So, on occasion, I make backups of our Volusion product and orders databases, and store them here. You might ask, with a shared solution like Volusion, is that necessary?
A few years back, we had an import error that took down our entire product catalog. Of course, Volusion has a service that they can restore your site from their most recent backup, for which they charge $199. The bad part is that it took them three days to get our database back up to the previous state, and of course, our store was down during those three days (so no sales of any kind while we waited for Volusion techs to get around to fixing our store).
As you might imagine, I've started keeping my own damn backups, thank you very much.
Which is fine, except that the procedure of backing up the databases simply isn't as cut-and-dried as one would expect. There are about 160 different fields in the Products database, and every time I try to download them all at once, Volusion times out before the procedure is complete.
So, I need to break them into smaller files, and then re-compile the various CSV files in Excel. Not a great solution, but you have to remember to download the product code with each file segment so you have something to match the files back up (I use a great Excel utility called Merge Tables Wizard from AbleBits).
The problems are two-fold. First of all, some fields have to have their own export, or they simply time out. So, I typically end up doing about ten exports to get my entire database out. Then, I merge them all together using the Product Code field and the Merge Tables Wizard.
Importing is the bigger problem. You can only import about 500 items at a time if you have every field in the file. And each import of 500 items can take upwards of 30 minutes. So, you'd better hope you have a small number of products or you're going to be at it for weeks.
On second thought, a 3-day vacation and $199 fee to Volusion doesn't seem like such a bad deal after all.
OR...if they'd finally fix the G-D import function (which they've been promising to do for three years now), none of this would matter. I suppose that if they fixed the import, there'd be no more $199 import feed anymore. So, I guess the crappy import function is a feature, and not a bug-infested mess.
It's all a matter of perspective. Or, just another reason why Volusion sucks...
Want to open a successful online store? Live vicariously through the travails of one person's attempts to build a successful eCommerce site with Volusion.
Are you backing your data up in a MySQL database and have access to a php server? If so I got a script. I can use their API to pull all product data, insert it automatically into your MySQL database using a batch file ran from task scheduler every morning around 2am for instance...rarely fails.
ReplyDeleteIf you can tell me how to import that entire database back INTO Volusion using their API, I might owe you a beer or twelve.
ReplyDeleteIm pretty sure it can be done with a VB program. I have seen PART of it in action just don't know VB to expand the code to include a file or connect to a database.
ReplyDeleteSame issue, this was the answer I got from V Support:
ReplyDeleteIt looks like this was a result of your browser timing out after the usual two minutes. I ran the export, and you should be able to download the file from your FTP account in the /logs/dataport/dl folder path. The files are ones that begin with "Products_Joined."
I'm not sure who's authoring this blog, or if you're were or are a forum member, but you may find yourself in good company at Convergent 7's e-commerce forum. There's a Volusion sub forum populated by people who share your frustration, as well as people who may be able to help you out. Google "Volusion forum" and look for the Convergent7 Forum in the first few results. Keep up the insightful posts.
ReplyDeleteRay, regarding your comment, yes, all of the completed exports can be found in that location, but my problem is those exports that won't complete. I currently am trying to export one single column from the Products database, and the damn thing won't complete the export.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I could call and wait on hold with support for 30 minutes to tell me they need to fill out a ticket, but I have better things to do with my time than listen to the same on-hold music over and over...
I do regularly do imports and exports with several thousand products and they take a couple minutes at most. It's never been an issue for me. Have you tried using a different browser?
ReplyDeleteI use the latest version of FF and IE, both on a PC and a Mac (plus Safari on the Mac). Exporting isn't a problem (most of the time). It's the importing that causes the problem. I've even had Volusion's engineers watch my imports and tell me there's nothing wrong with them, just that, as they put it, "The import function needs an overhaul."
ReplyDeleteDuh.