Hi WooCommerce store owners, the 1.9.8 Plugin update is a major Plugin update introducing a new Variable and Variation Product Type import engine as well as new Product import fields.

New format for importing/merging Variable and Variations

We’ve done away with the legacy variation import format relying on the Product Name field being specially formatted as it limited our ability to generate Variations made up of multiple Attributes (e.g. Colour: Red, Shape: Blue, Size: Medium), you can export directly from Store Exporter Deluxe and use the same export file to re-import your changes.

For new Variation imports you can now simply populate the Attribute columns for Variable Product Types and linked Variations and we’ll generate the Attribute Terms and link the Variations to the Variable Products at import time. Setting the Default Attribute is as easy as populating the Default Attribute cell for the Variable Product Type.

Here’s the full changelog:

Added

• Added: Default Attributes to Variable Products (thanks Carl)
• Added: TAB field delimiter detection to upload notice
• Added: Import support for Text Type Product Attributes (thanks Corin)
• Added: Row column to final Import Log screen
• Added: Detection of empty Product rows
• Added: Logging to WC_Logs for Products that fail validation without a reason

Fixed

• Fixed: Product Variations not importing
• Fixed: Visibility defaults to visible
• Fixed: Corruption of import file when delimiter is incorrectly detected
• Fixed: Conflict with W3 Total Cache Object Caching (thanks Daphne)
• Fixed: Cannot merge Stock Status changes (thanks Gyula)
• Fixed: Duplicate Attribute Terms not linking to new Products (thanks Corin)
• Fixed: Currency import validation issue (thanks Matt)
• Fixed: Currency import formatting issue (thanks Paolo)
• Fixed: Automatic field delimiter detection failing in CRON imports (thanks Borko)
• Fixed: Automatic Plugin updater conflict

Changed

• Changed: Cannot import new Sale Price without Price for Variations
• Changed: Deactivate Visser Labs Updater on upgrade

Download the latest Plugin update from My Account, or via Dashboard > Updates within the WordPress Administration and for more information visit the Plugin detail page for Product Importer Deluxe.