# What is MERGADO 2? **URL:** \ **Category:** Mergado Editor general information\ **Tags:** mergado-2\ **Created:** [May 30, 2023, 10:40am UTC](https://forum.mergado.com/t/what-is-mergado-2/761 "2023-05-30T10:40:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lehuy](https://forum.mergado.com/user_avatar/forum.mergado.com/lehuy/32/280_2.png) [@lehuy](https://forum.mergado.com/u/lehuy)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 10:40am UTC](https://forum.mergado.com/t/what-is-mergado-2/761/1 "2023-05-30T10:40:49Z")
Video in Czech: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/wNdndEh6jCQ/maxresdefault.jpg "Co je MERGADO 2 a jak vám urychlí správu produktových dat") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNdndEh6jCQ)   In this post, we will learn: - [What is MERGADO 2?](https://forum.mergado.com/t/what-is-mergado-2/761#what-is-mergado-2-1) - [Why does MERGADO 2 exist?](https://forum.mergado.com/t/what-is-mergado-2/761#why-does-mergado-2-exist-2) - [History of MERGADO 2](https://forum.mergado.com/t/what-is-mergado-2/761#history-of-mergado-2-3) - [How will the conversion to MERGADO 2 work?](https://forum.mergado.com/t/what-is-mergado-2/761#converting-projects-to-mergado-2-4) - [Differences between MERGADO 1 and MERGADO 2](https://forum.mergado.com/t/what-is-mergado-2/761#differences-mergado-1-vs-mergado-2-7) - [Summary](https://forum.mergado.com/t/what-is-mergado-2/761#summary-14) ## What is Mergado 2? Mergado 2 is **a completely new and improved version of the Mergado Editor**. It advances the features of the previous version and opens up completely new possibilities for data processing. > ℹ  New [integrations](https://www.mergado.com/supported-channels) and features are only added to Mergado 2. ## Why does Mergado 2 exist? Mergado was initially designed to meet the needs of advertising on comparison shopping and search engines. You can find a detailed account of how this journey took place on the web in [Our Story](https://www.mergado.com/our-story). For the purpose of understanding the existence of the new version, the following information is essential for us - **some technical solutions and user requirements could no longer be applied to the previous version**. For this reason, we have decided that Mergado Editor will start processing data according to [XML](https://forum.mergado.cz/t/elementy/2098#element-v-mergado-editoru-4), thus opening the way to becoming a general data editor. ## History of Mergado 2 At the beginning was the idea of **processing data according to XML**. This already entailed initial explorations and searches for modification possibilities. However, individual modifications would have been too costly and inefficient, so we decided to **rebuild the entire core** and change virtually all components of the Mergado Editor. The entire Mergado development team was involved in the project. Gradually, other teams joined in and helped to test the beta version of Mergado 2. An important milestone for us was the beginning of 2022, when we published the **first version of Mergado 2** to the [Insiders group](https://forum.mergado.com/t/who-are-insiders/768). Subsequently, testing was conducted in this closed group. Once we began to be confident that the Editor was ready for a wider group of users, we announced the possibility of starting the project on a new version. Currently, **all new projects are on the new version** and the remaining projects are awaiting conversion. > 💡 Insiders was a close group of selected users we worked with. They helped us test all the changes and were working with us on the maintenance of Mergado 2. The group was merged into the [MERGADO Research Group](https://mergado.cz/research-group). ## Converting projects to Mergado 2 ### How to convert projects in Mergado Editor? In the _Settings_ - _General Settings_ section you will find **2 new buttons** used for conversion: ![Snímek obrazovky z 2023-05-30 12-30-26](https://forum.mergado.com/uploads/default/original/1X/879b7bb2a8205fafccd2af372cdcb7ed798f833b.png) These will be used to **either create a new** project on Mergado 2 that is a duplicate of your current one but is in Mergado 2, **or to convert an existing** project. We recommend that you convert the project by **duplicating** it and then checking the duplicate! If it is ok, you can delete it and convert the original project. > ⚠  The change can also be done **backwards** : Mergado 2 → Mergado 1. However, in this case you must not add any selection, rule or make any manual change to the converted project to get a 100% return. > ⚠  Duplication **does not copy applications**! > ⚠  Duplicated project **counts towards billing** , so we recommend making the change before billing. > ⚠  Conversion in the Editor will be available until all projects have been converted. ## Apps All apps from the [MERGADO Store](https://store.mergado.com/) are ready to fully utilize Mergado 2. The way they are used or their functions will not change. ## Differences Mergado 1 vs Mergado 2 Mergado 1 had many advantages, but the technical solution no longer suited the user requirements and further extension possibilities. Below is a **basic comparison of the main differences** between Mergado 1 and Mergado 2. | | Mergado 1 | Mergado 2 | | --- | --- | --- | | Processing | Table (old core) | Tree (new core) | | Upload arbitrary format | No (~yes, but very complicated) | Yes | | Correct XML processing | No | Yes | | Element can have | 1 value | Infinite values | | Inserting an empty value | No | Yes | | Resolution [parent → child](https://forum.mergado.com/t/nestedness/748#children-and-parents-4) (element) | No | Yes | | Working with [attributes](https://forum.mergado.com/t/attributes-in-elements/676) | No | Yes | | Element ordering | | No | | Wrapping an element in [CDATA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDATA) | No | Yes | | User Interface (UI) | Old | Customized tree, updated | | UI - [Elements page](https://forum.mergado.com/t/mergado-2-elements/586) | Old | Improved | | UI - [Products page](https://forum.mergado.com/t/mergado-2-the-products-page/587) - Elements view | Old | Improved | | UI - Products page - Table view | Old | Improved | | UI - semantics (specifying what type of element it is) | No | Yes | | Availability Feeds | No | Yes | | Variants | No (~yes, but complicated) | Yes | | New functions | No | Yes | | New formats | No | Yes | | Unified converter | No | Yes | | Simple specification and format changes | No | Yes | ### Data processing: Table vs. Tree The main difference between table and tree processing is the way the data is organized. A table has fixed columns and rows. A tree has a hierarchical structure, such as file systems. Data is organized into nodes, which branch into subnodes and so on. This type of structure allows for easy navigation and retrieval of data. ![](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/czib4FoA23IoWv8QxEEurLLBIE3WaD9aoxpgM_zjMBbOkI3AGw5ogLZp3v1PGpgHU6DtRXsCDrTwR8HKA2p_V0LEYMGBDNakitE3af1FT2CiDzpxyjYS4KrBEVIb3AulPL7dKPmAgrK7Rm-pbYt2Qsc) Mergado 1 was based on a spreadsheet structure. Mergado 2 is based on a tree structure. The **table was limiting in many ways**. Most of the more complex integrations could not be linked, we couldn’t work with the element as a unit itself (order, wrapping in CDATA,…), the element could only take on one value, we didn’t distinguish children for [multi-valued elements](https://forum.mergado.com/t/what-is-a-multi-value-element/589), didn’t work with empty values, and couldn’t handle variants for more complex integrations. **Mergado 2 addresses this by adding new, useful features** and opens up possibilities that are now fully in your hands. ### Differences from a UI perspective The user interface is **improved for all** users. The environment now conforms to [XML](https://forum.mergado.cz/t/elementy/2098#element-v-mergado-editoru-4) (tree structure) and is **clearer**. Complex and data-intensive feeds can be **solved more conveniently**. The main changes are as follows: #### 1. The [Elements page](https://forum.mergado.com/t/mergado-2-elements/586) now allows: - managing element nesting - filtering in attributes and elements - wrapping in CDATA - sorting of elements - labeling of matching elements ![Snímek obrazovky z 2023-05-30 12-35-23](https://forum.mergado.com/uploads/default/original/1X/9024d5b5c3458243b39faf809d5a5f81b5b1a6e5.png) #### 2. [Products page](https://forum.mergado.com/t/mergado-2-the-products-page/587) contains: - new display in the _Elements_ tab ![](https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/0Z8kzWXTrfM-FHXjlV80gydkaiI_6ZmuL_k2Qq2XjqepWHaqzTonlUzejM0DdSUYI4gQLSitnFhcPjIWJAX_yy48PpAOm-9A3g6oKWQb9aNFtQRgUZ4ibZQqjG0MvFgahjq9ICDIRHuQler30rCCRQ0) #### 3. On the Products page - improved [table view](https://forum.mergado.com/t/mergado-2-the-products-page/587#woman_teacher20x20httpslh5googleusercontentcomr31jvjkvejubeua9m6nz3auahyq_mmorwo8p54z-e_qmesopalssrxtfxi4puc4yjd_w9zbsawjyqwvkeruuf69lz51zv9vmtgv0vwkhw4poh5ou8pllzwfpkvyzrs3omfvmhlxqs_bs2t-hhlixm7d-26c0hlx584itimxdk3k2a1-dzgvrfhopaq-woman_teacher-2-table-view-4): - Creating custom element groups - Display input and output values - Display multiple values ![](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/KECjMhTW_lT4_Qbgc2_9F5GvgbCXiw7yxuxPwph8lTZzigZLeDnPXCrWqNaLCDBvmIHsteA21xMDl6xQ0tU8BS6wXD8Y3WQjD6LplU9jS0MoR0pJGMvd2_W2QdZKNt36ScS0KISYnn0UV2KQnc1n8tI) ### Differences in terms of use-cases Most of the basic elements have remained the same. In some cases **we have extended their possibilities**. This has led to modifications in some use-cases. For a better understanding, we have prepared the following posts: - [What is XML?](https://forum.mergado.cz/t/elementy/2098#element-v-mergado-editoru-4) - [How do we perceive elements now?](https://forum.mergado.cz/t/elementy/2098#element-v-mergado-editoru-4) - [Basic working with elements](https://forum.mergado.cz/t/elementy/2098#prce-s-elementy-v-mergado-editoru-6) - [The path to an element](https://forum.mergado.com/t/element-path/753#what-is-path-to-element-2) - Working with [parameters](https://forum.mergado.cz/t/prace-s-parametry-v-mergadu-2/2249) and [deliveries](https://forum.mergado.cz/t/prace-s-dopravou-v-mergadu-2/2264) In case you are tackling **more complex ways** to use the Editor, the following posts will be useful: - [Conditions in an element or attribute path](https://forum.mergado.com/t/conditions-in-the-element-path/757) - [Element nestedness](https://forum.mergado.com/t/nestedness/748) - [What is a multi-valued element?](https://forum.mergado.com/t/what-is-a-multi-value-element/589) - [How do rules applying to multi-valued elements work?](https://forum.mergado.com/t/multi-value-elements-in-rules/765#how-rules-work-with-multiplicity-2) - [Add value to multi-.valued element rule](https://forum.mergado.com/t/the-add-a-value-to-a-multi-value-element-rule/588) - [Copying a structure using the Bulk Value Copy rule](https://forum.mergado.com/t/bulk-copy-values/535#copying-the-whole-structure-7) > 💡 Various other **tips, tutorials and user stories** can be found on our [forum](https://forum.mergado.com/). ## Summary - [What is MERGADO 2?](https://forum.mergado.com/t/what-is-mergado-2/761#what-is-mergado-2-1) Mergado 2 is a completely new and improved version of the Mergado Editor. It pushes the functionality of the previous version and opens up completely new data processing possibilities. - [Why does MERGADO 2 exist?](https://forum.mergado.com/t/what-is-mergado-2/761#why-does-mergado-2-exist-2) The original version could no longer meet the needs of our users. - [How will the conversion to MERGADO 2 work?](https://forum.mergado.com/t/what-is-mergado-2/761#converting-projects-to-mergado-2-4) You can either convert the project yourself using the button in the Editor, or you can wait for a bulk conversion of all projects. - [Differences between MERGADO 1 and MERGADO 2](https://forum.mergado.com/t/what-is-mergado-2/761#differences-mergado-1-vs-mergado-2-7) The basic difference is in the core of the tool. Mergado 1 is based on a table, the second version is based on a tree structure. All work in the Editor is then based on this. We have also slightly modified the user interface.