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The Bulk Upload facility is considered an advanced feature, and as such, may not be appropriate for all users. To use the Bulk Upload facility, your site must be configured to use a supported upload component. See http://www.xcent.com/FAQ/XcIBViewItem.asp?id=12 for details. To determine if an upload component is available on your site, you can select "Run Diagnostics" from the "Tools" menu on any Administrator page.
To have access to the Bulk Upload facility, a user must be in a group with proper capabilities set. Specifically, the group must have the capability "BULKUPLOAD" set to "Y". See http://www.xcent.com/FAQ/XcIBViewItem.asp?id=412 for details on using Groups and Group Capabilities
Once your site is configured with an upload component, and the user has the required capability, you can access the Bulk Upload facility. In xcAuction, click the "My Auctions" tab from the "My Auctions" or "Manage Your Auctions" link, select "Bulk Upload Staging" and click "Go". In xcClassified, click the "My Ads" or "Manage Your Ads" link, and "Bulk Upload Staging" has its own tab.
Bulk Upload Staging
The Bulk Upload Staging area displays listings that are ready to be submitted to the live listing area but which are still awaiting approval. Any listings listed in this section will not be displayed in the listings on the main site until they are approved. Users have the ability to approve, edit, and delete listings that have derived from files they have already uploaded through the Bulk Uploader.
Below the tab bar users will see a small button called “Upload”. This button takes the user into the front end of the Bulk Upload Process.
Bulk Upload User Interface
Once users click the “Upload” button, they will see a page that describes the Bulk Upload Process in more detail. There are several items on this page that are important to the user.
Sample CSV File
The Bulk Upload system receives all information through a CSV or Comma Separated Value file. This type of file is a plain text file that contains information similar to that of Excel, but rather than columns and rows separating the information, commas are used to designate columns and each new line in the text file determines the rows.
The plain text view of the CSV file is not exactly user friendly, but Excel provides a facility to save data into the CSV format necessary for the Bulk Upload system. The user simply needs to click on the File->Save As option and select CSV (Comma Delimited) (*.csv) option from the “Save as type:” drop down option box.
The Bulk Upload system will only recognize certain fields uploaded through the CSV file. These fields are provided to the user through the “sample CSV file” link in the Bulk Upload user interface page. When a user clicks on this link, he or she will be prompted to download the CSV file template from the site. The Bulk Upload system will dynamically create a template CSV file for the user depending on the features and fields you have selected to display on your site. The Bulk Upload system will even generate sample data to show users what sort of data should go into each of the fields.
Please note that while a link to an Excel file is provided, this file is static, meaning it may not have all of the fields you have enabled on your site, or it may have fields you have disabled. If the fields in the bulk upload file do not match the fields your site uses, the upload process will fail, so your users should either use the CSV file or you will need to edit the XLS file to contain the proper fields. The XLS file is in the APTemp folder for xcAuction, and in the CPTemp folder for xcClassified.
Category IDs
Provided within the Bulk Upload system are two pages that provide the user with a list of valid values for certain fields used by the Bulk Upload system. One of these pages contains a list of the category ids a user can use in the CSV file under the aucCatID heading for xcAuction, or the cadCatID heading for xcClassified. There is a link in the Bulk Upload description that users can follow to view the list of valid category ids.
The category id list displays all of the categories in the order you as the administrator have configured the system to display them. This list contains the category id that is necessary in the CSV file for the aucCatID or cadCatID field as well as the path to the category.
Valid Values for Other Fields
xcAuction and xcClassified have several other fields that require certain specific values in order to be recognized by the Bulk Upload system. These fields along with their appropriate values are displayed by clicking on the link for “Valid Values for Other Fields”. Each list of values corresponds to a field in the Bulk Upload CSV file. Only those fields that are configured to display on your site are included on this list.
Processing the CSV File
Once the user has created the CSV file, it is ready to be uploaded to the system for processing. By clicking the “Browse” button on the Bulk Upload user interface, the user can search for the file they created on their computer and then click the “Upload” button to submit the CSV file to xcAuction or xcClassified.
The Bulk Upload system now goes into action processing each of the records in the CSV file. Using the same validation as in the standard Post an Auction or Post an Ad process, the Bulk Upload system determines whether or not the auctions in the CSV file have the minimum requirements to be posted to the system. Any of the listings in the CSV file that do not contain the minimum requirements for a valid listing will be skipped and the user will be presented with a list of those failed auctions on the Bulk Upload Preview page.
The Bulk Upload Preview page is divided into a few sections that contain various pieces of information regarding the auctions that were just posted. When the user is satisfied with the results of the Bulk Upload process, he or she will then click the “Finish” button to save the results of the process and generate a receipt for the auctions uploaded. The user will receive an itemized breakdown of the auctions processed as well as any accumulated charges. The administrator will also receive a notification of the Bulk Upload session that took place and a brief description of the outcome.
Bulk Upload Statistics
The Bulk Upload Statistics section of this page contains information about the successes and failures of the Bulk Upload Process for the CSV file that was uploaded.
Bulk Upload Charges
This section will only display if you have the billing system enabled on the site. The Bulk Upload charges section breaks down the charges for the Bulk Upload process into the various items that have a charge. This section will display a total charge for all of the auctions successfully processed with the Bulk Upload system, but no discounts will displayed on this page.
If you receive the error "Upload File does not include the column headings found in the template file or the uploaded file is not a valid type." after uploading your CSV file, you should redownload the sample CSV file, as the file you are uploading most likely does not have all of the proper fields for the site.
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