Merlin Backoffice 1.6.0
Lucky guys, we've particularly take care of you for this Merlin 1.6 update (still compatible with PrestaShop 1.3 to 1.7) , find out for yourselves:
Import to free topics
To import data into additional fields added in PrestaShop, such as a second HTML description.
Or to import into a field that Merlin does not natively offer (such as the #RGB colour of attributes for example).
Or to fill or update tables created by additional modules, such as Amazon specific prices from the Amazon module.
A whole field of possibilities opens up.
The field of possibilities is wide open to you.
Creation and updates of synchronized declinations on attribute columns
No longer does merlin need a column containing the identifier reference or barcode of declinations to determine if they already exist be created it now knows how use only set attribute columns find corresponding declination id exists and synchronise
New column mapping tool
To map a column from a csv or Excel file, until now you had to find and select the field from a long list. We have to admit, this was not very ergonomic.
Now, it is much more convenient, the selection is done in a new pop-up window.
Advantages:
- All available sections are visible at once .
- They are grouped by theme (products, variations, categories, prices, stocks, images, others,...) and by sub-themes (properties, taxes, texts,...)
- You have a quick search field, type the beginning of a word and all the headings containing this word are highlighted in yellow.
- The heading currently mapped to the column or your new choice as below is highlighted green.
- Can remain open and be placed wherever you want, even on a second screen. So you can more quickly map several columns in series.
- We also thought of those who are new to PrestaShop or who deal with complex data by including a description or definition for each item.
- An "Undo" button allows you to uncheck the field initially mapped to the column.
The time saving in step 2 of mapping is very significant. Once you've had a taste of it, it's hard to do without.
New choice per column: use only to create the article or just when updating it, or in all cases.
Imagine that you have imported 1000 product sheets and since then your teams reworked the descriptions are too generic a titanic task must not lose
You receive a new file from the same supplier every day, allowing both the update of prices and stocks of the old items, but also some new products to be created from scratch. You do not want this "description" column to be used to update existing products.
You used to have to make two "Tasks", and two mapping models, one for the creation of new products, another for the updates, and therefore two consecutive imports, in the right order.
Forget about this operational complexity, you just have to uncheck the "Use on modifications" box, in the "Description" column, and leave only "Use on additions" checked, and you're done.
Twice as simple and above all twice as fast!
Merge together duplicate attribute or feature values.
A new and very practical time-saving tool, as it allows you to clean up the database in a few clicks of those properties imported several times, sometimes under similar names, such as "Blue", "blue", "sky blue", "blue".... and associated with different products or variations.
But before grouping them into one value, it replaces in the associations the deleted values with the retained one. So no items are broken, no information is lost.
Comparison with current price before purchase price update.
Many of you have asked that when importing, purchase prices should only be updated if the price in the file is smaller than the current price in the database.
This is especially useful for those who have several different suppliers per product. This option allows you to always calculate your margins from the most interesting price.
(Editor's note: as we write these lines, an idea comes to us for the next version, and if Merlin also allowed you to change the default supplier only if the purchase price was more interesting? tell us in comments what you think).
Removing associated categories by import
Another often expressed need, to be able to remove categories from the list of associated, or secondary, categories. Before tla 1.6, this could only be done via the target category management panel in the main window. Via the import you could only add new associations, but not remove any.
With version 1.6 you can un-associate products from certain categories in two different ways By choosing the new option that replaces the full list of categories already associated, with the new list provided:
Or, category by category by putting a minus sign in front of the category ID to be unassociated:
Speed up
Merlin's working speed has been boosted for several different types of operations.
During imports. Some comparative examples between version 1.5.4 and the latest 1.6.
Importing attributes:
Importing features:
Importing suppliers:
You'll notice improvements also when importing brands, calculating forced margin sales prices...
During mass deletions
Mass deletion of certain types of items required optimisation, this has been done, sometimes with speed gains between 10x and 100x.
The treatments concerned:
- Deleting categories.
- Deleting entire features, with their values.
And much more, you can check out the full list of new features and fixes.