A custom feed is a feed template that can be modified and is unique to your account.

Custom feeds allow you to control the fields, validation rules, settings and so on. This is opposed to common channel templates which are pre-built and maintained by our system and ready to be added to any store. When it comes to new feed field specifications we update all feed templates. Any modifications to the template fields of a custom feed will need to be maintained by you.

Please note any custom feeds created will require you to add the feed fields to the template, map the feed fields, and then recompile the feed in order to move forward with being able to generate a feed pull URL or feed submission. We have the ability to enable product categories based on Google's taxonomy within the custom feed template settings.

Custom feeds can be set up with the below output methods:

• File Format: XML, Tab delimited, Comma delimited, Pipe Delimited, JSON
• File Compression: no compression, zip, gzip
• File Encoding: UTF-8, ASCII, CP-1252

Custom feeds can be submitted via feed pull URL, FTP, or SFTP within the feed settings for the custom feed template. 

Cloning a feed creates a custom feed

When you clone a common feed we generate a custom feed using all of the existing setting you chose to clone over. This means you can customize a common feed template by cloning it. Cloning a feed allows you to add or remove feed fields, add or remove validation warnings and errors, change the file format, and so on. 

How to clone a feed

Adding your custom feed template to other stores on your account

You can also make custom feeds available for any store on your account, across all of your stores. This is especially useful for agencies or anyone with multiple clients or stores. For example, when you want to customize your Google feeds or build a feed template for a special use case and use it for many of your clients.

One advantage to custom feeds is that you can make them available to add to any store on your account.

Example use case

You are an agency and you manage digital advertising for many clients. There is a channel or feed template that does not exist in our system. You build a custom feed template for one client, but now you want to add the same template to other clients in your account. 

Enabling a custom feed to be available for all stores

To make your custom feed template available to add to your other stores follow these steps:

1. Open the custom feed
2. Go to Template
3. Find and enable the checkbox for 'Make available to all stores on this account'
4. Click "Save"
   
   

Adding a custom feed to other stores

To add your custom feed template to your other stores follow these steps:

1. Open the desired client store
2. Go to 'Feeds'
3. Click the plus button to add a feed template
4. Choose 'Channel Templates'
5. Find the custom feed template by searching the template name OR scroll to the end of the list
6. Select the desired template to add

How to add custom feed fields to the feed template 

When you first add a feed template you will see a generic feed name and an empty feed template showing no results found! You will need to configure your feed template to reflect your custom needs. When you first add a feed template, you will see a generic feed name and an empty feed template showing no results found! You will need to configure your feed template to reflect your custom needs. 

1. Once your feed is added, you can navigate to the feed. Select the feed, then select Template on the left-hand menu. 
2. Under the Template details section, fill in the Feed Name and Description if you wish to change it from the template. Please note there can only be one Feed Name per store. Click Save in the top right corner to save the value. 
3. To begin adding feed fields, scroll down to the Fields section and click the + First Feed Field button. You will then need to complete the Field Name value and description to save the value. All other sections are optional. If you are building a feed template that needs a value to be a certain way, then you would enter that value as the Field Name, as the Field name will be what the system creates in the feed file download. Example: If the feed needs the name to be "image_link," then you can enter that as the feed name. 
   1. Required: Enable this option to require this field for all products. If the field is empty when the feed compiles, then the SKU is excluded, and an error is shown in the validation report.
   2. Default source field mapping: Setting this value will auto-map this field based on the values from this list. This list generates values from your import. You may need to download your import to review further. 
   3. Data Type: Choose the data type to allow our system to assess the value in this field accurately. You can choose from Text, Integer, Decimal, and DateTime formats. 
   4. Character Limit: The maximum number of characters allowed for this field. "0" means no action will be taken. For example, if you only want to limit this field to 150 characters, you could enter 150 within this section. 
   5. Character limit action: Choose the action to be taken if the number of characters is over the limit. 'Truncate and warn' will cut off the characters over the limit and then show a validation warning message. 'Show error' will exclude the SKU from the feed as long as that SKU is over the character limit, and an error will show in the product validation report. You can choose from Truncate and Warn or Show Error.

Best Practices

When it comes to creating a custom feed this new feed cannot be named the same name as an existing custom feed. For example, if you have a feed name "Wunderkind" within your account under one store you would need to name the custom feed "Wunderkind 2" within the second store in order for the feed to update as expected.