ChannelEngine: advanced rules for channel mappings

About this article

This article describes how to use advanced rules to map product content and offer attributes in a channel plugin.

Table of contents

Introduction

Overview

• Create an advanced rule
• Copy advanced rules
• Wildcard search

Examples

Introduction

Use advanced rules to map your product data to a channel's attributes based on a set of smart rules that you set. Automatically apply specific product data to a subset of your products based on if and then conditions, instead of manually mapping each attribute per product. 

Overview

Create an advanced rule

When mapping a content or offer attribute, select Advanced rule from the attribute's mapping options dropdown.

You can add multiple rules with the + And and + Or operators. Define the output with built-in ChannelEngine attributes or on your own custom fields. 

Copy advanced rules 

Between channels

Reuse existing advanced rules across different channels, categories, and attributes - without needing to recreate them manually. With a few clicks, you save time, maintain consistency, and accelerate channel expansion while keeping your rule logic intact. 

To copy an advanced rule(set) from one channel to another:

1. Open the channel to which you want to copy the advanced rule.
2. Locate the attribute to which you want to copy the advanced rule in either Mappings, Content mappings or Offer mappings. 
3. Click Edit advanced rule.
4. In the advanced rule pop-up, click Copy advanced rules. 
5. In the Channel dropdown, select the channel from which you want to copy the advanced rule. 
6. ChannelEngine auto-populates the available categories from the selected channel in the Category dropdown. 
7. Select the category in which the attribute that contains the advanced rule of interest exists.  
8. ChannelEngine automatically locates attributes that contain advanced rules in the selected category. 
9. Select the attribute that contains the advanced rule of interest.
10. The advanced rule fron the other channel appears in the advanced rule pop-up. Edit the rule as needed. Click OK.

Within the same channel

It is also possible to copy advanced rules within the same channel across different categories. To copy an advanced rule from one category to another, within the same channel:

1. Follow the same steps as above. 
2. In the Channel dropdown, select the same channel as the one to which you are copying the advanced rule. 

Wildcard search

Wildcard searches enable you to quickly find a ChannelEngine field or a custom field within an attribute dropdown by using keyboard shortcuts. 

Use wildcard search in the Mappings step of a channel or within an Advanced rules pop-up. To use wildcard search:

1. In Mappings, go to an attribute, and select either ChannelEngine fields, Custom fields, or Advanced rule from its dropdown menu. 
2. If you selected ChannelEngine fields or Custom fields, place your mouse cursor within the empty field next to the dropdown arrow. 

3. Enter the wildcard character (%), preceded and/or followed by the characters from the attribute you seek. The (%) character replaces zero or more characters of any kind. 

   E.g.: to search for all attributes that have the letters 'e' and 't', such as Height and Length, enter 'e%t' in the search bar.

4. If you selected Advanced rule from the dropdown in Step 1, then click Edit advanced rule.
5. In the empty field within the If statement, enter your wildcard search.

Examples

Automatically map empty attributes

In this example, you use advanced rules to check if your image attributes contain an image URL. Then, use a replacement tag to choose an image URL that you already store on ChannelEngine to map the empty attribute:

1. Use advanced rules to locate empty image attributes. 
2. In the output of your advanced rule, use your ChannelEngine field or one of your custom fields to map the image URL. In the example below:
   • ChannelEngine image field: {CE:ExtraImageURL2}
   • Your custom image field: {MY:Product_image_B3}

For more guidance on how to use replacement tags in Mappings, check out ChannelEngine: replacement tags for channel mappings.

For guidance on creating custom fields on ChannelEngine, check out ChannelEngine: custom fields.

Remove text fragments

A frequent marketplace requirement is that product content should avoid special characters. Marketplaces may also ask sellers to remove specific text fragments from existing content. Use advanced rules with replacement tags to edit your content directly in Mappings without modifying your source content in your product feeds. 

In this example, your marketplace asks you to remove the word "stylish": 

1. Use an advanced rule to select only items whose Description contains 'stylish'.
2. In the output of your advanced rule, use {CE:Description|Remove{stylish}}.

Before

Description - This stylish parka with flap pockets and hood ...

After

Description - This parka with flap pockets and hood ...

Truncate a product title

Sometimes, a marketplace asks you to use only a specific number of characters in your content. To fit within the character limit but not cut off your content in the middle of a word, set an advanced rule with a replacement tag that uses Wordwrap{}.

Advanced date/time rules

With advanced date/time rules, you can replace values according to specific calendar dates or times. This feature automates offer and content adjustments on a schedule that suits you - without having to configure an ERP. 

Via advanced date/time rules, you can:

1. Apply rules on a recurring basis, during fixed time periods, and on chosen days of the week (e.g.: Saturdays). 
2. Implement rules for unique occasions. E.g.: specific date ranges or individual days.
3. Adapt rules for special events. E.g.: public holidays.
4. Set dynamic start and end dates, defining custom dates and times. If no time is selected, the default value is 00:00. E.g.: 15:20.
5. Establish multiple periods within a single rule, each with its replacement values based on the sequential rule order.

Below are some examples of how to make the most of advanced rules. 

Example: set up shipping times

In this example, advanced date/time rules replace the default shipping time with a specific value. This adjustment comes into effect during weekends – when longer pick-and-pack deadlines, Monday shipping, or weight-based shipping methods are factors. You can use multiple timeframes within a single rule to provide using the 'OR' condition.

Conditional ruleset for attribute: shipping time

You can currently only configure date/time rules for the following marketplaces and attributes: