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I had so many issues at one point because I had ~12,000 products (+20,000 products now), that I was forced into learning the ins and outs of how the content database worked. Too much trial and error since there was no real documentation at the time, so I learned the tricks with deleting products, etc. I've probably reset my content database a couple hundred times over the last few years, due to all the cleanup I have done. So, cleanup 100 products, delete products from the content database products list, and then re-import to make sure the smart content is working how I want it, reset the database and reimport all 20k products, rinse, repeat. When I'm creating my own metadata for products from other stores, I usually reset the database, create the metadata, reset again, install my newly created packages with the metadata through DIM to make sure everything is working correctly, then reimport all 20k products once I've verified the new products are working correctly. As I have done such massive cleanup, even with the 20k products and millions of items in those products, it takes usually less than 1 hour to reimport all 20k products. Getting all the products to list on the reimport metadata screen, since I'm using an USB3 external drive, takes approximately 5 minutes and most products individually reimport in only a few seconds. DIM, for me, unfortunately can take some time to load up, even offline, because I have so many products in it (+20k installed and ~4500 hidden from installation) which is why I rarely like to reinstall an entire package unless I have no other choice. If you don't have near as many products and have a slow reimport of all the metadata, I would suggest looking at the Daz log (for metadata errors) and Lost and Found as those are usually the culprits for slow reimports. A slow load up of the reimport metadata screen in content database maintenance where all the products are listed for you to reimport, is usually because the hard drive is not being responsive--maybe look at a SSD or an USB3 external drive if you system supports USB3, or if a process/program is hogging your disk drive utilization.
I usually go back to add the *.dsa, *.dsx, and *.jpg SupportAsset lines on any support files or products I fix or add as well, because as you said, it can't hurt. Unfortunately, though, if people aren't used to editing the support .dsx files and adding such lines or forcing the content database editor to add the files (right-click in the file list section of the Content Database editer and select Add from Directory...), then it can be daunting and they might decide it is too complicated as they may break something permanently if they do something wrong. As this thread was started by those not familiar with fixing smart content, I was just giving an easier option so people don't look at it and figuratively throw up their hands (as poster did above
) and say they may try it someday...when they have time...maybe 
. Fixing just one line is easier than telling them to add 2-3 more on top of the one line when to fix the issue really only requires the one line to be fixed. Once they get comfortable with editing the support file, they can add more lines (and to reassure everybody, even if you break the file, you can just delete it, reinstall the product through DIM, and have the support file back quickly which hopefully should give some peace of mind that it isn't like messing with a system file in a system folder that could break things beyond repair).
I also have the "Sync Product and Local Database" unchecked so I can save out clean support files. I mostly use this for badly messed up products (such as shader packages that have many sub-category/folders that are needed to figure out steps in the shader creation, etc., but whoever at Daz that created the metadata decided not to categorize the product as a set or separate out those folders as sub-categories), for those products that show up in Lost and Found, or for those products that show up in the Daz log as having problems. Otherwise, I do most of my cleanup with Notepad++, do a mass replace of categories, content type (DAZ, seriously now, how hard is it to set Iray Materials to "Preset/Materials/MDL" not "Preset/Materials" or Iray Shaders to "Preset/Shader/MDL" not "Preset/Shader" or any Footwear to "Follower/Wardrobe/Footwear" not "Follower/Wardrobe/Shoes", etc.--and don't get me started on Daz's inability to figure out whether Eyebrows should be categorized as Anatomy or Hair in their Pro Bundles products in the same Bundle no less), and missing/wrong compatibilities (Genesis 8/Female when it should be Genesis 8/Male). A lot easier to fix a bunch of wrong categories or content type with a global search and replace in multiple support files and reimport them than doing it one product at a time in the content database editor. Also, all of my custom categories are not in the /Default category tree structure so it is easier to do the cleanup in Notepad++, changing the /Default categories to my custom categories using the search/replace in all files option.
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If you use a Windows computer, I would suggest using Notepad++ (may have to download the open source application) as the editor for the .dsx support files as it displays the xml file in a fairly intuitive way with colors and levels, etc., which makes figuring out where to edit easier. The basic Notepad that comes with Windows isn't a very good option for this as it doesn't display the files very cleanly.
If anybody wants a more in depth discussion/guide on some of this, let me know and I will see what I can do to help out as I know how frustrating these smart content issues can be.
Notepad++ and I are old friends. DIM is a constant companion. Content Package Assist is a click away for third party products, or those really messed up files that need some serious repackaging. I keep my Custom Categories separate from the Default Categories (but not in the metadata files), and I have categorized everything from Day 1. I spent *mumble, mumble* years tinkering with the library just to be able to get to stuff. I was spending too much time trying to find things, that I didn't want to play with it anymore once I did. Now everything gets categorized when it is installed, no exceptions.
DELETE
I do have that a lot lately. The thumbnail is available, but not shown at all. Sometimes, this coincides with 100% messed up metadata, sometimes not. Weird. I think that DAZ support is so occupied in fire fighting the store that this is not very high on their priority list.