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Getting Started with CJ

Submitted by LeadFoot on Sat, 2015-07-04 13:42 in

Hello everyone, I'm new, and trying to setup my very first datafeed. I'd like to start with Commission Junction (CJ).

Are there any instructions related specifically to CJ?

I'm just making a guess, but I logged into my CJ account, and created a new "product export".
Export Format - XML
Date Format - MM/DD/YYYY
Website - (the one I'm using PT on)
Subscription Type - Product Catalog
Delivery Notification - On
Transport Method - CJ FTP (I can also do CJ HTTP, Client HTTP, or Client FTP).

So now what. I've read several forum posts (from 2009) that tell me to put my username and into the datafeed title, but this doesn't seem to work.

Submitted by support on Sat, 2015-07-04 13:54

Hello LeadFoot and welcome to the forum!

I think if you change to CJ HTTP as the Transport Method, and then use the http:// format from this comment as the URL field in a new Automation Tool job for your CJ feed, that should do the trick.

The only thing to be aware of is if your CJ password contains any characters that must be URL encoded within the authenticated URL - there's a translation table of some of the most common password characters that require encoding in this comment.

An alternative to the CJ HTTP would be to use CJ FTP instead and first use an FTP client such as FileZilla to login in to the CJ FTP server and navigate to the feed in the remove window. Once located, right-click on the feed and select "Copy URL(s) to clipboard" and this will create an FTP URL of the format:

ftp://username@ftp.example.com/path/to/file.gz

All you need to do is insert your password as follows:

ftp://username:password@ftp.example.com/path/to/file.gz

(also bear in mind any encoding required as above) and use that as the URL in your Automation Tool job.

Hope this helps!

Cheers,
David.
--
PriceTapestry.com

Submitted by LeadFoot on Sat, 2015-07-04 14:36

Thank you for your reply!
I did get it working using the CJ FTP. The first thing I had to do was click the "generate a new ftp password" link on the subscriptions page in my CJ account. This provided a new username and password for me to use - your account credentials aren't used for feeds. After that, I was able to put pull products as you've described.

I do have a couple of questions, mainly because I've gotten overzealous and imported most of the internet into my product database.
1. Is there an easy way to delete all the products imported from a specific feed / merchant?
2. How can I limit the products imported from a feed - for example, instead of importing all the widgets from a merchant feed, only import ones with "indoor" or "blue" in the title?

Submitted by support on Sat, 2015-07-04 15:35

Hi,

The easiest way to delete all products for a feed that you still wish to work with would be to re-register but on Feed Registration Step 2, just use "Register" rather than the trial or full import options.

Regarding selective import - sure - have a read through the various filters available; and in particular Drop Record types. "Drop Record If Not RegExp" could be used exactly as for your example, to import products only with "indoor" or "blue" in the title, click Filters alongside the feed, attach a new Drop Record If Not RegExp filter to the Product Name field, and in the text box on the configuration page for the filter use:

(Indoor|blue)

This form of regular express (RegExp) is a bracketed, pipe separated list of multiple patterns to match.

Hope this helps!

Cheers,
David.
--
PriceTapestry.com