Questions and problems

Common problems and what to check first.

No files are arriving

If the dashboard still says "No files from Stison yet":

Has Stison sent yet? Stison send once a day, so a new destination may not send until the next day. The app then picks the file up within 15 minutes.
Check the destination in Stison against the Connect Stison page. Host, Port and User must match the Stison setup page exactly, and Destination Type must be sftp.
Check the password. If you're not sure it's right, click Make a new password on the Stison setup page and paste the new one into Stison. The old one stops working straight away.
Check your plan. Without an active plan the app doesn't pick up files at all.

If a file shows as Waiting, it has arrived and will be read at the next check. Click Run now if you don't want to wait.

To check the app itself is working while you sort out Stison, upload an ONIX file from the dashboard with Upload a file. See Dry run.

A title is missing from the shop

Is it ticked "Show on Web" in Stison? With Website Feed on, Stison leave out any title that isn't.
Has a file arrived since you added it? Stison send your whole catalogue once a day, so a title added today shows after the next send.
Is it Active or Forthcoming? Only editions with those statuses in Stison go on sale. A title with none is archived rather than shown.
Is the app in dry run? In dry run nothing is written. The dashboard shows the mode at the top.
Look at Recent files on the dashboard. If the title had a problem, it's named in the Problems column. If the file says "skipped", the title's ISBNs are on two different products in your shop. Merge them into one by hand and the next file writes normally.
Is it an audiobook? Audiobooks usually have their own work number in Stison, so they usually become a product of their own rather than an option on the print title.
Is your shop at its plan's title limit? See Some new titles haven't appeared.

A cover is missing

If the app couldn't download a cover from Stison's image link, it writes the title without it and notes a warning. It tries again the next time Stison send that title. To try sooner, make a small change to the title in Stison so it goes out in the next file.

If the cover is missing in Stison too, add it there.

A price is wrong

The shop price is Stison's recommended retail price in your shop's currency. Check that price in Stison and correct it there. The next file puts it right in the shop.

If the dashboard says some editions have no price in your currency, those editions are using their pound price. Add a price in your currency for them in Stison.

If you change a price in Shopify, the next time Stison send that title the price goes back to Stison's. The exception is a series bundle: its price is set once and after that is yours to change.

If Markets is on and the wrong price is in another currency, check the price for that currency in Stison. See Markets.

I changed something by hand and it came back

Each time Stison send a title, the app writes its product again from what Stison hold. Where Stison have a value, theirs wins. So a description, price or title edited in Shopify goes back to Stison's version the next time that title is sent. Make the change in Stison instead.

What does stay:

Details Stison have no value for. The app never blanks a field.
Author social links and any fields you added yourself.
A series bundle's price.
Products the app didn't make, such as merchandise or gift cards.

What happens if I uninstall?

Your products, author entries and bundles stay in your shop exactly as they are. The app doesn't remove anything it made. They just stop being updated.

The parts of the app that run inside Shopify's checkout stop: the sales rights check, and splitting a series bundle into its ebooks.

Stison's login is switched off at once, so their sends will fail. If you reinstall within 48 hours, it's switched back on and your Stison destination carries on working unchanged. After 48 hours Shopify asks the app to delete your shop's data, and the login, files and file history are deleted for good. See the privacy policy.

How long does a first full load take?

Once Stison's file has arrived, the app picks it up within 15 minutes. Writing a full catalogue takes up to about half an hour. You can watch it title by title in the Progress log on the dashboard.

When the file arrives depends on when Stison run their daily send.

A file shows as Failed

The app couldn't read that file at all. The reason is in the Detail column. Other files aren't held up by it. Once the cause is fixed, the next day's file puts everything right, or tick Run Now on the destination in Stison to send one straight away.

Some new titles haven't appeared

The Standard plan covers 2,000 titles. A title is a book from Stison, however many editions it has; archived titles, series bundles and products you made yourself don't count. Once your shop has 2,000, the app stops adding new titles. Everything already in the shop keeps updating as normal: prices, availability, descriptions and the rest.

New titles that arrive while you're at the limit are held back. So is an archived title coming back on sale in Stison: it keeps updating but stays archived. The dashboard shows how many are waiting, with a Change plan button, and each file's Problems column names up to five of them.

To add them, either:

Move to Large catalogue, which has no limit, or
Make room by unticking "Show on Web" in Stison for titles you no longer sell. The next day's file leaves them out, so the app archives them and they stay archived. You can also delete titles in Shopify.

The app then goes back over the files that held titles back and adds them, within 15 minutes. Stison send your whole catalogue every day, so anything still waiting is picked up from the next day's file.