---
title: More reliable Shopify collection rule imports
date: 2026-08-18
description: Fixes for collection imports that could silently change rule logic or drop source data, plus a working published status export filter.
tags: ["Smart Collections","Manual Collections","Imports"]
categories: ["Changelog"]
url: https://www.getaltera.com/changelog/2026-08-18-collections-import-rule-fixes/
---


We've fixed a group of issues in the Collections import that could quietly change how a collection's rules behave, especially in hand-edited files. Exports and re-imports of exported files were not affected.

---

### Fixes

- **Source column detection** - a Collections file with a `Source` column and legacy rule columns now imports as a Collections file instead of dropping the `Source` data.
- **Must Match on edits** - a blank `Must Match` cell keeps an existing source's matching logic instead of resetting it to all conditions ([field reference](../reference/collections.md#sources-must-match)).
- **Status relations** - `Status` rules now follow `Rule: Relation`, so `Not Equals` works, and unsupported relations are skipped with a warning.
- **Exclude rules** - exclude rules match any condition, independent of `Must Match`, so multiple exclusions no longer have to all match at once.
- **Published status filter** - the collections export filter now sends the search field Shopify supports, so published and unpublished return the right collections ([export filters](../reference/collections.md#export-filters)).

### Heads-up

- **Published status scope** - Shopify decides a collection's published status by the Online Store channel only, so collections published to other channels but not the Online Store count as unpublished.