Google Feed for StoreFront 7
by Structured Solutions

Google Base is an extension of the Google search engine that millions of people around the globe use daily to research products before they purchase. Listing your products in Google Base is a free way to extend the reach of your marketing efforts to millions of new customers. Unfortunately, the product feed file can be complex to generate and it must be sent periodically or your products will be dropped from the catalog. Groogle Feed automates the process of generating and sending a product feed file from your store to Google.

Features

• Generates a formatted product feed file from any StoreFront 7.0 store
  • Converts product description to valid format
  • Builds Category hierarchy for each product
  • Generates valid feed file
• Automatically sends the product feed to Google as often as every day
• Supports both MS Access and SQL Server database formats
• Customizable fields with tight integration to StoreFront features
• QueryString added to product url
• Function hook to add custom fields

Tables of Contents

• Installation Instructions
• Getting Started
• Uninstall Instructions
• Support

Installation Instructions

Google Feed has support files (located in the bin directory) that include all the necessary logic to create and send a product feed to Google, and a merchant tool interface that is used to configure and control the product feed. These instructions assume that the files you will modify are still in their original format as supplied by LaGarde. If you have customized StoreFront and can not determine how to integrate the changes listed below, please contact support@structured-solutions.net for help.

Part 1. Add Google Feed to Your Website

1. Google Feed is delivered as a self-extracting program. Run the program to extract the Google Feed files to a folder your computer. Inside the folder you will find two subdirectories called bin and GoogleFeed .
2. Copy the files from the bin directory that was created, to the bin directory of your store. Most stores only have one bin directory for both the unsecured and secured (SSL) pages of the store. If you have a separate bin directory for the secured pages, please copy the new bin files to both bin directories of your store.
3. Make a backup copy of the Global.asax file located in the site root directory.
4. Open Global.asax with a text editor and append these lines to the bottom of the file. If you are updating your site with a new build, then compare the lines that are already in Global.asax with the one shown here and make any changes that are necessary so that they are the same.
   

   
   <script language="VB" runat="server">
       Sub Session_OnStart()
           Try
               StructuredSolutions.GoogleBase.ScheduledProductFeed(Server)
           Catch
           End Try
       End Sub
   </script>
         

5. Save the change and close the file.
6. Import the entire GoobleBase directory to your website.

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Getting Started

Load the Google Feed configuration page by navigating your browser to the GoogleBase directory. Login and then navigate to the GoogleBase directory again. Online help is available to guide you through the process of starting your product feed to Google.

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Uninstall Instructions

To remove Google Feed from your store, you will need to restore the backup or original copies of Global.asax, and remove the GoogleBase directory.

1. Copy the backup or original Global.asax to the root directory of your site.
2. Delete the GoogleBase .
3. Delete StructuredSolutions.StoreFront7.GoogleBase.dll from the bin directory of your store.

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Support

Please send support requests to support@structured-solutions.net.

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Copyright © 2008 by Structured Solutions