products going into draft when in stock

[WoooShipper]

On Monday we will release an update. There will be an additional data on your product list where you can see what happened with a product (so called trouble-list). There will be following status info:
- No longer availble
- Stock is zero
- Variations changed
- Attributes changed.

It will help to go through all the list of products quickly and take necessary measures immediately - remove/reset/change products.

The 'Update status' column is a most welcome feature! But our Products 'Filter' for 'Update issues' does not seem to work. Manual check through a portion of our Products show that some have Variations changed, some Attributes and some Prices - and when we tried to Filter out a list so we can attend to them one by one, the Filter returns "No products found" (see screenshot)




We tried for 'Attributes' and 'Stock is zero' (some products were listed 'Out of Stock') but 'Filter' returned 'No products found' as well.

One other thing we noticed. Some products which were labelled 'Out of stock' in the list (they were 'in stock' on AliE) did not have an 'Update status' entry - the rest of the 'Out of stock' products had an entry which said "Variation for Product disappeared on AliExpress. Variation was disabled." We got the 'Out of stock' list by way of 'Filter by stock status' - shouldn't this same list appear by filtering 'Update issues' > 'Stock is zero' or 'Variations changed'? When we tried these, filter returned 'No products found'. Strange.

Anyone else experiencing this??

Suggestion
Also, what about 'Prices changed'? That's arguably the most important change - maybe there should be a filter for that status too since it appears in the 'Update status' column as 'Price for Product was changed on AliExpress. Price was updated.'

 

[milutigor]

Anyone else experiencing this??

I am experiencing "filter malfunction" too.

 

[Victoria Kudryashova]

The 'Update status' column is a most welcome feature! But our Products 'Filter' for 'Update issues' does not seem to work. Manual check through a portion of our Products show that some have Variations changed, some Attributes and some Prices - and when we tried to Filter out a list so we can attend to them one by one, the Filter returns "No products found" (see screenshot)

View attachment 10204
View attachment 10206

We tried for 'Attributes' and 'Stock is zero' (some products were listed 'Out of Stock') but 'Filter' returned 'No products found' as well.

One other thing we noticed. Some products which were labelled 'Out of stock' in the list (they were 'in stock' on AliE) did not have an 'Update status' entry - the rest of the 'Out of stock' products had an entry which said "Variation for Product disappeared on AliExpress. Variation was disabled." We got the 'Out of stock' list by way of 'Filter by stock status' - shouldn't this same list appear by filtering 'Update issues' > 'Stock is zero' or 'Variations changed'? When we tried these, filter returned 'No products found'. Strange.

Anyone else experiencing this??

Suggestion
Also, what about 'Prices changed'? That's arguably the most important change - maybe there should be a filter for that status too since it appears in the 'Update status' column as 'Price for Product was changed on AliExpress. Price was updated.'

Could you please PM me links to the products that (in your opinion) should be in the Update issues column? and your WP login credentials as well. I will check what might be the issue and discuss possible troubles with developers.

 

[WoooShipper]

Could you please PM me links to the products that (in your opinion) should be in the Update issues column? and your WP login credentials as well. I will check what might be the issue and discuss possible troubles with developers.

@Victoria Kudryashova
So far we have come across these descriptions in the 'Update status' column:

1. Stock for Product was changed on AliExpress. Stock was updated.

2. Price for Product was changed on AliExpress. Price was updated.

3. Product is no longer available on AliExpress. It was sent to Draft.

4. Variation for Product disappeared on AliExpress. Variation was disabled.

5. (presumably there's one for 'Attributes' too - though we didn't have a product listed with that)

The 'Update issues' dropmenu (for filtering) currently has these options:

No longer available
Stock is zero
Variations changed
Attributes changed

Maybe we should add these too:

Stock changed
Price changed

Here's one for the developers

On the Dashboard view, under WooCommerce there's a summary of "orders awaiting processing/on-hold/low in stock/out of stock" which when clicked will bring up the relevant list and details for view/action as seen below:



Wouldn't it be super neat if we could have the same for 'Update issues' like so (relevant icons of course):



And then we can just click on one to bring up the same list that the 'Update issues' dropmenu list would display on filter??
Just a thought ...

@Victoria Kudryashova
Will PM you shortly login and links to a couple of products that we think should have an 'Update status' but do not and are for some reason listed 'Out of stock' when they are in stock in AliE. Our 'Update issues' dropmenu is still not working.

Update: PM sent.

 

[WoooShipper]

I am experiencing "filter malfunction" too.

How's your 'filter malfunction' coming along? Sadly, mine is still at status quo - not working as it should.

Anyone else experiencing this??

@Victoria Kudryashova
Please take a look when you have time. Thanks.

 

[WoooShipper]

Further on the 'Update issues' filter utility issue we are having ...

First, a look at the 'Attributes' and 'Variations' tabs on the Product Edit page.

Did anyone notice that the checkboxes are faded down for attributes that have the checkbox "Used for variations" enabled? Or is it just an anomaly on ours? Here is a screenshot:



Details of the Attribute 'Color' when expanded:



Despite the 'faded' state of the checkboxes (looks like disabled but not), the data seems to be sync'd with AliE; and for those that have variations/attributes changed, the 'Reset Product' and 'Update product' buttons do work and the Product information is updated in sync with AliE and Pricing Formula. No issue here but wondering why these checkboxes are 'faded' down.

The issue we are facing is that the 'Update issues' filter does not return any Products with 'Update status' changed. For some reason, it is not pulling the data that is already available in the list under column 'Update status' and returning the affected Products as a filtered list (with one exception).

Here's what we noticed:

For some reason, not all Products have a notification in red under the 'Update status' column (see below):



And the Product with this type of notification did show up when filtered under 'Update issues' for 'Variations changed' - the exception. Same for a Product with the words 'Attributes changed' in red in the 'Update status' column (see below):



We found 2 Products with these red notices. And both also had the same red notifications reflected in the 'Update' tab when updated:





Thing is, there are no such 'red notifications' for all the other Products with Update issues. Should there be? Is that why they don't show up on filter? Anyone else experience this?



compared with:



Both 'Update status' say "Variation for Product disappeared on AliExpress. Variation was disabled" but one has the words 'Attributes changed' in red thereafter and the other does not.

The Products without the red notifications under the 'Update status' column also do not have them in the 'Update' tab page:



In our case, we noticed that there were no 'red notices' for ALL the Products with Update issues except for 2 products; and the 2 that had 'red notices' both showed up on filter; the rest did not. If ALL products with 'Update status' change should have the 'red notices' displayed but for some reason did not, then maybe that's why nothing is showing up on filter! Can't figure it out (@Victoria Kudryashova is looking into it) but we would like to know if anyone else came across the same thing.


We also noticed this ...

Some products have multiple update issues .. but not all showed up in the 'Update status' column:



The 'Update status' column only showed 1 change (for Stock) when actually the Product's Price and Variation items also changed in AliE.

Another observation ...

We noticed that the remark "Variation for Product disappeared on AliExpress. Variation was disabled" in the Update status column was referred to as 'Attributes changed' (the red notice). Is Variation also an Attribute?

Thankfully, the Reset and Update buttons on the Product page still work.

. . .

 

[Victoria Kudryashova]

Further on the 'Update issues' filter utility issue we are having ...

First, a look at the 'Attributes' and 'Variations' tabs on the Product Edit page.

Did anyone notice that the checkboxes are faded down for attributes that have the checkbox "Used for variations" enabled? Or is it just an anomaly on ours? Here is a screenshot:

View attachment 10371

Details of the Attribute 'Color' when expanded:

View attachment 10372

Despite the 'faded' state of the checkboxes (looks like disabled but not), the data seems to be sync'd with AliE; and for those that have variations/attributes changed, the 'Reset Product' and 'Update product' buttons do work and the Product information is updated in sync with AliE and Pricing Formula. No issue here but wondering why these checkboxes are 'faded' down.

The issue we are facing is that the 'Update issues' filter does not return any Products with 'Update status' changed. For some reason, it is not pulling the data that is already available in the list under column 'Update status' and returning the affected Products as a filtered list (with one exception).

Here's what we noticed:

For some reason, not all Products have a notification in red under the 'Update status' column (see below):

View attachment 10374

And the Product with this type of notification did show up when filtered under 'Update issues' for 'Variations changed' - the exception. Same for a Product with the words 'Attributes changed' in red in the 'Update status' column (see below):

View attachment 10375

We found 2 Products with these red notices. And both also had the same red notifications reflected in the 'Update' tab when updated:

View attachment 10376

View attachment 10377

Thing is, there are no such 'red notifications' for all the other Products with Update issues. Should there be? Is that why they don't show up on filter? Anyone else experience this?

View attachment 10379

compared with:

View attachment 10380

Both 'Update status' say "Variation for Product disappeared on AliExpress. Variation was disabled" but one has the words 'Attributes changed' in red thereafter and the other does not.

The Products without the red notifications under the 'Update status' column also do not have them in the 'Update' tab page:

View attachment 10381

In our case, we noticed that there were no 'red notices' for ALL the Products with Update issues except for 2 products; and the 2 that had 'red notices' both showed up on filter; the rest did not. If ALL products with 'Update status' change should have the 'red notices' displayed but for some reason did not, then maybe that's why nothing is showing up on filter! Can't figure it out (@Victoria Kudryashova is looking into it) but we would like to know if anyone else came across the same thing.


We also noticed this ...

Some products have multiple update issues .. but not all showed up in the 'Update status' column:

View attachment 10382

The 'Update status' column only showed 1 change (for Stock) when actually the Product's Price and Variation items also changed in AliE.

Another observation ...

We noticed that the remark "Variation for Product disappeared on AliExpress. Variation was disabled" in the Update status column was referred to as 'Attributes changed' (the red notice). Is Variation also an Attribute?

Thankfully, the Reset and Update buttons still work.

. . .

Hello again, fields are disabled - yes, because it's not recommended to delete attributes if you want your product is properly updated.

 

[WoooShipper]

Hello again, fields are disabled - yes, because it's not recommended to delete attributes if you want your product is properly updated.

Thanks. Good to know it's not an anomaly on our site.

What about the 'Updates issues' filter? Anyone else experiencing this?

 

[Mar]

A user posted the same issue in his site today, reminding me to check products in the Draft folder. I discovered the issue is getting worse. I have more than 700 products in the folder. In one page alone, all but only four was really out of stock, the rest checked in the screenshot below is all in stock and ready to be re-published and I am not finished. I don't have to repeat the pain of editing products before you publish, only to be moved to the draft folder without any reason at all. Again, the issue is getting worse, reported many times here and support@alidropship.com. Nothing happened.

 

[Yaros]

To check this issue I will need your WP-admin access and some links to these products that are shown as No longer available on your Draft folder but available on AliExpress.

 

[Mar]

To check this issue I will need your WP-admin access and some links to these products that are shown as No longer available on your Draft folder but available on AliExpress.

Sent you in PM.

 

[Mar]

I checked again the products in the draft folder today. In one page alone with twenty products, only two were really not available in AliExpress, all the rest marked No longer available are available. I am sure there are more in the 35 pages. This issue is really getting worse and it seem the support team don't have a clue why it is happening.

 

[Mar]

I continue in the next page, I found eight that are actually available in AliExpress. Attention support team.

 

[Yaros]

Mar, working hard on detecting this kind of bug but no success.

 

[Victoria Kudryashova]

Does anybody have the same issue? if yes, please PM me your WP login credentials and link to these products.

 

[WoooShipper]

Nope, sorry ... we had only 2 products out of 1000+ marked "Product is no longer available on AliExpress. It was sent to Draft" One goes on to say "No longer available" (in red) and the other does not have this sentence. Go figure. In our case they were sent to Draft correctly because both are actually no longer on AliExpress.

That said, none of the other issues we raised in this thread and elsewhere were resolved (at least not for us) and chances are will never be because apparently no one else has the same issues. Also, we thought that if the product was updated, the status column should reflect it with say, 'updated on xx/xx/xx' or just leave blank so there is no longer an update alert since it's been taken care of - this should be a given. Anyway, we have alerts still there dating from Jan 2019. In our case, the 'Update issues' filter do not work at all or at times return one product only when there should be a few.

As obvious from your current case, even providing login credentials may not be of much help (except maybe for certain obvious setting errors) since there are too many imponderables to be factored in. Could be ..

1. plugin conflict
2. plugin + other plugin used in conjunction conflict
3. inherent AliWoo coding error/bug
4. plugin update result in fresh conflict (plugins are updated all the time and this could be an issue when otherwise it was not before the update)
5. AliWoo plugin new update itself conflict with other plugins that were okay to begin with.
6. AliWoo options/settings.
7. hosting conflict - server/software
8. theme conflict
9. woocommerce update conflict
10. woocommerce add-ons (both woocommerce and third-party) conflict.
11. .. the list goes on.

And when you have a load of plugins ...

Frankly, wordpress or plugins all should have a rollback function where it's like 'Ctrl + Z' and you rollback a change as a first step in troubleshooting what went wrong. WP only has one for plugins from wordpress.org but not for WP itself short of uninstall/re-install or restrictive page edit version history - hassle.

So we just settled for less and go through products page by page and one by one - tedious but accurate.

We have one suggestion though. We did come across an instance when it was an 'out of stock' situation in a Variation of the product which resulted in AliWoo misinterpreting it as the whole product was out of stock - which then might kick in the 'send to draft' action. So maybe a bug there, Yaros/Victoria.

Sorry not to be of much help here. Hope yours get resolved asap, Mar.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS anyway, everyone!

 

[Mar]

Nope, sorry ... we had only 2 products out of 1000+ marked "Product is no longer available on AliExpress. It was sent to Draft" One goes on to say "No longer available" (in red) and the other does not have this sentence. Go figure. In our case they were sent to Draft correctly because both are actually no longer on AliExpress.

Did you see the posts in the beginning of this thread? Apparently you are talking about your end only. You having no issue like this don't mean this issue don't exist.

That said, none of the other issues we raised in this thread and elsewhere were resolved (at least not for us) and chances are will never be because apparently no one else has the same issues.

That is not true. A member just posted about the issue at his end, https://forum.alidropship.com/threa...till-in-stock-on-aliexpress.15287/#post-69613. In fact the post prompted me to check the draft folder. So to say none of the other issues we raised in this thread and elsewhere, is just not true.

 

[WoooShipper]

Did you see the posts in the beginning of this thread? Apparently you are talking about your end only. You having no issue like this don't mean this issue don't exist.

That is not true. A member just posted about the issue at his end, https://forum.alidropship.com/threa...till-in-stock-on-aliexpress.15287/#post-69613. In fact the post prompted me to check the draft folder. So to say none of the other issues we raised in this thread and elsewhere, is just not true.

Oops! I think you read me wrong completely, Mar.

Here's what i meant:

1. By saying "Nope, sorry ..." , I meant to say i only had the 2 sent to draft (happens to be correctly sent) and did not experience what you experienced. If you have read my threads you will realize that i'd be the first to accept that it can happen and happened as you explained. Just look at my own instances highlighted in my threads - no one else experienced them except me! So i'm agreeing with you .. just that i'm sorry i could not be of more help since it didn't happen in my case. Nothing to do with "so this does not exist". On the contrary, we've been at this long enough to know that anomalies happen all the time and it's a pain.

2. When i said "none of the other issues we raised (meaning me) in this thread and elsewhere were resolved (at least not for "me") and chances are will never be because apparently no one else has the same issues [as me] ", i was totally and strictly referring to my own issues and that no one else had the same issues as the ones i had, not referring to yours. And i was just highlighting the fact that like yours, mine was not resolved and perhaps will never be because in my case, no one else had the same issues (unlike yours) I could have been more explicit - sorry for the ambiguity.

To sum up, i'm with you on the debugging and hope there's a resolution asap.

 

[Mar]

Oops! I think you read me wrong completely, Mar.

Here's what i meant:

1. By saying "Nope, sorry ..." , I meant to say i only had the 2 sent to draft (happens to be correctly sent) and did not experience what you experienced. If you have read my threads you will realize that i'd be the first to accept that it can happen and happened as you explained. Just look at my own instances highlighted in my threads - no one else experienced them except me! So i'm agreeing with you .. just that i'm sorry i could not be of more help since it didn't happen in my case. Nothing to do with "so this does not exist". On the contrary, we've been at this long enough to know that anomalies happen all the time and it's a pain.

2. When i said "none of the other issues we raised (meaning me) in this thread and elsewhere were resolved (at least not for "me") and chances are will never be because apparently no one else has the same issues [as me] ", i was totally and strictly referring to my own issues and that no one else had the same issues as the ones i had, not referring to yours. And i was just highlighting the fact that like yours, mine was not resolved and perhaps will never be because in my case, no one else had the same issues (unlike yours) I could have been more explicit - sorry for the ambiguity.

To sum up, i'm with you on the debugging and hope there's a resolution asap.

I don't have to argue point by point. You can speak anything in your case, nobody would care. But to say "apparently no one else has the same issues" is an insult to users who have this issue and waiting to be resolved for sometime now.

 

[WoooShipper]

I don't have to argue point by point. You can speak anything in your case, nobody would care. But to say "apparently no one else has the same issues" is an insult to users who have this issue and waiting to be resolved for sometime now.

I guess we are reading at cross purposes. How can i be more clear - the sentence "no one else has the same issues" refers ONLY TO THE ISSUE I AND I ONLY EXPERIENCED (please read my threads) and HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOURS OR ANY OTHER ISSUES FOR THAT MATTER. I mentioned it because no one came forward experiencing the same issues i did in this entire forum so i surmised (and that's not too far-fetched) that "apparently no one else has THAT same issue as me". Clear enough?

Honestly, i fail to comprehend your indignation on something i wrote that was meant to elucidate the same point you are making just that IN MY CASE NO ONE HAD THE SAME ISSUES and in fact agreeing with you that this case (your case) should be resolved asap just in case others (or even myself) might come across the same issue (and apparently in your case, there is indeed someone with the same issue). Frankly, i don't see how that is an insult when i'm supporting the cause. It's that simple.

On the contrary, your remark that "You can speak anything in your case, nobody would care" is a gross insult to me having voiced real issues in a support forum only for you to say "nobody would care". I'm sorry you feel i stepped on your toes but if you are speaking for everyone else in the forum and say that what i said "is an insult to users", i think my postings speak for themselves. The only person being insulted here is me - and by you.

I totally regret voicing an opinion in support of your thread only to be criticized for doing so. Even so, i still hope your issue gets resolved because if it's a bug it should be patched so as not to affect future development.

Have a nice day.

 

[Mar]

Mar, working hard on detecting this kind of bug but no success.

Yaros, I have been checking products in the draft folder. The number is more and more everyday, but this time I haven't seen one that is actually available in AliExpress, at least at my end. Thanks for the hard work, hope the issue is totally resolved.