Magento 2 Product Reviews Import & Export Guide

Today, we are going to talk about product reviews in Magento 2. Although the main focus of our discussion is the import of reviews, you will also learn how to export them. And, of course, there is a section that describes attributes and values available in a Magento 2 product reviews import CSV.

Please, note that you cannot import and export product reviews to/from Magento 2 with its built-in tools. Therefore, we explain how the Magento 2 import of product reviews looks with the Improved Import & Export Magento 2 extension. You will discover a sample import and export table for product reviews with all its attributes explained.

After that, we dive deep into the nuances of the Magento 2 product reviews import & export. You will learn how to import product reviews to Magento 2 automatically. The corresponding export processes are described too. But before going any further, let’s see how to enable Magento 2 product reviews. 

How to Enable Product Reviews in Magento 2

You won’t get any advantage from product reviews if the corresponding functionality is disabled. Follow these steps to turn Magento 2 product reviews on:

1. Go to Admin -> Stores -> Settings -> Configuration.
   
2. Expand Catalog and choose Catalog underneath in the left panel.
   
3. Proceed to the Product Reviews section.
4. Set Enabled to Yes – you will turn on Magento 2 product reviews.
5. Set Allow Guests to Write Reviews to Yes – to enable reviews to guest customers.
6. Save the configuration when complete – Save Config.
   

When Magento 2 product reviews are enabled, let’s proceed to the corresponding import and export processes and their prerequisites.

Improved Magento 2 Import:  Product Reviews

Although there is no way to import product reviews with the default tools of Magento 2, you can always incorporate the Improved Import & Export Magento 2 extension into your e-commerce website to get the missing functionality. This module is designed to transfer all Magento 2 entities, including product reviews, to and from your e-commerce website. When it comes to the Magento 2 import of product reviews (and export of course), you can freely transfer the following data:

• Review Title and Description. The two core parts of every review can be imported or exported without any headaches via the Improved Import & Export plugin.
• Review Status. A review can be approved or not, and this information is fully transferable which makes data migration much more admin-friendly: unapproved reviews will be moved to the admin section but won’t be available on the front end until you enable them there.
• Review Summary. This aspect of every review is not a problem for Improved Import & Export as well.
• Review Ratings. If a rating system is implemented within your store and reviews are a part of it, you can freely transfer this data from one location to another using our Magento 2 extension.
• Multiple Review Types. The Improved Import & Export Magento 2 module provides the ability to migrate all types of reviews: product, customer, category, etc.

Now, that you know that our extension can easily import and export Magento 2 product reviews and related data in Magento 2, we can proceed to a more detailed description of the sample CSV required for the data transfer. 

Magento 2 Product Reviews Sample CSV Disassembled

Below, we explain where to get a sample CSV with reviews and what attributes are used in the Magento 2 product reviews import-export.

Where to Get a Sample CSV with Magento 2 Product Reviews

You can get the sample files for import and export with every attribute value set from:

• Firebear Studio GitHub – CSV, XML, Json, XLSX, and ODS sample files with Magento product reviews and other entities.
• Google Sheet Master Import Table – a CSV file with every attribute explained and sample values given.

Attributes of Magento 2 Product Reviews Import & Export

The product reviews import and export files come with the following set of attributes that represent the reviews customers post for products sold on your Magento 2 website:

NOTE: the only way to identify a review is to use the review_id attribute. This means that if you just want to import a product review, leave this column blank, Magento 2 will automatically assign an ID to all imported reviews. However, if you want to update a particular review, –  specify its ID.

Magento 2 Product Reviews Import & Export Step-By-Step Guide

Below, you will learn how to import and export Magento 2 product reviews. We focus on the main steps of these procedures. You can also find more detailed descriptions of each process in a corresponding chapter.

Magento 2 Import of Product Reviews In A Nutshell 

Let’s suppose that you already have a CSV configured according to the requirements we’ve mentioned above. Now, follow these steps to import product reviews to Magento 2:

1. Go to System -> Improved Import / Export -> Import Jobs and click the Add New Job button.
   
   
2. Configure General Settings, where you can automate the Magento 2 import of product reviews.
   
3. Proceed to the Import Settings section and select URL Rewrite among the options of the Entity drop-down.
   
4. Now, you need to select your import behavior. Choose Add/Update to add new reviews and update the existing ones. Also, you can configure separators in this section.
   
5.  Now, select a file type and data source. You can also configure a bunch of other parameters, such as
   
6. Save the job, and run the Magento 2 import of product reviews.

You can find more nuances associated with the import process here: Improved Import & Export Extension Manual. Also, contact us to get help with the Magento 2 product reviews import.

How to Export Magento 2 Product Reviews

Now, let’s look at the Magento export of product reviews. This procedure is also simple and intuitive. Follow these steps to export product reviews from Magento 2:

1. Proceed to System > Improved Import/Export > Export jobs and click the ‘Add New Job’ button.
   
2. In the General Settings, specify the job name and set the job schedule to export product reviews from Magento 2 automatically on a regular basis.
   
3. Below the General Settings, you will find the Export Settings section. It’s where you should choose Review as your export entity. This one is responsible for product reviews accumulated on your Magento website.
   You can also set up a Consecutive Export. When the feature is enabled and the export job is set to run automatically, every consecutive execution of this job will export NEW product reviews only. Under new it assumes the reviews that have been created in Magento 2 since the last execution of the job.
   
4. In the Export Behavior, you decide on the file format and separators. Our extension lets you export product reviews from Magento 2 not only as CSV files but also in numerous other file formats.
   
5. In the Export Source configuration section, you select the export source for your Magento 2 product reviews, such as File, Google Sheets, Dropbox, FTP, URL, etc. The most common way is to specify the path to the file where the data should be exported. Your Magento 2 product review CSV is created automatically and can be downloaded right from the export job screen after the export is complete.
   
6. Also, you may need to map attributes and apply additional filters to modify Magento’s order export output.  We focus on this feature below.
7. Finish the configuration and run the export process.

You can find more nuances associated with the export process here: Improved Import & Export Extension Manual. Also, contact us to get help with the Magento 2 URL rewrite export.

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Other Benefits of The Improved Import & Export Processes

Import & Export Magento 2 Product Reviews Automatically

The Improved Import & Export Magento 2 extension lets you transfer reviews and corresponding data in a fully automated manner. The extension supports cron so that you can create any custom schedule of data import/export processes. For instance, product reviews are regularly posted on one of your web stores, but you want to share them with others. Just create a schedule using the standard cron syntax. At the same time, you can freely select one of the predefined intervals provided by the Improved Import & Export Magento 2 extension. Note that these intervals are fully customizable; consequently, you can tailor them according to your business needs.

If your product reviews migration is a one-time procedure, our module lets you create a new import or export process that doesn’t have a schedule. You will launch it manually whenever you want. At the same time, all scheduled updates support a manual run in an asynchronous mode. Thus, there is no need to create a new import/export profile if an update has been provided before the schedule.

The following gif image illustrates how to configure a new schedule:

Magento 2 Product Reviews Import & Export in Multiple File Formats

Since Magento supports CSV only, you should convert files of other formats into it; otherwise, it won’t be possible to import data into the system. However, the Improved Import & Export Magento 2 extension dramatically enhances the default functionality of the platform. The module allows you to work not only with CSV files but also with data in XML, JSON, ODS, and Excel. For instance, Shopify creates an output with product information in JSON. By default, you cannot import it into Magento – it is necessary to convert the format to CSV. Luckily, there is Improved Import & Export that extends the boundaries. It means that you can import and export product reviews as CSV, XML, JSON, ODS, and Excel files.

Another important aspect we’d like to draw your attention to is the ability to use multiple file sources to import data files with product reviews. The Improved Import & Export Magento 2 extension allows you to leverage a local or remote server for both import & export processes due to the FTP/SFTP support. At the same time, you can use a Dropbox account to move product reviews to/from your e-commerce website. When it comes to import processes, our extension even enables you to run direct URL uploads. Just provide a file address, and the plugin will import it into the system. Even compressed data is no longer a problem since the Improved Import & Export Magento 2 extension will unpack it automatically.

Magento 2 Import & Export of Product Reviews Without Data Files

In addition to the standard process of data file import/export, our extension provides several alternative ways of transferring the necessary information. First of all, you can leverage Google Sheets to import data into your e-commerce store. The process is illustrated below:

Besides, the Improved Import & Export Magento 2 extension lets you create SOAP API, REST API, and GraphQL API integrations. All three connection types are used for establishing various complex connections and transferring more complex data than product reviews, but no one forbids you to import & export them avoiding the use of data files.

Magento 2 Import of Product Reviews Without File Editing

Another stunning feature of the Improved Import & Export Magento 2 extension is represented by the ability to avoid manual data file editing. Since different systems implement different standards for the way information is stored in their databases, you cannot take the external output and move it to Magento 2 without making third-party attributes suitable for ones used inside your e-commerce store.

Thus, it is always necessary to review a data file and edit it replacing external attributes with the default ones. The more information they include, the more work should be done. Luckily, the Improved Import & Export extension enables you to import Magento 2 product reviews without editing. The module provides the ability to apply mapping presets that match all external attributes to ones used internally. Below, you can see how to apply a preset for a seamless data migration from Magento 1 to Magento 2:

In case a preset is not available for your particular information (contact our support regarding your specific business case), you can do the same procedure manually. The process is still much more comfortable than manual data file editing and looks as follows:

You select a third-part attribute and match it to the corresponding one used in Magento. Besides, you can add a hardcoded value that will be specified to all items in the corresponding column. For instance, it is possible to add the same rating to all reviews by using the third column from the interface shown above.

It is necessary to say a few more words describing other mapping opportunities introduced in the module. In addition to attributes, you can freely match their values or even edit them in bulk. Let’s take a look at each feature separately.

The ability to match attribute values is based on the same principle as we’ve just mentioned above. You just take an external value and match it to the one used internally. It is possible to map multiple external values to a single one. As for presets, they are not available, since attribute values may be unique in the case of each business. For further information, check this post: Attribute Values Mapping.

As for attribute values editing, the Improved Import & Export Magento 2 extension enables you to add a prefix or suffix to multiple values in bulk. Besides, you can merge or split the data if necessary. Our module lets you create various conditions to apply changes in the most precise manner. For further information, check this post: How to Modify Attribute Values During Import and Export in Magento 2.

And don’t forget that the Improved Import & Export Magento 2 extension enables category mapping. If imported data includes product categories that are not suitable for yours, you can freely match everything or even create new categories to assign imported products to. For further information, check this post: Category Mapping.

And due to the ability to create attributes on the fly, you will forever forget about headaches caused by the missing data. Specify the necessary parameters and the extension will add attributes automatically. For further information, check this post: Product attributes import.

To get a better understanding of the extension features, watch the following video:

Magento 2 Product Reviews Import & Export FAQ

Let’s take a look at other nuances of importing and exporting product reviews in Magento 2 with the help of the Improved Import & Export Magento 2 extension.

Final Words

Although you cannot import and export product reviews in Magento 2 by default, you can always rely on the Improved Import & Export Magento 2 extension to get what’s missing. The module provides an intuitive Magento 2 import of product reviews. You can freely transfer all related information between any external system and your store. The Magento export of product reviews is possible, as well. It is also user-friendly and intuitive. In both cases, you can use multiple file formats, diverse sources, automation, mapping, etc. If you have any questions regarding the import and export of Magento 2 product reviews or the data transfer capabilities of our extension, please, follow the link below and contact our support:

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