How PIMPORT is built
The program is put together differently from most services for online stores, and both the price and the fact that it keeps running without us rest on that. Here is what it is made of and why it was chosen this way.
What happens during an import
There are three parts inside, and they are separated on purpose: each can be changed without touching the others.
The supplier feed
The program takes the file by link or off the site and brings it to one internal shape — after that it no longer matters whether it was XML, Excel or web pages.
The core and the plugins
The core runs products through a pipeline, and plugins change the data along the way: they apply markup, resize and watermark photos, hide what is out of stock.
The store driver
The last step is writing. The driver knows how the tables of a particular CMS are laid out and puts the product exactly where the admin panel would have put it.
Why this way and not another
The program sits with you, not with us
It writes straight into the store database — an outside service would not get that kind of access, and if it did, you would be handing the keys to your store to somebody else's server. The price is one thing: hosting access during installation. After that the program is yours and keeps working even if we disappear.A driver of its own for each CMS
There is no universal parser: OpenCart, Shop-Script and JoomShopping have different tables, different category relations, different ways of storing photos and specifications. That is why the list of platforms is short and honest — only what a driver is actually written and tested for.Plugins instead of a setting for every case
The core deliberately does nothing on its own. Everything the store sees comes from plugins, and only what you need gets switched on. You can write your own without asking us — the format is documented and the core stays untouched.The program is one-off, the cloud is optional
The program does not check a licence and has no activation keys: after payment it is simply yours, like a tool you bought. It calls our servers only if you connect the cloud — for the enrichment rules and supplier monitoring. Switch the cloud off and the rules stay, the import goes on.The source is open
The code sits with you in readable form. You can see what the program does with your data, adjust it, or hand it to another developer. That is also why nothing here depends on us staying around.Since 2014
The first version was written in 2014 for Shop-Script, and since then the program has outlived several generations of stores: a driver was written for each, the core stayed the same. That is why old installations keep working and new platforms get added without rewriting everything.
