# Import

## Summary

If you create or modify elements such as the [Thesaurus](/docs/discovery/search-term-rules/thesaurus.md) or [Ranking Rules](/docs/discovery/ranking-rules.md), you must re-import product data so your changes take effect in the search index. You can start an import for a single channel or for all channels.

> Please note that an import may take significant time (especially for Suggest or a considerable amount of Recommendation data). For this reason, single-channel imports should be preferred in most cases.

In some cases you may also need to re-import **Suggest** or **Recommendation** data. For **Suggest**, re-import whenever **Suggest settings** or the **Suggest import** configuration change. This includes any changes to the **blacklist** and/or **whitelist**.

If you use the **Recommendation Engine**, re-import whenever the matrix is modified or a new matrix is added. FactFinder generates the new relationships and makes them available only after the data is imported.

If you select **Product import from source file**, FactFinder downloads the configured source file and loads it into the staging database, then rebuilds the search index. If you leave this option unchecked, only a re-import from the staging database to the search index is performed.

* [How to optimize your data feed](/docs/import/ff-search-integration-how-to-optimize-your-datafeed.md)
* [Product data export](/docs/import/product-data-export.md)
* [Product data import](/docs/import/product-data-import.md)
* [Manual import: Product data](/docs/import/manual-import-product-data.md)
* [Configuring product data import](/docs/import/configuring-product-data-import.md)
* [Selecting Suggest, product and search data](/docs/import/selecting-suggest-product-and-search-data.md)

## Product data import

For FactFinder NG to run search queries, it needs a search index built from your product data. Once the product data has been imported, NG generates the associated search index automatically; users can then carry out search queries.

> Changes to your product data are only available to FactFinder after a re-import.\
> To refresh your search index outside the normal update interval, start a [manual data import](/docs/import/manual-import-product-data.md).


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