Magmi is the best way to import products into Magento

A few years ago I did a lot of Magento based websites. In the archive of my blog you will find several articles that allow you to solve some problems on Magento.

Recently, I again worked with Magento (v1.7.0.2). There is one thing that incredibly limits the use of Magento. This is import functionality. If you have ever imported goods through the profiles of Magento Dataflow - you know how crookedly everything is implemented there:

• There is no possibility to import multiple images (image gallery, etc.);
• there is no possibility to import categories;
• there is no possibility of importing cross-selling and related products;
• there is no possibility to import multiple prices (for different groups of customers);
• in short, this scheme works extremely badly ...

Fortunately, about a year ago I found Magmi. If you want to import something into Magento, use Magmi. It works fine. The developer of Magmi is Seb Bracquemont .
Here is the Magmi home page: http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/magmi/index.php . I do not know why Magento does not buy the project and its developers. And probably never know. Magmi may seem a bit tricky at first, but believe me, it will make working with Magento a lot easier.
Need to import from a remote CSV? It's not a problem. Need to update your image options? Magmi can do it. Want to create all your categories on the fly and activate them in one fell swoop? Yes, it is also possible!
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Magmi is a tool that few seem to use. I hope this post helps:

1. raise awareness of Magmi, he deserves more recognition;
2. facilitate the import of data in Magento;
3. convince users to support the Magmi project - it’s really great

How it works?

I admit that from a technical point of view I have no idea what is there and how it works. However, from the point of view of a Magento store developer, I understand that I can create a CSV with an arbitrary structure and solve all the problems mentioned above. Easy. I admit that the interface looks a bit complicated, but if you don’t take your time and read the documentation, you’ll understand that you can import almost anything.

Sample CSV file format:

When creating a CSV file for import through Magmi, make sure that you have the ability to save all values ​​in double quotes. Excel cannot save data to CSV using quotes (surprise), but LibreOffice can. From the menu, select File, Save As, then select the CSV Text file type, set the Change Filter Settings checkbox, and click the Save button. Then select “Save.” In the filter settings window set the "Text values ​​in quotes" checkbox.

"store","attribute_set","type","sku","pack_size","name","short_description","description","dimensions", "qty","price","special_price","tier_price:B2B","categories","image","small_image","thumbnail", "image_label","small_image_label","thumbnail_label","media_gallery","weight","tax_class_id", "meta_title","meta_description","Colour:drop_down:1","news_from_date","news_to_date", "special_from_date","special_to_date" 

You probably know some of the points that are quite difficult to make a package and quickly in Magento. For example, upload an image gallery and product options. Magmi is easy! Another feature is the ability to set the desired product categories using the following syntax in CSV:

 "/;//;/ /" 

In addition, if these categories do not exist, they will be created upon import.

Cool? Magmi is lightning fast! If you are used to watching the progress bar of importing Magento products, you will be pleasantly surprised. Magmi does it in seconds.

Translator's Note

Magmi works directly with the site database, so it works really fast. I managed about 500 items / sec with uploading images from remote sources on a cheap VPS. Also do not forget to backup the database before importing.