Hey everyone! I’m stuck with a tricky problem. I need to take an XML file from a URL and turn it into a CSV or XML format that Facebook can use for their ads. The catch is, the fields in my XML don’t match what Facebook wants.
I’m using Zapier to help, but I’m lost on the XML parsing part. They suggested using Code by Zapier, but that’s beyond what I know how to do. Here’s what I’ve got so far:
- Get the XML file when it updates daily
- Use Dropbox to grab the file content
- ??? (This is where I need help parsing the XML)
- Put the results in Google Sheets
- Publish the sheet as a CSV for Facebook to use
Can anyone help me figure out how to parse the XML and match it to Facebook’s required fields? I’m not a coder, so simple explanations would be super helpful. Thanks in advance!
As someone who’s dealt with similar data conversion headaches, I feel your pain, Pete. Have you looked into using Google Apps Script? It’s a free tool that integrates seamlessly with Google Sheets and can handle XML parsing pretty well.
Here’s a rough outline of how you could approach this:
- Set up a Google Sheet to receive your XML data.
- Write a simple Apps Script function to fetch the XML from your URL and parse it into the sheet.
- Use another function to transform the data into Facebook’s required format.
- Set up a time-based trigger to run these functions daily.
This approach eliminates the need for Zapier and keeps everything within the Google ecosystem. Plus, you can gradually learn some basic coding as you go. It’s how I solved a similar issue for my company’s product feed.
If you’re interested, I can point you towards some beginner-friendly tutorials to get started. It might take a bit of time to set up initially, but it’ll save you loads of hassle in the long run.
Have you considered using a dedicated XML to CSV converter tool? There are several online options that could simplify this process for you. One approach could be to use a tool like XMLTV, which specializes in XML transformations. You could set up a custom conversion template that maps your XML fields to Facebook’s required format. Once you have the template set up, you could automate the daily conversion process. This might integrate well with your existing Zapier workflow, potentially replacing steps 2 and 3 in your current setup. It would handle the XML parsing for you without needing to dive into coding. Just make sure to double-check that the output aligns with Facebook’s specific field requirements for ad syncing.
hey pete, have u tried using xslt for conversion? it’s pretty good for transforming xml. you could set up a template to match fb’s format, then use an online xslt processor. might save u some headache with zapier. just a thought!