The Mapping tab lines your feed's columns up with the catalog fields ad networks expect. Drag a feed column onto a field, stack a fallback, and read the Fill column to confirm coverage. Required fields left unmapped are called out so nothing ships incomplete. Changes stay in a draft until you Publish.
What the Mapping tab does#
Every ad network expects a fixed set of fields — a product needs an ID, a title, a price, and so on. Your feed's columns rarely line up with those names on their own, so the Mapping tab is where you tell Renable which of your columns feeds each catalog field. Once a field is mapped, every import fills it from the column you chose.
Open a catalog from your project's Catalogs list, then choose Mapping. Like everything else in the catalog workspace, your changes save to a draft and don't take effect until you Publish — see Transforming your feed for how the draft-and-publish model fits together.
The Catalog fields table#
The main table, headed "Catalog fields", lists every field a channel can export, sorted into groups so a long list stays scannable:
- Identity — the fields that identify a product, including its ID and product identifiers.
- Content — title, description, and other copy.
- Images — the main image and any additional images.
- Pricing — price and sale price.
- Availability — stock and availability status.
- Attributes — everything else, including attribute pairs (see below).
Two chips at the top of the table keep score: "{N} mapped" tells you how many fields have a source, and "{N} required missing" warns when a required field still has none.
Required fields and how gaps are flagged#
Seven fields are required for a product to be eligible in ad networks, each marked with an asterisk on the table:
- ID
- Title
- Description
- URL
- Main image
- Price
- Availability
A required field with no source at all counts toward the "{N} required missing" chip at the top of the table. A required field that is mapped but comes back empty for some products shows a warning tone and an "N empty" note on its row, so you can see partial coverage before an ad network rejects those products. Fill or map every flagged field, then publish. For the difference between what's mandatory and what merely improves reach, see Required vs. recommended feed fields.
The Feed columns rail#
The left rail, "Feed columns", lists every column Renable found in your feed sample. Each column shows:
- A mapped or unmapped dot — whether that column is already feeding a catalog field.
- A type badge — the column's type (Text, Number, Date, Boolean, or List).
- A sample value in ghost text, so you can see what the column actually contains.
- A warning icon when a value couldn't be read as its declared type.
Below your feed's columns, a "Rule outputs" sub-list shows fields that a rule sets rather than a raw column — each links back to the rule that writes it, so you can tell mapped-from-a-column apart from set-by-a-rule at a glance.
Mapping a column to a field#
Field rows are drop targets. To map a field:
- Find the field in the Catalog fields table.
- Drag the matching column from the Feed columns rail onto that field's row.
- Check the field's live sample updates to the value you expect.
- Publish the catalog when you're done — nothing reprocesses until you publish.
To take a field back out, use "Remove mapping" in the menu at the end of its row. That's different from emptying the value: a field you emptied still counts as mapped, so use Remove mapping when you want the field genuinely unmapped — and expect it to reappear in the "required missing" count if it's one of the required ones.
Fallback stacks: a second source when the first is empty#
A field doesn't have to draw from one source. In a field's value editor you can stack a fallback — a second source used only when the first comes back empty. Renable shows a live sample beside each entry in the stack, so you can see which source wins for a real product. Order the stack from most-preferred to least: the first non-empty value is the one that ships. The value editor also carries a Sample product picker at the top, so you can switch which product the samples resolve against without leaving the editor.
An empty value in your feed means "not provided" — Renable falls back to whatever you've set up next. So a product whose column is there but blank is treated exactly like a product whose column is missing altogether: the next entry in the stack gets its turn.
Fallbacks are how you cover gaps — map a field to your primary column, then fall back to a second column, a fixed value, or a value looked up from another feed. To pull a value in from a stock or supplier feed as a fallback, see Joining another feed.
When a rule already set the field#
Your mapping is the default for a field, not the last word: rules run first, and the mapping fills in afterwards. So a rule — or a rule that arrives from a Ruleset your catalog applies — that writes Title wins for the products it matches, and your mapping still covers every other product. When that happens the field's row carries a small badge — "provided by {name}", "overrides {name}" or "adds to {name}" — so you can see who actually supplies the value without leaving the tab.
You can change that per field. Each field row has a menu with three choices:
- Always set — your mapping wins, replacing whatever a rule produced.
- Only if not already set — your mapping fills the field only when nothing earlier produced a value for it.
- Add to the list — your mapping's value is added to what's already there instead of replacing it. Offered only for fields that hold several values (additional images, reasons to buy, product attributes).
A fourth entry, "Use the default for this field", puts the field back to the sensible behavior: a single-value field like Title fills in only when nothing else set it, and a multi-value field like additional images adds to the list. Leave it there unless you have a reason not to.
A value that resolves to nothing never counts as set — a rule whose expression comes back empty leaves the field free, so your mapping still fills it. To write a field from inside a rule in the first place, see Fixing your feed data with rules.
Cleaning values as you map#
When a column's raw value isn't quite what you want in the field, you don't have to accept it as-is. Every value in the mapping supports "+ Add step" — the same value functions used in rules: trim whitespace, replace text, change case, strip HTML, round a number, format a date, or map one set of values onto another, run in sequence. Because these steps are shared with rules, they're covered once, in Fixing your feed data with rules.
Column types and why they matter#
Each feed column has a type: Text, Number, Date, Boolean, or List. Renable infers the type from your sample and shows a "Inferred — click to declare" badge; click it to set the type yourself when the guess is wrong.
- Date takes an optional parse pattern — leave it blank to read dates in your catalog's locale automatically.
- List takes a separator — "Comma or semicolon (default)" or a custom one — so a multi-value column splits correctly.
The type you declare here does more than label the column: it drives which comparisons appear when you use that column in a rule. Number and Date columns unlock range comparisons like is greater than and is between; Boolean columns offer is true and is false. Declaring a column's type on the Mapping tab keeps its conditions correct everywhere it's used.
The Fill column: coverage at a glance#
The Fill column shows the percentage of products in your last import that got a value for each field. It's the fastest way to spot a field that maps cleanly for most products but leaves a slice empty — a 100% fill means every product has that field; a 60% fill means four in ten don't.
Because the number comes from the last import, and imports run your published configuration, a Fill percentage reflects the mapping that was live at that import — not any edits still sitting in your draft. When you change a field's mapping, its Fill percentage is dimmed and marked with an asterisk to tell you it's now stale: it describes the old mapping, not your current one. Publish and re-import to refresh it.
Attribute pairs#
The Attributes group holds custom fields, including attribute pairs — extra key-and-value pairs Renable can pass through to ad networks. Some feeds carry these as two matching list columns: one holding the attribute names, one holding the values in the same order. Renable detects the common shape when it sets your mapping up, and the result appears as an "Attribute pairs" row showing which two columns feed it.
You can set them yourself with "Add attribute pairs" below the table: pick the column holding the names and the column holding the values. A catalog has one attribute-pairs row, so the button appears only while there isn't one — when there is, edit or delete it from the row itself.
The row also carries a combine setting, the same choice the individual field rows offer:
- Add to the list (the default) — the pairs are added alongside attributes anything else produced.
- Always set — the pairs replace attributes produced earlier.
- Only if not already set — the pairs fill in only when nothing has produced attributes yet.
To pick pairs up automatically after your feed changes, use "Regenerate from feed" (below), or ask Aimée to set them.
Regenerate from feed#
If your feed's columns have changed — new columns, renamed ones — "Regenerate from feed" rebuilds the mapping from a fresh sample. Renable re-detects columns and re-suggests field mappings and attribute pairs.
Regenerating is not free of consequences: your custom rules are kept, but custom attribute mappings and edited field mappings are replaced. In other words, any field mapping you changed by hand goes back to Renable's suggestion. Use it when your feed's shape has genuinely changed, not as a routine refresh.
If you see an upgrade prompt instead of the table#
A catalog on an older feed setup shows a prompt to upgrade rather than the grouped mapping table. Follow that prompt to upgrade the catalog, and the Catalog fields table, Fill column, and value steps described here become available.
Or ask Aimée#
You don't have to wire the mapping by hand. Tell Aimée what a field should draw from — "map the title to the product_name column," or "fill brand from the manufacturer column and fall back to the vendor column" — and she can set the mapping, declare column types, manage attribute pairs — including their combine setting — and publish once you approve.
Where to go next#
- Transforming your feed — how mapping, rules, and the draft-and-publish model fit together.
- Fixing your feed data with rules — conditions and actions, plus the full set of value steps.
- Joining another feed — pull a value in from a stock or supplier feed as a fallback.
- Required vs. recommended feed fields — what's mandatory and what improves reach.