HikaShop 6.4.0 JSON-LD - (show_microdata.php)

Hi Nicolas.
This text is a recommendation from ChatGPT.
Attached you’ll find a .txt file that ChatGPT says fixes this “issue.”
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I’ve updated to HikaShop 6.4.0 (the version that should add productGroupID to ProductGroup and truncate/normalize the JSON-LD description to Google’s limit). However, after the update, Google Search Console (Shopping → Merchant listings) still reports:

Missing field productGroupID in the <parent_node> (ProductGroup)

Invalid string length for field description in the <parent_node>

When checking the page source, the JSON-LD ProductGroup still contains a very long description (basically the full body) and does not include productGroupID.

Root cause found:
My site has a Joomla template override at:

/templates/<template_name>/html/com_hikashop/product/show_microdata.php

This override file is marked version 5.0.4 and still generates the old JSON-LD / microdata logic, so it bypasses the updated schema output from HikaShop 6.4.0. That’s why your 6.4.0 fixes do not appear on the frontend.

Why this matters / suggested solution:
Many Joomla sites keep old overrides for years. After upgrading HikaShop, these overrides can silently keep outputting outdated structured data, causing Shopping/Merchant listing warnings again.

A practical approach is to either:

Provide a note in the release/upgrade instructions (6.4.0) warning users to check for templates/.../com_hikashop/product/show_microdata.php overrides that may block the schema fixes, and/or

Provide an updated reference version of show_microdata.php compatible with 6.4.0 (including productGroupID in ProductGroup and description normalization + truncation), so users can update their overrides safely without removing them.

If needed, I can share the exact override file content from my site and the resulting JSON-LD output for a sample product.

Thanks!

Nicolas, I attach a show_microdata file that I have tested that solves these merchant problems:
- Description field is missing
- "productGroupID" field is missing (in "<parent_node>")
- The string length of the "description" field is invalid (on "<parent_node>")
- The string length of the "description" field is invalid

You probably have a better solution, but at least I've gotten Google to validate that it's going to do the review.

Hi,

The issues you're seeing are caused by a Joomla template override of show_microdata.php from version 5.0.4. When an override exists at templates/<your_template>/html/com_hikashop/product/show_microdata.php, Joomla uses that file instead of the one shipped with HikaShop 6.4.0. So the 6.4.0 fixes for productGroupID, bestRating, and description handling are being bypassed.

The simplest and best solution is to delete the override file. Just remove templates/<your_template>/html/com_hikashop/product/show_microdata.php. HikaShop will then use the updated 6.4.0 version which already includes all the fixes for the issues Google is flagging.

The proposed file you attached is based on the old 5.0.4 code with several issues (missing author validation on reviews, incorrect bestRating calculation, old image URL handling, missing itemCondition on offers, etc.). The current 6.4.0 version handles all of these correctly.

In general, we recommend keeping view overrides to the strict minimum. Only override files where you have actual custom modifications that you need to preserve. The more overrides you have, the more likely you are to run into compatibility issues after updates. You can review all your current overrides in HikaShop backend under Display > Views.

Ok. Thanks so much.