Product Search Listing - Product Feed Setup Guide - How to add your wholesale or trade suppliers products to our Product Search and Price Comparison at villagefetes.co.uk

VILLAGEFETES PRODUCT FEED SET UP GUIDE AND INFORMATION

Follow our set up guides to create your product feed

Use our product feed set up guide below to show you how to prepare a product feed, how to check the finished feed and explain where to upload or store the feed for Villagefetes to access it for inclusion into our product search.

What is a product or data feed?

A product or data feed is a file containing a list of products organised in rows, with each row containing information about that product commonly separated by tab, comma or column. To demonstrate how easy it is to create a very simple product feed follow the steps in the next section below.

How to create a basic product feed

	Create a new .txt (notepad) file on your desktop and rename it "demo"
	Open the file and enter the word "Griddle" on the first line.
	Using the tab key (not space bar) create a space after the word above.
	Now enter "22ft caterers griddle ideal for man with long arms"
	Make sure you have not used the "quotation marks" and save the file.
	Now use our feed checker to view the field outputs of your demo feed.
Ok that shows the basic product information now we need to add a product image, link to the product page on your website and the price (net of VAT). So now add the following to your demo feed.
	Again use the tab and enter the image URL "http://mywebsite.com/images/biggriddle.jpg".
	Again use the tab and enter the web page URL "http://mywebsite.com/biggriddle.htm".
	Finally use the tab and enter the product net price "250.00."
	Make sure you have not used the "quotation marks" and save the file.
	Now use our feed checker to view all the 5 field outputs of your demo feed.
That's all you need to create a very basic product feed with the field data in the correct order. Another way is to use a spread sheet (i.e. Microsoft Excel) which you may find easier to keep the product data in the correct order as you can set the field headings and save as an CSV file (see below).

How to make your product feed accessible via URL

	Create a top level folder in your website.
	Rename that folder "villagefetes" (No quotation marks lowercase only).
	Create a new file in that folder using the file format you wish to use.
	Rename that file using a shortened version of your business name.
	Finally enter the above file name details into our Feed Inclusion Form

How to manually update your product feed (Option 1 subscribers only)

	Create a new file on your computer in your required file format.
	Rename that file using a shortened version of your business name.
	Login and use our product feed upload form to manually upload and update.

File formats - compatible file formats you can use.

Our software can read just about any XML or CSV variant (comma, tab, pipe separated values etc.), text file, syndication feeds (RSS, Atom etc.) and SOAP envelopes and documents from XML web service APIs.

Data fields - minimum requirements for every product feed.

The following fields and data must be included with every product feed submitted and each product row must contain the fields in the same order. Please note that product feeds without the minimum required fields and data will be omitted from the scheduled monthly inclusion.

Field Name	Field Description
product_name	The name of the product you are selling.
description	The description of the product you are selling.
image_url	The address of the main product image.
deep_link	The address of the product page on your website.
display_price	The Net price or end price if no VAT is charged.

Data fields - optional additional data fields to add to your product feed.

The following fields and data are optional for you to add to your product feed. Some fields are already used in our search results and greatly enhance product listings for advertisers who include them.

Field Name	Field Description	In use
product_id	Your catalogue or product inventory ID.
model_number	The manufacturers product model number.
specifications	Additional specifications, colour, size etc.	Yes
promotional_text	Description of promotions, special offers etc.	Yes
promotional_code	Specific code used in connection with above.
category_name	The category to list your product under.*	Yes
brand_name	The product brand or manufacturers name.	Yes
thumb_url	The address of product thumbnail image.	Yes
delivery_time	Product estimated delivery time.
gross_ price	Total price including any VAT charged.
added_vat	Total VAT charged to the customer.

*Category maps to use:

Data fields - Website and image address URL links

Image address URL's and web page addresses are often misunderstood and can cause a great deal of confusion. In order to create a good product feed that works and sends visitors to the correct page on your website please read on.
Image address URL (field "image_url")
Every website page that displays an image draws the required image from a folder stored within a website on the hosting server (not your local, home PC or Villagefetes). Therefore to display images from your product feed you must provide the full URL of the image. A quick and accurate way to obtain correct image URL's is while viewing a webpage online right click on an image then click the properties menu where the Address (URL) will be displayed starting with http:// and ending with .jpg .jpeg .png or .gif. We recommended to produce a good product image that you use .jpg image formats where possible and a minimum image width size of 200 pixels. Remember images are drawn from your website and you may want to consider providing thumbnails and their URL's (field "thumb_url") with a max width size of 70 pixels to save download times and bandwidth usage.
Web page URL (field "deep_link")
Every website and website page has a unique Address (URL) and your product feed must include valid product links for viewers to click to. You can either link all your products to your website home page wrote as http://www.yourwebsite.co.uk (ideal for small product list but can make it difficult for viewers to locate products also frames based websites may find this option easier) or link your products to product pages wrote similar to http://www.yourwebsite.co.uk/product1.htm (we recommend this way for the best results). A quick and accurate way to obtain correct web page URL's is to copy them from your web browser address bar.
Important to remember - Once you have submitted your product feed and you need to rename pages and images on your website your product links and images will no longer work until you correct your product feed URL's ready for the next scheduled update date.

Final product feed check

Before you upload your final finished product feed it is always advisable to recheck that everything has been set up correctly to meet our requirements. If you require further assistance please use our contact us form giving your email address and support question. Please note no telephone support is available.