StoreReflect Initialization Sync

In order to link your stores together and get all setup, you will need to complete a one-time initialization sync. THIS INITIALIZATION SYNC CANNOT BE REVERSED! Before beginning this process or moving forward on the setup, we highly recommend you have one of your stores as perfect as you can possibly make it – this will be your “source of truth”.

The initialization sync is a one-time sync going from a source environment to a target environment. The goal is to have your “source of truth” overwrite your target environment. Then, both environments will be the exact same and you can begin using StoreReflect as it was intended. For example, you can then use one environment as your staging environment and one as your production environment. Make changes in staging and sync them up to production when you are ready.

Please follow the directions below in order to setup StoreReflect.

1. Make sure you completed the installation process for both stores you would like to setup. If you have not done this yet, please follow the directions for that in the StoreReflect Installation section.
2. Navigate to https://login.bigcommerce.com/login.
3. Log in to BigCommerce with your credentials. Then, select one of the stores you want to setup.
4. On the left side of the screen, select the Apps tab.
   *Please note that if you do not see a list of options on the left side of your screen then the menu is collapsed. You’ll need to click the double arrow icon under the BigCommerce logo in order to expand it.
5. Once the Apps tab is clicked you are redirected to the BigCommerce marketplace home page. Click on the StoreReflect app.
6. You’ll then be redirected to the StoreReflect Dashboard.
7. Scroll down to Step 1 where it states, “Are you a new StoreReflect customer?”. Then, click the orange CONTINUE button under the section that reads, “Yes, I’m a new customer and this is my first StoreReflect install”.
   
   
8. After clicking the CONTINUE button, you’ll get sent to Step 2 which asks you for some basic information about your store such as your store’s name, billing first name, and more. We find it helpful to have “Production” and “Staging” used in our store names – you can name yours whatever you would like though. Fill out all the information and then click the orange NEXT button.
   
   
9. After clicking NEXT, you will be sent to Step 3. Simply fill out your billing address, check the box that states you agree to the terms and conditions, and click the orange NEXT button.
   
   
10. After clicking NEXT, you will be sent to Step 4. This is where you complete your setup using the StoreReflect key that was just created for you. To see it, you may need to scroll down or you can view it on the Account Details tab. Copy the key by clicking the icon next to the text input. Keep this readily available for the rest of this setup. When we were setting up our stores, we copy and pasted the key into a text editor for quick access. Keep this tab open for the duration of this setup process.
    
    
11. Now, you will either need to open a new incognito tab or open a separate browser so we can begin to connect the two stores.
12. In your incognito tab/new browser, go to https://login.bigcommerce.com/login.
13. Login to the second store that you want to connect to the first store.
14. On the left side of the screen, select the Apps tab.
15. Click on the StoreReflect app to open it.
16. Scroll down on the dashboard to Step 1. Your first store’s StoreReflect key will need to be pasted into the input under the section that reads, “I’ve already set up StoreReflect on another store and I have my StoreReflect Key”. Once you paste your key into the input, click the orange ADD THIS STORE button.
    
    
17. After that, you’ll be sent to a page where you are asked to name this store. Again, we find it helpful to have “Production” and “Staging” used in our store names – you can name yours whatever you would like though. Go ahead and give your store a name and then click the orange CONFIRM button.
    
    
18. Go back to the first store’s tab that should still be open from step 10.
19. Click on the Account Details tab and scroll to the bottom.
20. You should now see the second store there along with an orange ACTIVATE button. Click on that button.
    
    
21. Refresh your page. The statuses of both stores should now have an “Active” state.
    
    
22. We are now ready to begin the initialization sync. To begin this process, click on the My Sync Jobs tab.
23. Click on the orange START NEW CONTENT PUBLICATION button.
    
    
24. Type in “Initialization Sync” as the job description (this can be named anything but naming it this will help you for your records), keep the conflict resolution as the first radio button, and choose what environment you would like to use as the source environment and which environment you would like to use as the target environment for your initialization sync. Your source environment should be your “source of truth” as alluded to in the introduction of this section. Then, click the SELECT CONTENT button.
    
    
25. Make sure that your “source of truth” is your source environment and the store you want to overwrite with that “source of truth’s” data is selected as the target environment. In our example, we had setup our store labeled as “StoreReflect Production” as perfect as possible and so that was our “source of truth”. We want that store to overwrite our “StoreReflect Stagaing” store. Please note: THIS STEP CANNOT BE REVERSED. Ensure you have selected the proper stores as their proper environments for this sync. Then, go ahead and click the orange REVIEW SYNC button.
    
    
26. This is the final screen before the sync happens. Again, ensure you have selected the proper stores as their proper environments for this sync. If something needs to be changed you can click the EDIT JOB SETTINGS button. If everything is good, click the orange RUN JOB button. The amount of time this sync takes depends on how many items/subitems you have in your store.
    
    
27. Once your sync is done running, you should see a screen that tells you how many completed tasks there were along with a “The sync has completed!” message. Your two environments will now be the exact same. Congrats! – Your one-time initialization sync is done and your stores are now connected. You can begin running syncs, backups, and restorations whenever you want.