How Do I Import Categories Via CSV?

With Shift4Shop, you can import your store's category structure with a simple CSV file. You can also export your store's existing category structure as needed through CSV file format.

Importing New Categories

To import new categories to your store, you will need to create a CSV file with the following column header:

category_name

You can also download a clean category import CSV file by clicking here.

Within the CSV file, populate the category_name column with your category structure.

See image for an example of a created import CSV ready for upload.

When you are done creating the CSV file, save it on your computer (be sure to keep the file as a CSV and not XLS). Once the file is saved, you can import it to your store.

1. Log into your Shift4Shop Online Store Manager.

2. Using the left navigation menu, go to Products > Product List.

3. While viewing the Product List, look to the top right of the page and click on the Export/Import button.

4. Under the Import section (on the right side of the page), click on the + icon next to "Categories."

Once you're there, use the Browse button to locate the file on your computer and click Import Data to have it uploaded to your store.

After clicking Import Data, you will be given the following two choices:

• Insert Only
  The file will be used to insert all records that are not yet on your store.
  Since this is an import of new categories, you will want to select this one.

• Update Only
  The file will be used to update records that are already found on your store.
  This is more applicable to updating categories via CSV (See next section)

Export Existing Categories

You can also use CSV to update your store's existing categories. This is useful if you need to change the name of the category or some other parameter of the categories and their settings.

The best way to begin this process is to export your store's existing categories. To do this:

1. Log into your Shift4Shop Online Store Manager

2. Using the left navigation menu, go to Products > Product List.

3. While viewing the Product List, look to the top right of the page and click on the Export/Import button.

4. Under the Export section (on the left side of the page), click on the + icon next to "Categories."

5. Click on the Export Data button.

The store software will generate a CSV file of your current categories. After processing the export, you can download the CSV file to your computer. This file can then be edited with whatever updates are needed.

Category Update CSV Column Headers

Here is the list of column headers contained in the category CSV export file and how they correlate to the category settings in the Online Store Manager.

• id
  This is the database ID number of the category and it is assigned by the store's software.
  There is no need to edit this column at all.

• category_name
  This is the name of the category as it will appear on your store front.

• category_description
  This column will contain any description written for the category.
  Note that this will only be applicable for sub categories.

• category_main (legacy function)
  This is no longer used and may be left blank
  On your exported CSV file it may say either TRUE or FALSE, but it is no longer used.

• category_parent
  This column correlates to the ID column for the category.
  If the category is a parent category, then the cell will need to be populated with a zero.
  If the category is a subcategory, then the cell will need to be populated with that parent category's ID number from the first column.

• category_header
  This column will contain the category's header from the "Page Content" area of the category in the admin

• category_footer
  This column will contain the category's footer from the "Page Content" area of the category in the admin

• category_title
  This column will be for the category's Title as entered in the SEO Title and Meta Tags area of the category in the admin

• category_meta
  This column will be for the category's meta tags as entered in the SEO Title and Meta Tags area of the category in the admin

• sorting
  This column will let you update the order in which the categories are displayed on your store.
  Higher numbers are shown farther on the list.