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CheckIt User Guide

Overview
CheckIt is a BookTrakker Plugin used to make sure that your Amazon records are consistent in various ways with your BookTrakker Database. (Amazon records ONLY) Several tools are provided on the Control Panel to help manage and maintain your Amazon records including the ability to make sure your ASIN and ISBN numbers are accurate and up to date, your prices are consistent between the two and that there are no records on Amazon which do not exist in your BookTrakker database. Most of the new functionality is only available after purchase of CheckIt, however, there is a function which will identify any 'holes' in your database where record numbers jump in sequence. This sometimes indicates that a record got lost somehow and can help track down the cause.

There is also a section of the Control Panel intended to allow the user to decide what Optional Fields will be included in the BookLoader Upload file.

To find records that have been updated or changed you can do a Hit list on Upload = Yes or a Range Type: Date, Date Modified, From/To with the current date.

IMPORTANT: You should upload any changes made to BookTrakker prior to using CheckIt to update Amazon records so you do not inadvertently lose changes that should be uploaded to all services.

This User Guide can be printed by selecting the text, copying it and pasting it into a word processor or you can open the file located in the BTPro folder (Typically C:\BTPro") with the filename "CheckIt User Guide.rtf" and print it from your word processor. To copy from the results screen select the Item or the row and use Ctrl-C to copy. You may need to click twice to complete the selection the first time you click in the grid.

Operation
All Amazon related operations involve submitting a request for an Open Listings Report Lite to be generated which will be downloaded shortly thereafter. The time it takes for the Amazon system to generate these reports can vary from seconds to minutes and depends entirely upon the load on the Amazon system at any given moment. It can take as long as 30 minutes in some cases for an OLR Lite to be generated so please be patient. All operations require an active Internet Connection; if you are a Dial-Up user please make sure you are connected prior to using CheckIt.

It is highly recommended that you perform an Upload of your Amazon records after each operation that involves changes to your Database. This will ensure that you do not have mixups which can occur when certain data is updated without performing an upload before continuing to update other information.

Automatic Operation
In each row of the main operational frame there is a checkbox for Automatic Operation. Checking this box for a given operation will cause it to happen every time you download the OLR Lite without need for pressing the corresponding Manual button. Use this option with care; it is suggested you become familiar with the behavior of the system before using this option.

Choose a Service
Before you submit a Request for an OLR Lite you must choose among the Amazon services you use. If you use only one Amazon service then this will automatically appear in the Choose Service dropdown, otherwise you may need to select the appropriate Amazon service before proceeding.

Submit Report Request
To submit a request for an OLR Lite to be generated simply press the Request Report button. An OLR Lite file will be requested which will reflect the current state of your Listings on Amazon. If you perform an upload with record modifications, deletes or adds after pressing this button and before downloading the OLR Lite the OLR Lite may not accurately reflect these changes so please make sure you do not upload any records until you download the OLR Lite.

Download the OLR Lite
Amazon will send an email with a subject line that says " Notification of Open Listings Report availability" when the report is available. It is recommended that you check your email to see if this message has arrived before downloading the report. To download the OLR simply click the Download Report button.

Update ASINs
This operation involves replacing incorrect ASINs and ISBNs in your Database with the correct ASINs and ISBNs from the Amazon OLR Lite. This may be required due to processes that occur on Amazon intended to consolidate identical books under a single ASIN or ISBN and will help you ensure that your listings are accurate. There is an option to Copy the old ASIN or ISBN to a field chosen from the dropdown list at the right of this row; use this option to preserve the original ASIN for future reference.
Do this before you click the Update ASINs button. Click into the field on the right side to select the destination.

Show Amz Recs not in BT
This operation will compare the records found in the OLR Lite against those found in your BookTrakker database and will produce a list of records that are either listed on Amazon and not found in your BookTrakker Database, or records that are on Amazon but not Available in BookTrakker. This is useful for making sure that your Amazon listings do not contain books you do not have thus preventing customers from ordering books you cannot provide. This helps to prevent unnecessary refunds which can damage your Amazon ratings. You can Execute a Hit List on “Status | Not | Available” to find everything that is not Available. To reduce the size you can add in a Range Type below to reduce the count. Then do an Action, Upload, Execute, Confirm to set them for upload. Or just do a Purge Amazon, All Online Inventory; after selecting Amazon, then press the Process/Upload to Selected Service button.

Reconcile Amz Prices
This operation will compare the records found in the OLR Lite against those found in your BookTrakker database and will produce a list of records that have a different price on Amazon from what is found in your BookTrakker Database. This is useful for making sure that your Amazon listings are priced correctly thus preventing customers from ordering books at a price different than you intended. This helps to prevent unnecessary refunds which can damage your Amazon ratings. You have the option of updating Amazon with the prices in BookTrakker or updating BookTrakker's prices if the Amazon prices are correct. Either choice will set the records for upload, with or without a price change. This upload will not be visible when you click Process and Upload Records as the prices only upload is not posted in the Export Log. This upload is done "behind the scenes" 

Check ASINs
This operation will compare the records found in the OLR Lite against those found in your BookTrakker database and will produce a list of records that are not listed on Amazon but are marked for Amazon in your BookTrakker Database. You are then given the option of either setting these records for upload or clearing the ASIN or ISBN so you can relist as a matched or new Product Detail Page.

Check Missing
This is a free operation which will show any record numbers that are not in your database. This sometimes happens when there are holes in imported data or when a record got lost for some reason and can help track down the cause of such events. If you feel there are any missing records it is suggested you contact Support to see if there may be an identifiable cause which can be addressed so it can be prevented in the future.

Optional Amazon Upload Fields
These checkboxes control whether or not these fields are included in the Amazon Book Loader Upload File intended for Product Detail Page Creation. Checking a field in this box will cause it to be included in the Book Loader Upload to Amazon and will result in additional detail being included in the Product Detail Page.

Warning: Including these fields may cause a rejected listing if product detail pages already exist on Amazon that match most of your data but not one of the checked fields. 

Note: At present the Image URL field is only available for Collectible uploads, and only one image from the Image URL field on the Optional tab in BookTrakker.