Aaima Auto SKU Generator — Documentation

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⭐ WooCommerce Plugin v1.0.0

Aaima Auto SKU Generator

Generate WooCommerce product SKUs automatically from a pattern you design once. Sequential numbers that never collide, fifteen placeholders, variation support, and bulk generation with a full undo.

🏷️ 15 Placeholders🔢 Atomic Counter👕 Variation SKUs📦 Bulk Generate↩️ One-Click Undo🇫🇷 French Included

📑 Table of Contents

🚀 Getting Started

• System Requirements
• Installation
• Designing a Pattern
• Filling Existing Products

🏷️ Patterns

• All 15 Placeholders
• Common Formats
• Sequential vs Random
• Uniqueness Handling

👕 Variations

• Variation Placeholders
• Attribute-Based Codes
• Readable Warehouse SKUs

📦 Bulk Generation

• Two Modes
• Category Filter
• Undo
• Batch Size

🔢 The Counter

• Why It Is Atomic
• Start, Padding, Increment
• Resetting Safely

🔧 Support

• Troubleshooting
• FAQ
• Changelog

System Requirements

What the plugin needs to run

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WordPress

5.8+

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PHP

7.4+

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WooCommerce

6.0+

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Memory

128MB+

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No special requirements. On shared hosting, lower the bulk batch size if a large run stalls — 5 or 10 products per step is slower but far more reliable than 25.

Key Features

Never type a product code again

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Pattern-Based SKUs

Mix plain text with placeholders in curly brackets. Everything outside the brackets is used exactly as you typed it.

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Collision-Proof Counter

The sequential counter is incremented with a single atomic database statement, so two products saved in the same instant can never receive the same number.

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Live Preview

The settings screen shows three real examples as you build the pattern. Nothing is saved until you press Save.

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Variation Support

Variations get their own pattern built from the parent SKU, optionally using attribute values so staff can read colour and size off the label.

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Bulk Generation

Fill in a whole catalogue in batches with a live log, filtered by category if you want different prefixes per range.

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Full Undo

Every run records the previous SKU of every product it touches. One click puts them all back.

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Guaranteed Unique

If a generated code is already taken, a number is appended until it is unique — so a duplicate SKU is impossible.

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Works Everywhere

New products get a SKU whether they were added in the admin, imported from CSV, or created through the REST API.

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Safe by Default

Existing SKUs are never overwritten unless you explicitly ask for it.

Installation Guide

Two ways to install

📦 Method 1: WordPress Admin

1
Go to Plugins → Add New
2
Click Upload Plugin
3
Choose aaima-auto-sku.zip
4
Click Install Now
5
Click Activate

📁 Method 2: FTP Upload

1
Extract aaima-auto-sku.zip
2
Connect to your server via FTP/SFTP
3
Navigate to /wp-content/plugins/
4
Upload the aaima-auto-sku folder
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Activate in Plugins

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After Activation: Go to Auto SKU in the admin menu, design your pattern with the live preview, then use Bulk Generate to fill in existing products.

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Hard-refresh after uploading an update. Browsers cache plugin CSS and JavaScript. Press Ctrl+Shift+R (or Cmd+Shift+R) so you are not looking at the old version.

Setup in Three Steps

Then forget about it

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1. Design a Pattern

Watch the live preview

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2. Bulk Fill

Existing products

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3. Forget It

New products are automatic

🏷️ Building a Pattern

Plain text mixed with placeholders in curly brackets

🔢 Sequence & Identity

{number} — sequential, never repeats
{random} — random characters
{id} — the product ID
{prefix} / {suffix} — your fixed text

📁 Product Data

{category} — code from the first category
{parent_cat} — top-level parent category
{brand} — if a brand taxonomy exists
{name} — initials from the product name
{slug} — the product slug
{price} — digits only

📅 Date

{year} — four digits, e.g. 2026
{year2} — two digits, e.g. 26
{month} — 01 to 12
{day} — 01 to 31

👕 Variations Only

{parent} — the parent product SKU
{sep} — your chosen separator
{index} — 01, 02, 03 within the product
{attributes} — a code like REDLRG

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Use {number} in almost every case. It never repeats, reads in order and makes stocktaking easier. Reach for {random} only when a competitor being able to count your catalogue would actually matter.

Settings Reference

Patterns, counter and bulk options

⚙️ Behaviour

Enable automatic SKU generation	The master switch.
Fill in the SKU when a product is saved	Applies to products saved with an empty SKU.
Overwrite SKUs that already have a value	Off by default. Leave it off unless you are deliberately recoding the shop.
Generate SKUs for variations too	Variations only receive a SKU once the parent has one.
Never create a duplicate SKU	Appends a number if a code is taken. Recommended.
Force uppercase	Applies to the whole generated SKU.

🔢 The Sequential Counter

Start at	The first number issued. Set 1000 if you would rather not advertise that a product is your first.
Zero padding	Total digits. 4 gives 0001 and keeps codes the same width until you pass 9999.
Increment by	Usually 1. Larger steps leave gaps you can fill manually later.
Reset counter to	Moves the counter. Raising it is safe; lowering it can produce numbers already used, though the uniqueness check still prevents a real duplicate.

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The counter is incremented with a single atomic SQL statement. This is the part most SKU plugins get wrong — reading a value and writing it back can hand the same number to two simultaneous saves.

📦 Bulk Generation

Only products without a SKU	Completely safe. Anything already coded by hand is untouched.
All products	Replaces existing SKUs. Use when moving the whole shop to a new scheme.
Limit to category	Run one category at a time — the trick for giving each range its own prefix.
Batch size	Products processed per step. Lower it on slow hosting.
Undo last run	Restores every SKU the last run changed. Starting a new run replaces that history.

Pattern Examples

Copy one of these as a starting point

🏷️ Product Patterns

Pattern	Produces	Suits
`{prefix}{number}`	`AA-0001`	Most shops. Simple and always in order.
`{category}-{number}`	`CLO-0042`	Warehouses where the code should say what the product is.
`{category}-{year2}{month}-{number}`	`CLO-2608-0042`	Seasonal ranges, showing when a line was added.
`{brand}-{category}-{number}`	`NIKE-SHO-0007`	Resellers carrying many brands.
`{name}-{random}`	`CJP-7SZ4G2`	When codes should not reveal how many products you sell.

👕 Variation Patterns

Pattern	Produces	Notes
`{parent}{sep}{index}`	`AA-0001-01`	Simple and compact
`{parent}{sep}{attributes}`	`AA-0001-REDLRG`	Staff read colour and size straight off the label
`{parent}{sep}{id}`	`AA-0001-1284`	Guaranteed unique, but not human-readable

Troubleshooting Guide

Common issues and how to fix them

⚠️ New products are not getting a SKU

The field stays empty

Solution: Check that both "Enable automatic SKU generation" and "Fill in the SKU when a product is saved" are ticked in Settings.

❌ My existing SKUs were replaced

Hand-written codes are gone

Solution: Either "Overwrite SKUs that already have a value" is ticked, or a bulk run was made in "All products" mode. Use the Undo button on the Bulk Generate screen to restore them.

ℹ️ Some SKUs end in -2 or -3

Unexpected suffixes

Solution: That is the uniqueness check working. The pattern produced a code that was already taken. It usually means the pattern is not specific enough — add {number} to it.

ℹ️ The category placeholder is empty

A gap in the code

Solution: The product has no category assigned. Assign one, or use a pattern that does not depend on categories.

ℹ️ The brand placeholder is empty

Nothing where the brand should be

Solution: It reads a brand taxonomy, which only exists if a brands plugin is installed. Without one, use {prefix} with a fixed value.

⚠️ The bulk run stops partway

Progress bar freezes

Solution: Reduce the batch size in Settings. A network error retries automatically, but a server timeout needs a smaller batch.

ℹ️ "Save the product first"

The Generate button refuses

Solution: The product must exist in the database before a SKU can be generated for it. Save the draft, then press the button.

ℹ️ Variations did not get SKUs

Parent has one, variations do not

Solution: Tick "Generate SKUs for product variations too", and remember variations are only coded once the parent has a SKU.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions answered

Q: Will it overwrite SKUs I typed myself?

No, not unless you ask it to. The default only fills empty SKU fields, and the bulk generator defaults to "only products without a SKU".

Q: Can different categories have different prefixes?

Yes. Use the category filter in the bulk generator: set the pattern to CLO-{number}, run it on Clothing, then change the pattern and run it on the next category.

Q: What happens if two products are saved at the same moment?

They receive different numbers. The counter uses a single atomic database statement rather than reading a value and writing it back, which is where most plugins produce duplicates.

Q: Can I undo a bulk run?

Yes. Every run records the previous SKU of every product it touched, and one click restores them. Starting a new run replaces that history, so check the result before running again.

Q: Does it work with CSV imports?

Yes. Products created by import, by the REST API, or in the admin all receive a SKU on save.

Q: Can I continue numbering from my old system?

Yes. Set "Start at" to one above your last existing number and match the prefix.

Q: Should I use sequential or random codes?

Sequential in almost every case — it never repeats, reads in order and makes stocktaking easier. Random only matters if you would rather competitors could not count your catalogue.

Q: Is it translated?

Yes, a complete French translation is included, using the standard WooCommerce term UGS.

Changelog

Version history

v1.0.0 — Initial Release

Pattern-based SKU generation with 15 placeholders
Atomic sequential counter that cannot produce duplicates
Live preview showing three real examples as you type
Variation patterns with {parent}, {sep}, {index} and {attributes}
Bulk generation with category filter, live log and batch control
Full undo restoring previous SKUs from a single run
Uniqueness enforcement with automatic suffixing
Generate SKU button on the product edit screen
Complete French translation and built-in Help page

Support & Updates

6 Months Support

Via ThemeForest comments or support email. We reply within 24-48 hours on business days.

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Free Lifetime Updates

All future updates are free, and included in the Aaima theme update package.

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Built-in Help

Every screen of this plugin has a Help tab covering setup and troubleshooting, so the answer is always to hand.

Need Help?

Get support via ThemeForest comments or contact us directly

📧 Contact Support 📖 View Full Docs