HOW TO: Setup auto association of category and manufacturer images

AUTO ASSOCIATION FOR CATEGORY IMAGES:

Auto association of images is a feature Spark Pay online stores offers that can save you a tremendous amount of time by letting you associate categories and sub categories and their images without having to enter the complete image path in the category editor or the import spreadsheet.

To set up auto-association for images you need to:

1. Name your images in a particular format (explained below)
2. Upload them to the folder: \Shared\Images\Category (Note: you may have to create this folder if it is not already created)

Format for naming images (step 1 above):

The image is named based on the Category Name. The category name is stripped of all characters except numbers, a through z, underscores and dashes and the following format is used for naming the images:

Stripped Category Name + .jpg

Stripped Category Name explained: A stripped category is a category name from which all characters are removed except numbers, a through z, underscores and dashes.

Examples:

1. If the Category Name is Office Chairs
   The stripped category name is officechairs (note: spaces are removed)
   The image name should be officechairs.jpg (Stripped Category Name + .jpg)
2. If the Category Name is Office-Chairs
   The stripped category name is office-chairs (note: dashes are not removed)
   The image name should be office-chairs.jpg (Stripped Category Name + .jpg)
3. If the Category Name is Office_Chairs
   The stripped category name is office_chairs (note: underscores are not removed)
   The image name should be office_chairs.jpg (Stripped Category Name + .jpg)
4. If the Category Name is Office*Chairs
   The stripped category name is officechairs (note: the asterix* is removed)
   The image name should be officechairs.jpg

Key Points:

1. Spaces are removed from item numbers
2. Names are NOT case sensitive
3. All characters except numbers, a through z, underscores and dashes are removed from the item number
4. Currently, only .JPG images are supported for auto-association
5. All auto association images must be located in \shared\images\category for auto association to function
6. You can use auto association for some categories and the category editor/category import for others to associate categories and images.
   

Once your images are named as per the format explained above, you can upload the images to \Shared\Images\Category - this will automatically associate your images with the relevant categories. There are no other settings to implement. The image name format with the stripped category name will automatically create the association.

Note: If you need to use alt text or alt text merges, please use the category editor/import to associate your images.

AUTO ASSOCIATION FOR MANUFACTURER IMAGES:

To setup auto association of images for manufacturers the same naming convention is followed as above for categories. The only difference is: the images have to be uploaded to \Shared\Images\Manufacturer. Everything else works the same way as for category auto association.