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.
What version 2.1 brought
2.1 is the current release — this is what gets installed today.
A reworked setup
Suppliers, categories and prices are set up on new screens: fewer steps between a feed and the first import.
Quicker start on YML
Typical YML sources connect from a template instead of being described field by field.
Rebuilt rules
Markup, discounts, availability and data processing rules were rewritten and now live next to each other.
The price order in plain sight
The setup screen spells out the order prices are calculated in, and the installation screen reports the environment it found.
What is checked, and how
PHP
7.4 to 8.3. The automated checks themselves run on 7.4.33 and 8.2.33.Store drivers
OpenCart 2 and 3, WooCommerce, Shop-Script 8–12, JoomShopping.Automated checks
26 suites on each of the two PHP versions, last run on 8 October 2026.Your own store
Checked before installation — send the store version and a sample feed.Why this way and not another
The program sits with you, not with us
PIMPORT runs on your hosting and uses the store connection agreed during setup. You retain control of the installation and the access needed for it to work. 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-time, monitoring 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 add monitoring — for the collection rules and the nightly source checks. Switch monitoring 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.
