Connection Templates in Woomelly for WordPress
In this article, we provide crucial information about the connection templates in Woomelly for WordPress and their significance in the proper synchronization of your products, as well as the fields available in this section. Connection templates are structures that store the Mercado Libre category in which products are published. Setting a category is one of the first and most important steps to sell on Mercado Libre. In the case of the Woomelly plugin, it’s also fundamental, hence efforts have been made to simplify creating quality publications on this platform by providing all the necessary information.
Content
→ Fields in the connection templates
↳ Connection Template Name
↳ Mercado Libre Category
↳ Details of the Mercado Libre Category
↳ Publication Type / Sales Charge
↳ Sales Condition
↳ Shipping Mode and Method
↳ In-Person Pickup (Shipping)
↳ Free Shipping
↳ Mercado Envíos Flex
↳ Factory and Seller Warranty
↳ Warranty Description
↳ Category Description
↳ Availability to Synchronize
↳ Customize Listing Title / SKU
↳ Official Store on Mercado Libre
↳ WooCommerce Price Type
↳ Price Variation
↳ Inventory Variation
↳ Maximum Units Limit per Sale
↳ Stock Availability
↳ Video URL
↳ Reason for an Empty GTIN (unique code)
↳ Sales Channel (Mercado Libre or Mercado Shops)
↳ Relate WooCommerce attributes to Mercado Libre in Woomelly (generic)
↳ Independent Variations (multiple products)
↳ Additional Images
↳ Location and contact with the seller (for classified type listings)
→ Connection Template – General Settings
→ Connection Template – I can’t edit the connection template
→ Assignment of the connection template
↳ Connection Template Assignment: Bulk from product listing
↳ Connection Template Assignment: Quick Edit
↳ Connection Template Assignment: Individual
→ Automatic Categorization
→ Additional Questions
Fields in the connection templates
» Connection Template Name
This is a reference field to assign an internal identifier to your connection templates (it does not affect the data of the publications). It’s recommended to put the Mercado Libre category path or a mnemonic name that serves as a reference for subsequent configuration.
» Mercado Libre Category
In this field, you must assign the category to be used on Mercado Libre. It can either be assigned by Mercado Libre through the automatic categorizer, or you can search directly on Mercado Libre for a similar publication and see that category’s path. Next, you should navigate through the hierarchy of those categories (from this same field) to the final subcategory (where it’s published). You can use the “reset” button to return to the root of Mercado Libre’s categories.
» Details of the Mercado Libre Category
Upon selecting the Mercado Libre category to be assigned to this connection template and saving the data, detailed information related to that category can be accessed. For example: Maximum number of allowed images, minimum publication price, whether it’s mandatory or attributes that create variations, etc.
IMPORTANT
Mercado Libre often adjusts its categories, so today a category might have one path, and tomorrow another. But it will always be the same category, and the change is entirely transparent. You’ll only notice when entering the connection template again since these changes occur without prior notice (neither for the customer nor for the developers). But don’t worry; you just need to re-categorize by pressing the “fix” button or manually reassigning the correct category again.
» Publication Type / Sales Charge
In this field, you can set the type of publication you want. In many countries, the values tend to be: Free, Classic, and Premium. However, in Mercado Libre Argentina, it refers to the number of installments they want to establish in the publications. If you want to know the difference between a classic publication and a premium one, we recommend reading this article.
» Sales Condition
This field is used to set the publication condition. The usual values are: new, used, or refurbished. Make sure to set this information correctly, as a publication may be moderated if it’s new and set as used (learn more).
» Shipping Mode and Method
In this field, you can select the shipping method depending on the assigned Mercado Libre category. Among the options, we have:
- Mercado Envios Traditional: Mandatory option for many categories and countries.
- Mercado Envios Type 1: Option only available to a select group of Mercado Libre sellers.
- Custom Shipments: Option available for categories without active Mercado Envios (or countries without Mercado Envios). You can set a text of only 120 characters and a fixed local currency price active in the country’s Mercado Libre account.
- No Shipments or Agreed with the Seller: Option for categories without active Mercado Envios (or countries without Mercado Envios).
We recommend reading this article if the category doesn’t have active Mercado Envios: What happens if my category doesn’t have Mercado Envios?.
» In-Person Pickup (Shipping)
This field is used to set whether or not the publication offers the option for in-person pickup by the buyer. The seller’s location is considered when activating this option.
» Free Shipping
Here you can choose if your shipping will be free or not (in case you have chosen a shipping method). Additionally, there’s a maximum price to set that free shipping. For instance, if you activate Free Shipping and set the price at 19,900, all products below that price won’t have free shipping. Those with a similar or higher price will. If this field is empty and you have free shipping active, all your products will have free shipping.
It’s essential to point out that, depending on the cost and the country of the Mercado Libre account, this field is set as mandatory, even if marked as not available. This is because it’s mandatory to offer free shipping depending on the product’s cost in Mercado Libre’s internal policies. We recommend reading this article: Mercado Envios: Mercado Libre’s internal logistics.
» Mercado Envíos Flex
This field is used to specify whether you want to activate Mercado Envios Flex for the Mercado Libre listing. It only applies to certain countries. It is important to note that it will only be active when the system validates the logistics of the Mercado Libre account in Advanced Settings > General Synchronization. Also, WooCommerce products must have Mercado Libre listings that are “new” and do not use stock availability (delivery time). If you want to learn more about Mercado Envios Flex, we recommend this article.
» Factory and Seller Warranty
You can set the warranty you want to be displayed on Mercado Libre listings for products related to this connection template (Mercado Libre category). The seller’s warranty takes precedence over the factory warranty if you fill in both. Remember that this warranty is informational and does not affect the warranty policies directly offered by Mercado Libre. If you want to know more about Mercado Libre’s protected purchases, we recommend this article.
» Warranty Description
In this field, you can enter a custom text about the warranty to be displayed in the listing description (Mercado Libre) only for this specific Mercado Libre category. It’s worth noting that the location of this text will depend on the {product_warranty} tag found in Woomelly » Advanced Settings » WooCommerce to Mercado Libre Synchronization.
» Category Description
In this field, you can enter a custom text to be displayed in the listing description (Mercado Libre) only for this specific Mercado Libre category. It’s worth noting that the location of this text will depend on the {category_description} tag found in Woomelly » Advanced Settings » WooCommerce to Mercado Libre Synchronization.
» Availability to Synchronize
Field used to indicate whether the product is available to be considered in synchronizations. This field is generally used when you want to exclude one or several products associated with a specific connection template from synchronizations.
» Customize Listing Title / SKU
In this field, you can add a suffix or prefix to the listing titles, based on the WooCommerce product title. It is essential to always include the {name} tag as it represents the dynamic title of your WooCommerce products (whether custom or default). This field does not replace or overwrite the product title. It is only used if the seller needs to include additional words (suffix or prefix) in all listings. For example:
If set as: {name} Woomelly Store, the result could be: Roku Express, Full HD Black Woomelly Store. Assuming the product name is Roku Express, Full HD Black. Be very careful as Mercado Libre only allows 60 characters in this field, and the goal is to optimize every possible letter.
Additionally, you can add a suffix or prefix to the SKUs of your listings. It is essential to always include the {sku} tag, which represents the dynamic SKU of your WooCommerce products. Do not confuse the SKU with the unique product code (GTIN).
If set as: {sku}AAA, the result could be: 5988575AAA. Assuming the product SKU is 5988575.
» Official Store on Mercado Libre
This field allows you to add the official store available on Mercado Libre. At the moment, you cannot list the same product in multiple official stores, as they are two (2) separate listings for Mercado Libre. If this is your case, please write to support for more details. We recommend our article on official stores on Mercado Libre.
» WooCommerce Price Type
In this field, you can specify which price type you want to replicate (base or offer), either from WooCommerce or Mercado Libre. We refer to the base or regular price as the original WooCommerce product price without a discount. This means that even if there is a promotion in the store, only the original price (without that discount) is shown. On the other hand, we refer to the sale price as the price at which the WooCommerce product is being sold (with or without a discount).
» Price Variation
In these fields, you can enter price variations that will only be reflected in your Mercado Libre listings. Remember that you can also directly set a custom price on the product that only affects Mercado Libre listings. For example: Increase by 20% all Mercado Libre listings associated with a specific category:
» Inventory Variation
In these fields, you can enter stock/inventory variations that will only be reflected in your Mercado Libre listings. Especially used to maintain a safety stock in products.
» Maximum Units Limit per Sale
In this field, you can set the maximum number of units a user can purchase on Mercado Libre. It doesn’t apply to all countries, so you should check with our technical team if you need to use it.
» Stock Availability
This field allows you to set stock availability/delivery time in Mercado Libre listings. We recommend reading our article on the benefits of using stock availability on Mercado Libre.
» Video URL
In this field, you can enter the URL of a YouTube video that you want to be displayed in the Mercado Libre publication. Remember, it will be shown in all Mercado Libre publications related to the products that share this connection template. Do not confuse with the Mercado Libre Videos section.
» Reason for an Empty GTIN (unique code)
As of May 2, 2023, the Mercado Libre team added this new field to the spec sheet of some products. This attribute will allow you to state the reason why the listing does not have a unique code (GTIN). Among the allowed values are:
- Handmade: the product is handcrafted, self-made.
- Kit: the product is a set of items or a kit.
- Unregistered: it’s a product that isn’t registered yet.
- Other: there is another reason (other than the above) that prevents the GTIN attribute from being loaded.
» Sales Channel (Mercado Libre or Mercado Shops)
In this field, you can set a sales channel if you have an active Mercado Shops store. If not, by default, the Mercado Libre sales channel is selected. If you are not familiar with Mercado Shops, we recommend this article: Mercado Shops: Mercado Libre’s online store solution.
» Relate WooCommerce attributes to Mercado Libre in Woomelly (generic)
This field is specifically used to activate the variations of the Mercado Libre listings. Here, you can relate your WooCommerce attributes to Mercado Libre’s attributes. And it only applies to the Mercado Libre categories that require them (mostly applies to clothing). If you want to know more about the variations of Mercado Libre, we recommend reading our article.
» Independent Variations (multiple products)
By enabling this option, your variable WooCommerce products will send each of their variations as separate publications to Mercado Libre, creating multiple products in Woomelly. You should only activate it for those Mercado Libre categories that do not require variations.
» Additional Images
You can include additional images to your WooCommerce products (default or custom) on Mercado Libre. Highly used to place specific information in your publications. It’s important to be careful with the information you place here and Mercado Libre’s publication policies if you’re syncing from WooCommerce to Mercado Libre.
» Location and contact with the seller (for classified type listings)
In these fields, you can place all the available options to post on Mercado Libre, classified type listings: services, vehicles, and real estate. It’s important to note that this type of listing requires a manual payment from the seller directly from the Mercado Libre platform.
Connection Template – General Settings
You can set a default general configuration that will be assigned to all the connection templates created in automatic processes (categorization, synchronization from Mercado Libre to WooCommerce, etc.). This way, you can keep this configuration in general and only make modifications to the connection templates as needed.
As always, we are pleased to offer this feature that facilitates and streamlines the management of spec sheets on our platform. That’s why we have a field called Technical Sheets (automatic categorizer) which is very useful to automatically set data from spec sheets when categorizing a product. That is, when executing the Mercado Libre categorization process, not only is the “correct category” obtained, but also some fields from the spec sheet for that publication (although it doesn’t always happen).
Therefore, by activating this option, it provides the possibility of automatically incorporating these values into the product, in case they are generated during this process.
Connection Template – I can’t edit the connection template
Mercado Libre has been constantly modifying its categories. These changes are without prior notice, and the extent of these modifications is not shown. This makes it difficult for us to track and apply preventive and/or corrective measures automatically.
If it happens that you want to modify a connection template and you get a message that you need to re-categorize, you need to do these steps:
- Select a product in WooCommerce that has the corresponding connection template assigned and search for the Mercado Libre publication URL.
- In Mercado Libre, check the new category path, as subcategories are usually removed.
- Within the connection template, click on the button to reset the categories and link the category again with the new path.
- Make sure the other fields are filled out correctly. Save the changes and you’re done.
It’s important to note that this process doesn’t affect existing synchronizations, it simply prevents editing the connection template because the assigned Mercado Libre category has ceased to exist on the platform.
Assignment of the connection template
Once you have created and correctly configured your connection template, it’s time to assign it to your WooCommerce products. You can assign the same connection template to several WooCommerce products, and it’s advisable to do so for massive changes since it would apply to all products assigned to that connection template.
You have four (4) ways to assign your connection templates. Automatic categorization and these three (3) additional options that will be explained below:
Connection Template Assignment: Bulk from product listing
In the WooCommerce product listing, select the products you wish to associate with the same connection template. You can filter by status, type, WooCommerce category, third-party plugin filters, among others. Then edit in bulk and set the connection template you want. Remember to save the changes.
Connection Template Assignment: Quick Edit
In the WooCommerce product listing, select the product you want to add the connection template to and press the quick edit option. Select the connection template and save the changes.
Connection Template Assignment: Individual
Go to the WooCommerce product detail and in the “WM Details” tab, set the connection template you want. Then save the changes.
Only assign the connection template to those products you wish to send to Mercado Libre. After this step, you can enter the WooCommerce products to assign the spec sheet to each one and/or associate the Mercado Libre attributes with the product variations you wish to use to create publications with variations on Mercado Libre. Then, Sync from WooCommerce to Mercado Libre.
Automatic Categorization
Woomelly has an automatic Mercado Libre categorization function that allows you to quickly assign connection templates to the existing products in your store. But, how does this function really work? Below, we explain the steps involved:
- The first step is to take the product title, whether it’s the default WooCommerce title or a custom title set by the seller.
- This information is sent to Mercado Libre, which will search its database for a category related to the product. At this point, several scenarios can occur: it may not find a suitable category for the product, it may find a category that does not commercially relate to the product (for example, edible oil instead of automotive oil), or the category may be correct.
- Woomelly receives the category sent by Mercado Libre and creates a connection template. However, the decision of whether the information is correct or not falls on the seller. If no category is found, it’s the seller’s responsibility to categorize manually or modify the product title and repeat the process.
The automatic categorizer serves as validation to determine if the product title relates to the category in which you wish to post, and if Mercado Libre correctly links the product to a marketplace category of its own.
It is important to note that the category is not selected by Woomelly, nor is the automatic categorization process inherent to the tool. This functionality is provided by the Official Mercado Libre API, which uses the product title to determine the most appropriate category.
And it is essential to understand that the correct categorization of products is crucial to avoid future problems, since once published, it is not possible to modify the category. If you want to change the category of a publication, you must delete it and create a new one with the desired category.
Still have questions?
– When categorizing automatically, no connection template is generated. How can I sync those WooCommerce products to Mercado Libre?
The fact that a product cannot be categorized automatically means that Mercado Libre does not identify a category for that product given its characteristics (name, main image, unique code, etc.). Remember that the automatic categorizer is a tool that Mercado Libre has to assign a category within the marketplace to a product given the characteristics sent to it. To solve this, the following is recommended:
- Change the WooCommerce product title. Save the changes and try categorizing automatically again.
- Create a connection template manually, selecting the Mercado Libre category that is deemed appropriate and assign it to that WooCommerce product.
- RECOMMENDED: Add a custom title for Mercado Libre (the Woomelly plugin allows you to set titles ONLY for Mercado Libre publications). This is the least invasive option and you can do it from the product detail (WMDetails tab), or from the quick edit of the product (from the WooCommerce product listing).
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