Import and export properties in Optimizely Product Information Management

You can import and export your Optimizely Product Information Management (PIM) data in bulk.

Import Properties

You can import new properties and values or update details for properties using an import file. You can import properties without values in the file and add them later.

Although the PIM import template is multi-sheet, the previous single-sheet template file is still supported.

Formatting Data for Import

The import template provided in the PIM has two sheets: Properties and Property Values. 
An asterisk (*) denotes a required column on the sheets detailed below.

Properties

You can provide information in the following columns on the Properties sheet:

• Name* – Identifies the property in the application.
• Display Name – Identifies the property throughout the PIM. The display name is used on the website if the property is a customer-facing attribute. If no value is entered, the value from the name field will be used.
• Property Group* – Used to visually group similar properties together when editing product data in the PIM. The property group will display as a fieldset when editing products. If the property group listed doesn't exist, then it will be created.
• Description – Describes the property and displays as a tooltip when editing products in the PIM.
• Globally Required – Indicates whether or not this property is required for all products. If no value is entered this will default to No.
• Externally Managed – Indicates whether this property is managed within the PIM or if the data is pushed from Commerce via a recurring integration job. If no value is entered this will default to No.
• Control Type* – Determines the control type that is used to edit this property within the PIM. (Options: Text Feld, Text Area, Radio Button, Multi Select, Dropdown, HTML, Decimal, Date Picker, Date/Time Picker, Toggle)
• Default Value – Used by default for this property for products created or imported with no data for this property. (Optional for Text Field, Text Area, and Radio Button control types and Number data type.)
• Minimum Character Length – Defines the minimum character length allowed. Only valid for text field and text area control types. If no value is entered this will be set to 0. (Optional for Text Field and Text Area control types)
• Maximum Character Length – Defines the maximum character length allowed. If no value is entered this will be set to 250 for Text Field and 1000 for Text Area. (Optional and only valid for Text Field and Text Area control types)
• RegEx – Can be used to add property specific validation rules. (Optional and only valid for Text Field and Text Area control types.)
• Template Specific Values – Determines whether or not each template will use the full list of values, or if they are restricted to using a subset of these values. If no value is entered this will default to No. (Optional for dropdown, radio button and multi select control types)
• Allow Adhoc Values – Determines if users can add additional values when editing products or importing data or if they can only select from pre-defined ones. If no value is entered this will default to No. (Optional for Dropdown control type)
• Minimum Value – Defines the minimum value allowed for numbers. If no value is entered this will default to 0. (Optional for Number data type)
• Maximum Value – Defines the maximum value allowed for numbers. (Required for Number data type)
• Number of Decimals – Defines the number of decimals allowed for numbers. If no value is entered this will default to 0. (Optional for Number data type)
• Boolean Label – Defines the label for boolean controls. Options are Yes/No, True/False and On/Off. (Required for Boolean data type)
• Mapped to Commerce Field – Defines what this property maps to in Commerce. Data that won't be published to Commerce should not be mapped.
• Attribute is Filterable –  Determines whether the attribute will display as a filter on product lists. If no value is entered this will default to Yes.
• Attribute is Comparable – Determines whether the attribute can be used for product comparisons. If no value is entered this will default to Yes.
• Include Attribute on Product – Determines whether the attribute will display for the product on the product list and product detail pages. If no value is entered this will default to Yes.
• Attribute is Searchable – Determines whether search results on the website will include matches for the attribute values. If no value is entered this will default to Yes.

Property Values

You can provide information in the following columns on the Property Values sheet:

• Property Name* – Provide the name of the property to which the value is being added. Must match a Property Name established on the Properties sheet.
• Values* – Defines the available options for properties with Radio Button, Multi Select, and Dropdown control types. Values must be 255 characters or less.

Property Import Procedure

1. Click the Properties button on the Imports page or the Import button on the Properties page.
2. If you have not already formatted your properties according to the template format, click Download Template.
3. Once you have a formatted template file, click Choose File. The property import only supports .xls or .xlsx files.
4. Locate your property file and click Open.
5. Click Continue. If you receive any validation errors, please resolve them before attempting to import again. You can download the provided file to view error messages that are specific to each row.
6. View your import progress at the top of the page or click Cancel to stop it. A log of the import displays on the Imports page.

Export Properties

You can export the property information for all properties, a filtered list, or selected properties.

1. If you wish to export only selected properties, ensure you have them selected.
2. Click Export, and then select either All properties, Filtered list, or Selected properties.
3. Click Continue. The export window appears in the lower right corner. Do not close the window before the file is ready for download.
4. Once the file is ready for download, the Download exported file link appears. Click the link to download the file.