to trigger the scheduled events.

File name: Specify a filename for the exported file (this will overwrite the contents of this file for every export). If left blank, the system generates a default name (generated a new filename for every export).

Schedule the time at which you want the automatic export to occur and also give other necessary information for the export. And then click on Schedule Now.

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