Rule: Strip HTML Tags#

This rule removes HTML tags from the content of an element.

Extra features#

None

Practical examples#

Example 1: Remove HTML tags from product descriptions#

For example: ,  , 

1. Creating a new rule:

Open the “Rules” page.
Click the New rule button.

2. Selecting the rule type:

In the Rule type field, select the Strip HTML Tags option.

3. Selecting products:

In the Query field, choose either All products or create your own Product query for specific products you want the rule to apply to.

4. Choosing the element to change:

In the Element field, select the element you want to modify.
- In our case, this will be the product description (description)

5. Naming the rule:

In the last step, enter the rule name, for example “Remove HTML tags from description element”.

FAQ#

What is the Strip HTML Tags rule for?#

This rule removes all HTML tags from the content of the selected element, such as ,  , , <a>, etc. It is most commonly used for:

cleaning product descriptions before export,
preparing texts for platforms that do not support HTML (e.g., Google Merchant Center),
unifying content for export to simple CSV or XML feeds without formatting.

What exactly is removed from the text?#

All HTML tags including their attributes are removed, e.g.:

New collection -- free shipping! ➡ Result: New collection -- free shipping!

The rule does not remove text content, only the tags.

Are HTML entities like `&nbsp` or & also removed?#

No. The rule removes only HTML tags. Entities like   (non-breaking space), & (ampersand), or € (euro symbol) are preserved. 💡 If you want to remove or replace them, use the Find and replace rule afterward.

Can the rule be applied to elements other than product descriptions?#

Yes. You can apply it to any text element, for example:

g:title – if HTML tags have crept into product names,
custom_label_0 – if it contains formatted text,
or even g:product_type, if it was imported from an HTML source.

Does removing HTML tags affect the XML feed structure?#

No. The rule works only with element content, not with its structure. Your XML remains valid – Mergado never removes the XML elements themselves, only HTML code stored in their text.

Can the rule be applied to only some products?#

Yes. In the “Query” field, you can choose All products or only a specific Product query (for example, only products from a certain category or supplier).

Can the rule damage text (e.g., remove something that is not HTML)?#

No. The rule recognizes actual HTML tags by their syntax (<tag>...</tag>). It will not delete text that merely contains the characters < or > without a closed HTML pair.

Can the rule be combined with other text cleaning rules?#

Yes – this is actually the recommended approach. After removing HTML tags, you can use:

Find and replace – for removing entities like  ,
Remove diacritics – for preparing data without accents,
Truncate value – if you need to limit text length after cleaning.

How do I check if the rule worked correctly?#

After saving and applying the rules or after regenerating the feed, check the result:

in the product preview, or
using the Rule walkthrough feature, where you can see exactly how HTML tags were removed from the specific element.