Data feeds

A data feed is a structured list of information that can easily be read by a computer. Where a web page contains both information and mark up to make it easy to read for humans, a data feed contains only the information itself.

Data feed formats

Vinopedia can read CSV (Comma Separated Values), XML and Excel feeds. Examples are shown below.

A CSV file example


An XML file example


An Excel file example

Generating a data feed

Comparison Shopping Engines like Yahoo! Shopping, Google Base, Shopping.com, PriceGrabber and also Vinopedia use data feeds to receive product information from merchants. It is a file containing information on all wines you are selling. Data feeds for Google Base, Shopping.com, MySimon.com and Yahoo! Shopping are all standard formats which Vinopedia can process. If you already have a data feed for other search engines, we can probable reuse it without the need for you to change anything.
There is no need to create a data feed by hand: Most web shop software is able to generate one for all products listed in your shop. It is a matter of installing an extra package if it is not already installed. Some examples:

• osCommerce has free packages for download (see for instance here or here).
• x-Cart can export to CSV files.
• Zen-cart has free packages for download (see here).

(Note: if you have problems generating a data feed, please contact your Hosting Provider or Web Master. Vinopedia cannot help you as we don't know all the different types of webshop-software.)

Test a data feed

If you have a data feed you can test it on the data feed test page. If it can be read properly, you can add your store to Vinopedia yourself.

Information needed

A data feed must contain at least the following information:

• Description of the wine, including all information needed to exactly identify a wine ("Meursault 1er Cru" or "Veuve Cliquot" are not accurate enough, because the producer and cuvee are missing)
• Vintage. May be part of the description as shown below in the Excel example. If you stock more than one vintage list them as separate wines.
• Bottle size (preferably like "75 cl" or "1,5 l." instead of "bottle" and "magnum")
• URL where people can buy the wine. This must start with "http://"
• Price per bottle
• Optionally any other fields like appellation