Product Flow alert

Understanding and Managing Alerts in SmartFeeds

Alerts are essential tools in SmartFeeds for monitoring the health and performance of your product flows, imports, joins, mapping, and channels. This guide explains the types of alerts, their meanings, and provides step-by-step instructions for troubleshooting common issues.

Understanding Alerts

Types of Alerts

Alerts in SmartFeeds appear as colored dots, each representing a specific status:

Green Dot: No issues; all systems are functioning correctly.
Orange Dot: Warning or non-blocking errors (e.g., no configured alerts for detected issues).
Red Dot: Critical, blocking issues requiring immediate attention.

You can also receive email alerts if you are added to the “notified” list when an alert is triggered.

Where Alerts Are Displayed

Alerts are visible in key sections of the platform, including:

Product Flows
Imports
Channels
Joins
Mappings

Hovering over an alert provides additional details about the issue.

Configuring Notifications

You can assign yourself or team members to receive alerts:

On the product flow list page:
- Click the three dots next to a flow > Edit > Notifications section > Add email.
Within a specific product flow:
- Click the + button in the top-right corner.

Tip: If a team member leaves, remove their email by clicking the x next to it.

Managing Product Flow Alerts

General

On the product flow listing page, you can monitor alerts using the Alerts column. This column provides quick visibility of triggered alerts without needing to open individual flows. Hover over a colored dot to see details such as the number of alerts and their location.

Tip: Use the Filters option (left of "Create a Product Flow") to display only flows with specific alerts.

License Management

Product flow alerts also help you track license usage:

Flow Capacity Alert: Indicates if you’ve reached or are approaching the number of flows allowed by your plan.
Product/LIA Capacity: Tracks the total number of product or store lines in your flows relative to your plan's limits.

For detailed information on license management, refer to Plans & Addons

Resolving Import and Channel Alerts

Import Alerts

Alerts can be configured during the creation of an import or updated later under the Import Alert tab. Common examples include:

Unchanged File Alert
Sends an alert when the file fetched hasn’t changed for a specified period.
Example: "File content has not changed for 48 hours."
Blocked Import Alert
Blocks updates if the file size changes drastically (e.g., is 50% smaller or larger than the previous version).
Example: "The last import was blocked as the new file size is 25 MB, compared to the previous 50 MB."

To bypass a blocking alert temporarily, click the Force Import button and proceed manually.

Channel Alerts

Channel alerts are set during creation or edited in the Channel Alert tab. Common configurations include:

Unexecuted Channel Alert
Triggers if the channel hasn’t been executed successfully in a specific timeframe.
Example: "Channel execution failed twice in the last 24 hours."
Unchanged File Alert
Alerts when a file is executed successfully, but its content hasn’t changed over time.
Example: "The file has remained unchanged for 36 hours."
Update Channel Alert
Blocks updates when file size deviates significantly (e.g., ±20% from the last version).
Example: "The new channel file size is 10 MB, compared to the previous 8 MB."

Email Alerts

When an alert is triggered for an import or channel, you will receive an email with the following details:

Type of Alert: Example: Blocked Import.
Affected Product Flow: Includes client name, country, tag, and import name.
Trigger Details: What caused the alert and when it occurred.
Direct Links: Navigate directly to the affected flow.

Troubleshooting Joins, Mapping, and Filters

Join Alerts

Errors in joins can cascade, causing issues in channels. These are flagged with a yellow dot.
Example:

Issue: A non-unique key was selected, leading to duplicate entries.
Solution: Review and select unique keys for joins to resolve the alert.

Mapping Alerts

Mapping errors, flagged by yellow dots, can block channel updates.

Using the Error Manager

Locate the red dot indicating the error.
Open the error module to view and manage error numbers.
Correct the attribute causing the issue (highlighted in red).

Tips: For SQL-related errors, searching the [error name] + "SQL" online often provides quick solutions.

Filter Alerts

Protective alerts appear as dots on the filter icon. Adjusting filters or rules may trigger these alerts.

Tips: Temporarily disable alerts while modifying filters to prevent triggering unnecessary notifications.

Quick Answers to Common Issues

Why am I seeing an “Unrecognized Name” alert in my formula?

This occurs when the file hasn’t been joined. Verify that the file is correctly joined in the product flow settings.

An alert is set on my import, but I didn’t receive an email notification.

Make sure your email address is listed in the “notified” section of the alert configuration.

How can I set up a new segmentation without triggering channel alerts?

Disable the associated channel alerts temporarily while creating the segmentation. Don’t forget to re-enable them once the changes are finalized.

Can we retrieve an outbound Google Shopping feed from a specific date?

Unfortunately, SmartFeeds doesn’t allow retrieving outbound feeds. You might want to check if it’s possible directly from Google Merchant Center (GMC).

For further assistance with SmartFeeds, consider reviewing these articles:

For additional help, feel free to reach out via our Contact Us page.