Using Product Feeds

Donald Trump · 30-12-06

Hi All

I am hoping to start using product feeds so that i don't need to manually update prices etc and would be grateful if anyone could offer some assistance. I know how to create a database and use php but what i would like to know is, is there an easy way to select individual products from the database.

The method i have been thinking of using is to build an array of names for example and then have the webpage display the desired element from the array i.e. name_array[5]. The only problem with this is, if the product feed order changes in the future, this array element would point to a different name and thus not display the desired data. Is there some way i can add an if statement or something that would ensure the correct data is displayed regardless of the database order? or is there any easier way to do this than building and displaying individual array elements per page?

Hope that makes sense, any comments welcome.

Thanks

CompareStore · 30-12-06

Hi Donald,

Just get one of your apprentices to do it!

Seriously though the best thing to do is store the individual columns from the feed in individual columns in your tables then retrieve using SQL

Donald Trump · 30-12-06

Thanks for the quick reply CompareStore - much appreciated!

I think I understand what you're saying. Is this what you mean:

Database

Column1 Column2
Name1 Price1
Name2 Price2
Name3 Price3

Use a Mysql query i.e. SELECT name2 FROM database

Would the above work? if it does i'm sure this will save me many hours! :eek:

CompareStore · 31-12-06

I'll be totally honest with you if I may. If you are struggling with designing the database you are going to find it really tough going getting a site up and running using the product feeds.

This is exactly why we created the W3 Alliance, for people like yourself who want to use product feeds but are not experienced enough to create a database and the related systems to maintain it all.

If you really want to do it all from scratch then I'd recommend you take a course on database design or get a good book. It will be worth it in the end.

kungfumobiles · 31-12-06

or try AffiliStore (see signature link) see if it fits your needs.

Donald Trump · 31-12-06

I'll definitely look into those two sites and I agree with you that I will find it tough doing it myself. I would still like to have a go at learning database design etc so could you recommend a decent book?

Many thanks

CompareStore · 02-01-07

I have never read any of the current books as I learnt database programming through 15 years of business systems development but this one looks pretty good: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Build-Databa...e=UTF8&s=books

Donald Trump · 02-01-07

Cheers for that, i've even found the book cheaper on abebooks (not that money means that much to a man of my wealth!) so i'll order that today. I've also got the magicparser code - although it was quite expensive i think it will prove to be very helpful. I've had a quick mess around with it and it seems very good. I'll let you know how i get on - i have a website in progress at the moment so when it's ready i'll post a link.

Thanks for all your assistance.

Tom · 02-01-07

If I was you i'd give the affilistore a go, I had a play with it over the weekend and it's really very easy to create a site. Of course if you want to incorporate into an existing site it might not be quite as simple, but it would atleast get the products in your database for you

hobbsy · 05-01-07

Quote:

Originally Posted by CompareStore

I have never read any of the current books as I learnt database programming through 15 years of business systems development but this one looks pretty good: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Build-Databa...e=UTF8&s=books

I am currently learning PHP/MySQL and I bought the above book (Build Your Own Database Driven Website Using PHP and MySQL by Kevin Yank) at the beginning of December from Amazon (it was £18.29 back then!)

I didn't have much free time in December, but I've started working through the book in the past week and it's a great read; well written and relatively easy for a n00b like myself to understand what's going on. If you email the author (at SitePoint) they will email you a .zip with all the code for all examples in the book

I set up WAMP on my PC (and MAMP on my MacBookPro) and been enjoying getting to grips with databases. I can see that this knowledge will be invaluable for any new sites I build in 2007.

My next mission will be putting Datafeeds and MySQL together

Donald Trump · 23-01-07

It's probably staring me in the face but can anyone tell me where I can get an Amazon product feed? I've tried the Associate Centre but there doesn't seem to be an option for this. I've now registered with Amazon Web Services but I seem to be going around in circles looking for a product feed generator.

Cheers