Preserving Product Publish Dates When Migrating to Shopify

Once upon a time, on a wet Tuesday dragging its feet through November, I found myself knee-deep in a dilemma. I was moving my virtual shop from the cozy comforts of WooCommerce—like moving into a big city from a small town—and realized, rather regretfully, that Shopify doesn't let you rewind time. You see, I needed my "first published" dates for products to stay the same, like those steady lighthouses guiding my loyal customers through familiar territory when they sorted products by "newest to oldest." But alas, Shopify wasn't having any of this past-date malarkey.

The Great Migration

Imagine it: countless hours spent crafting perfect product listings—descriptions so enticing even I was tempted to buy my own wares. Each "published" date was like adding a brushstroke to a masterpiece. But as I plonked those products into Shopify, the original time stamps simply evaporated, like morning dew. I longed to let my customers see the newest treasures with precision. But Shopify seemed to have a strict diary, no backdating allowed.

And yet, dear reader, not all hope was lost. We spent some time tinkering—like that one friend who always has a workaround up their sleeve—until we discovered a solution to maintain the integrity of our product timelines.

A Journey into Shopify Apps

In our quest (think of Frodo with a shopping cart), we stumbled across a little something called the 'Excelify' app. A silver lining, it promised to look after our dearly beloved dates. Excelify allowed us, through a little-known ninja move, to finesse the system. By meticulously preparing a CSV file, we could sidestep the usual procedures and give those publish dates the reverence they deserved.

Install the Excelify App: Navigate to the Shopify App Store and find Excelify. Hit install with confidence—like Indiana Jones grabbing the golden idol.
Export Your Products from WooCommerce: Gather all your product information into a detailed CSV file. Make sure to capture every iota of the original publish dates.
Customize Your CSV for Excelify: Fashion your CSV in a way that matches Excelify’s import format. Treat these columns with the precision of a Swiss watchmaker. Besides the usual suspects like 'Title' and 'Description', make sure you include a 'Publish Date' column for this little trick to work.
Import into Shopify via Excelify: Using the Excelify interface, import your CSV. It'll feel like watching a complex Rube Goldberg machine where everything falls perfectly into place.
Verification: Once the import is finished, double-check a random sampling of your products to ensure the dates are back in business.

Celebrating Small Wins

With bated breath, we watched as our products reappeared not just properly, but precisely as they were meant to be. A small triumph, much like finally getting a stubborn jar open, or remembering an elusive word. Our customers could now sort the collection with assurance that they were seeing the most recent releases: a balm to my retailer’s heart.

In hindsight, this migration was less of a bother and more of an adventure—a digital scavenger hunt that ended not with a treasure chest, but with a return to the status quo, back to the equilibrium.

Embracing the Next Steps

As we pack away our toolbox of Excelify wizardry, I can't help but think of what we’ve all learned along the way. Namely, there's always a solution, even if it feels like you’re squeezing water from stones.

Now, as we look towards the future—perhaps even the drops of promise in Shopify's updates—we’re more equipped than ever. The digital landscape, full of its quirks and rules, stands ready for us to navigate and, dare I say, conquer.

So here’s to all migrating souls attempting to maintain the art of the past, with just enough flexibility to embrace the ever-changing digital sea.

And, of course, to those 'Published' dates—our timestamped breadcrumbs that guide us all through this wonderful cyber odyssey.