A template stores the filters, the column selection and the output settings from an export you have already built. Next time you run that export, you pick the template and go.
Saving a template #
- Build an export the normal way through the Advanced path, choosing your filters and columns.
- On the final step, find Save as template.
- Give it a name that says what it is. Monthly orders for accounts beats Template 1 six months from now.
- Run the export. The template is saved along with it.
Using a template #
- Open the Export tab and pick your data type.
- On the method step, choose Pre-saved template.
- Select the template from the list.
- Run it.
The filter and column steps are skipped, because the template already answers them.
Setting a default template #
Under Settings you can nominate a default export template and a default import template. Combined with setting the default method to Pre-saved template, this turns your most common export into something you reach in two clicks from the dashboard.
This pays off most on stores where several people run the same export. Set the template up once, make it the default, and everyone produces the same file with the same columns instead of each person selecting a slightly different set.
Import templates #
Templates work on the import side too, where they store the column mapping. This matters more than it sounds. If you receive the same supplier file every week with the same unusual column names, mapping it once and saving that mapping removes the step where somebody has to remember that the supplier calls the price column UnitCostGBP.
Save an import template the same way, on the mapping step, and load it on the method step of a later import.
Templates worth building #
- Price and stock update. Products, columns limited to ID, SKU, Name, Regular Price, Sale Price, Stock Quantity, Stock Status. Small file, fast round trip, no chance of overwriting a description by accident.
- Monthly order report. Orders, XLSX format, columns limited to what your accountant reads. Pair it with a scheduled job and it arrives without anyone doing anything.
- Full product backup. Products, every column, custom meta on. Slow, wide, and exactly what you want before a risky change.
- Customer mailing list. Customers, columns limited to name, email and country.
- Supplier feed import. The mapping for whatever oddly named columns your supplier sends.
Templates and scheduled jobs #
A template is the natural companion to a scheduled job. Build the export interactively until the output looks right, save it as a template, then create a scheduled job that runs it. You get to check the file by eye before committing to a recurring job that mails it to somebody every week.
Keeping templates useful #
Templates store column names. If you later add a custom field and want it in the export, update the template rather than assuming it will appear on its own. Re-run the export through the Advanced path with the new column ticked, and save it over the old template name.
Delete templates you no longer use. A list of fifteen templates where three are current is a list nobody trusts.
