Bulk Operations

Overview

Bulk Operations are Workflows that process one or more items when a button is clicked (as opposed to on a schedule or when an event happens in your store).

Accessing Bulk Operations

Bulk Operations are associated with Workflows. When a Workflow's trigger is set to  Run in a Bulk Operation the workflow will appear in the sidebar under Bulk Op workflows. 

A Run Workflow link also appears in the Workflow action menu.

Workflows with the Run in a Bulk Operation trigger enabled will include a Bulk Operation tab at the top of the workflow.

Accessing Job Data 

Data regarding completed and in-progress Bulk Operations is located under the Logs tab, then under Jobs.

Creating Bulk Operations

To create a Bulk Operation, start by creating a workflow with a supported workflow type. Not all Workflow types can be run in a bulk operation. Currently supported workflow types are: Product, Variant, Order, Draft Order, Customer, Collection, Dispute and Custom. 

Item Selection

Bulk Operations begin on the Bulk Operation tab with filters and item selection. Individual items or filtered lists of items may be selected for processing. Filter options include Saved Searches from the Shopify interface, as well as general searches and advanced filters.

Saved Searches may also be combined with in-app filters. Simply select the Saved Search you'd like to use, then use any of the in-app search options to further narrow the results.

Bulk Operations can process one, a few, or all items matching your criteria. To select all items, first use the Select all checkbox, then "Include all products matching your filters"

Daily Quota

Items fetched for processing in Bulk Operations impact available Daily Quota. Quota is simply the number of items that can be retrieved for processing. 

Jobs in progress will lower available quota and will lock the quota they need in order to finish the Job. If a Job cannot be completed due to insufficient quota, the Job stops and the locked quota is returned to the available pool. Additionally, any Job that cannot complete due to insufficient quota will not run any items at all.  

Variables in Bulk Operations

Variable forms can be included or suppressed from display on Bulk Operations. This option is ideal for setting up complex workflows that need dynamic changes when run in a Bulk Operation. For example a workflow that emails a coupon code from a list of codes to a customer.

Default Variable setup in a Bulk Operation

When a Variable is used on the Workflow, and the Variable is not overridden during the setup, the Bulk Operation will use the Variable value stored on the Workflow itself.

In this case, any changes made to Variables on the Workflow are reflected when the Bulk Operation is run.

Overridden Variables

Variables can be overridden during a Bulk Operation, and the process will always use the overridden value. 

In this case, any changes made to Variables on the Workflow are not reflected when the Schedule runs. Additionally, the next time the Bulk Operation is run, it will show the previous overridden value. Selecting "Use Default" will return the Bulk Operation to the original state. 

Overridden Variable setup in a Schedule