Default product status when adding new product

Chrisjigsaw
Shopify Partner
42 1 35

I see that Shopify changed the process for adding a new product, which is seriously messing with my workflow. Specifically, this:

The product status on newly created products is set as draft by default.

Can we NOT do that, please? I would like to have it default to active. How can I change this?

Chris

Replies 41 (41)

Miles
Shopify Staff (Retired)
480 68 156

Hi, @Chrisjigsaw!

I'm Miles from the Social Care team at Shopify. Thanks for your feedback around the new products workflow. The new feature was designed around feedback from merchants who have requirements for a product not be listed when they create it. The old workflow would publish a product straight away which caused some headaches for merchants who added in products so we made this change to give a default option of draft. I can appreciate this has impacted your own workflow. When creating a new product or duplicating an existing product, you have the choice of assigning a 'draft' or 'active' status, but it will be set to draft and hidden from sales channels by default.

I've added a feature request on your behalf to ask the products team to consider the option of allowing merchants to change the default setting for new products to their own preference. This doesn't guarantee a change, but if we do receive consistent feedback around this, it's something we can consider for future releases. I do appreciate you bringing this up to us.

One potential workaround in the interim would be adding your products via CSV imports. Products created with a CSV or API upload will be set to "active" by default. This is the only option at launch, but the ability to specify draft status will be added later. This is especially helpful if you're adding products in bulk.

Thanks again for bringing this to our attention.

To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Community Blog.

Chrisjigsaw
Shopify Partner
42 1 35

Yeah, I totally get why some merchants would prefer that, but it really doesn't work for me, and makes things a little harder. I really appreciate the feature request, though; would love to see this addressed, as unfortunately, the bulk editor REALLY doesn't work for what I do!

Chris

musicwharf123
Tourist
4 0 4

Hi Miles it could also be useful if the 'draft' status/archived were a different colour to the 'active' status - just a suggestion

MrAlfie
Visitor
1 0 0

Hi,

Any news on this update?

A default active / draft is definitely needed.

 

Miles
Shopify Staff (Retired)
480 68 156

Hi @MrAlfie, @musicwharf123 and @Happy_Valley!

Thanks so much for your extra feedback on this recent change. We can only get better with this kind of feedback, so please know that it is appreciated.

I've added this to the request I raised for @Chrisjigsaw. Unfortunately, I'm not able to provide a timeframe for this. As I mentioned in an earlier response, this is purely a feedback request and doesn't guarantee a change will be implemented. Many hands make light work, so the more feedback we get on this change, the likelihood of an update increases.

Please know that your feedback has been taken on board and our team will consider it for future releases.

To summarise the feedback I've received so far, I've included some points below:

  • Add in the ability to change the default availability, instead of draft.
  • Color-code the status to make it easier to differentiate between the different options.

Lastly, I'd like to reiterate that this change came on the back of a large volume of requests we received to implement this. We know that not every change we make is going to be popular with everyone. But with over 1 million merchants, we do want to make sure the changes we do implement are going to help as many businesses as possible. Our job is to help you make money.

Thanks again for the feedback. Please keep it coming.

To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Community Blog.

Evyl
Visitor
1 0 0

So to clarify, what happens when a product is uploaded via .csv with "Publish" set to TRUE or FALSE respectively?  

My previous workflow was to modify my products in csv in a large file, uploading the entire list but the portion that i'm currently making available to publish, those not available to not publish.  If all products uploaded in any way via csv are set to active and there's not currently a way to upload as draft, what does publish do?  Are there ways to set available channels via .csv import (website, ebay, amazon, google, etc.) to active or disabled also?

Miles
Shopify Staff (Retired)
480 68 156

Hi, @Evyl!

This is a brand new feature we've recently launched, so it's still not fully functional. Below, I've listed some of the limitations that currently exist for product statuses:

  • Product status cannot be changed or specified by Product CSV, the Bulk Editor, or through apps / API at this time.
  • Products created with a CSV or API upload will be active by default. This is the only option at launch, but the ability to specify draft status will be added later.
  • Status will not display on the product picker for third party apps / buy button, shipping, purchase orders, at launch. They will show as ‘unavailable’, and draft / archived products will not be hidden. This will change later.
  • Status is set on the product level. Individual variants cannot have their own status.
  • Reports cannot be filtered by product status.

We've got some great guides to help you navigate through this change. I recommend checking out product availability and adding and updating products to get you started.

As I stated in my post above, feedback is always welcome, so please let me know if you have any feedback on this new process at all.

To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Community Blog.

capocopa
Excursionist
12 1 18

I'm another extremely unsatisfied customer that encountered problems with my workflow....

it's terrible to don't have anymore as default that products are immediately active after saving

this is causing problems to my workflow

it MUST be implemented a setting where i can choose which default option i want...

this shouldn't be a difficult task in my opinion...

so i hope that others merchants will post here this request otherwise it will not be added soon

kind regards

soymarketing
Shopify Partner
11 0 16

I'm just here to upvote this thread... I can understand how this new feature might be helpful in some use cases, but there should definitely be an option to change the default status to active instead of draft. Suddenly I have a bunch of draft products that we thought were published, as the team who is in charge of uploading products has been doing the same process for months. Now I have to train everyone again so they don't forget to change the status before saving, and I am 100% positive we will still have a few products marked as a draft when we thought they should be published as this is something easy to forget when you are already used to a certain workflow...

Perhaps, instead of having to select between Draft and Active from a dropdown list, you could just have two buttons at the very top right of the page. A gray one "Save as draft" and a green one "Save & Publish". IMO that would be a lot more user friendly and intuitive, without disrupting anyone's workflow.

Miles
Shopify Staff (Retired)
480 68 156

Hi, @capocopa and @soymarketing!

Thanks so much for adding your thoughts on this change. I won't repeat too much of what I've already said above, as I assume you've already read through it. I'll be happy to add both your comments to our feedback process on this change.

In the meantime, you are able to change the product from draft to active when creating it. I understand this is still an impact to your workflow in the interim, but this is one way to make sure your products are not submitted as drafts.

If you upload products via CSV, at the moment, these will all be added as active, so that's another way of working around the change. To learn more about uploading via CSV, please take a look at this guide.

Thanks!

To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Community Blog.

rjsteiner
Visitor
1 0 0

We get that, but it seems like an extra step in the process that wasn't there before.  Most of the other platforms (woocommerce, Magento, etc) that we have worked with make "Published" the default status when creating a new product, with the option to change to draft when needed.  

808
Tourist
6 0 5

WHY!?!?!?!? Just getting back on here religiously after over a year and can't BELIEVE how long it is taking me to upload products now! It's EXHAUSTING! Much like Instagram, STOP fixing what IS NOT broken! ACTIVE IS what most of your customers probably prefer, MAKE it the default!? Listen to your customers! And WAY more importantly, WHY am I having to rotate a majority of my pics after uploading now???? WOW! Talk about frustrating!!!! It takes SOOOO long! If there is no fix, again, return it to how it was!??, aside from altering something in my pics prior, I will definitely be exploring other options than Shopify. So stupid! Please tell me there is an easy solution!!!! THANK YOU BOB)

Goodyears
Excursionist
17 1 3

For me it is stupid to now default to Active when the products are loaded via POS and should not be active until they have been completely updated

islandlife
Tourist
7 0 6

Why cant we just choose????? Also when I upload my CSV there is no column header option to indicate STATUS although on the help file it clearly shows that Status is an option. SeriouslY??  

https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/import-export/using-csv

billieruddy
Visitor
1 0 0

I am new to Shopify and learning it right now. I am on collection page, is there a way I can get current collection?

 

SouthCoast_Smok
Tourist
3 0 1

100000000000000% Agree.. please give us the option. it may be good for some merchants that add multiple products at once, but for me that I add a few here and there, this is just one extra step for me!

Gustonian
Visitor
2 0 2

Exactly. I already have employees who don’t fill out all the info and now that’s one extra step I have to do and recheck . The default should be active. Not draft. Please change this!

BettinaHDesigns
Visitor
1 0 1

Hi- I too think that when you list a product it should default to "active" and let the merchants choose "draft" or give us the choice to change the default.

SteamboatMusic
Visitor
3 0 0

This is also really slowing down things for my shop. I also find myself having to go back and find products that were accidentally added as drafts that should be active. 

A simple option to just change the default status would be great.

systemF
Tourist
3 0 2

This is annoying, surely making products active should be the default! I’ve just spent days setting up my website from scratch and couldn’t work out why so many of my items are drafts! How do I change them to active without reposting them as that would take me days again! Thanks 😊

SteamboatMusic
Visitor
3 0 0

@systemF Go to products -> drafts (along the top) -> select all using the checkbox on top left -> edit products -> add fields -> status 

then you should be able to select a whole bunch of them at once and change the status to active, rather than doing them one by one!

SteamboatMusic
Visitor
3 0 0
systemF
Tourist
3 0 2

@SteamboatMusic  thanks a lot appreciate that! I’m Still getting to grips with things! 

Ann_Sandler
Tourist
4 0 7

Has anyone had trouble with a lag time when changing products from draft status to active status?  Last time it took about 5 hours for the product to populate on the site.  Having the same problem today with one of the twenty some products in my collection appearing about an hour after I changed the status from draft to active. Thanks

systemF
Tourist
3 0 2

I’ve done about 20 today, switched from draft to active and they were pretty much instant, available on my site x 

A_Username
Visitor
1 0 0

Yes! Any chance you've figured it out?

Quick
Visitor
1 0 1

I agree, the choice should be left to the store. I would prefer all of my listings be active automatically. Having to switch this has also hindered my workflow. 

thanks...

Gustonian
Visitor
2 0 2

I agree. Since this change has come about it has given me more work to do. It is awful. If they want something to be a draft they should have to toggle it on. We should have to do any extra step because a handful of people wanted it to be a draft. The majority want the product on ASAP and it should default to active. I already have employees who don’t fill out all the info and now that’s one extra step I have to do and recheck . The default should be active. Not draft. Please change this! Thank u.

ptmercer
Visitor
2 0 0

I entered some items as a 'draft' and printed barcodes. I wasn't ready to make them available for purchase at the time. But now that I am ready to make these products available on the site and in store, the barcode will not scan on our Ipads nor is the item showiing up in the search... Can you please assist with this?

 

Thank you so much!

Bearcub
Visitor
1 0 0

We would much prefer that products are automatically set to draft when copied up from our POS.  Once the description and media are updated, then we set them to active.  Is there a way to choose your preference?

Goodyears
Excursionist
17 1 3

I have discovered that the default is now active -  not good when you load multiple items a day on our epos system and need it to default to inactive until you are ready to make live.  Why is this, I need to set the default back to inactive

 

GusRuss
Visitor
1 0 0

Hi there,

 

We create products via Printful (API). It seems like even these are now being set to 'Draft' as a default. How can we make these product 'Active' on creation? It slows down our process dramatically. It looks like this has just changed within the last 24-48 hours.

 

Thanks.

Happy_Valley
Tourist
3 0 2

I totally agree they make these defaults without any consultation or any effort to at least let us choose which default we want. So many times new products aren't live because of this stupid feature. There's so many things could improve instead they try to make things difficult, the most tonedeaf company I've ever dealt with

 

Chris

Dg0016
Visitor
1 0 1

Hello, 

I would like to 2nd this. Having a product default to draft is a huge hindrance to work flow. I think the default should be active or at the very minimum allow merchants to choose what their default is. 

I hope this gets changed. 

Thanks for the consideration, 

 

Daniel 

Sharon_B
Pathfinder
104 1 36

Yes please, either make ACTIVE the default or at least give us choice to make all of our listings active as we post them. I'm sure I probably have posted some products that aren't active, just because I missed changing them from draft!

AdrianDeSantis
Visitor
3 0 0

Shopify, can we get a fix to this. I personally will never use the Draft feature, I would appreciate the ability for items to go straight to Active.

Daniel_DeLima
Shopify Partner
3 0 0

I agree with every other person on this post, ACTIVE should be default. This is part of the reason we opted to create our own product entry page...

EdLazor
Excursionist
20 0 7

Ugh - no, newly created products should NOT default to active, because this means they are automatically presented on the website when they may not be ready. For example, if you create a new product, it goes active, and you haven't set a price, you are now officially selling 0 priced items... Who's going to pay for that?!?

AdrianDeSantis
Visitor
3 0 0
We clearly run our store very different from you.
EdLazor
Excursionist
20 0 7

Sorry to hear that, but you'll learn. It's wise to finish data entry and have a chance to verify that everything is ready before it goes live. Do you edit your templates in production as well? I hope you're staging changes.

PoeticMaxRomanc
Visitor
1 0 1

we should have an option to make the default status (active/draft) configurable.  can someone look into this?