E-Commerce Help / Instructions

How to add / delete / modify products

Manage Products using E-Commerce Manager (Cart)

0.) Gather product info OFFLINE using MS Excel (maybe MS Word for the descriptions, and keep photos separate), and of course review, proof and spell check before you add or modify products using this system.

Product info should include (if applicable to your products/store):

- Category
- SKU Number
- Manufacturer
- Product Name
- Short Description
- Long Description
- Photo(s) (can be thumb / large / or both same)
- Condition (ie new / used / percentage / etc.)
- Retail Price
- Discount Price (if any)
- Product Type (Physical / Download / Service)
- Taxable / Non-taxable
- Weight
- Options (if any)(ie. Color / Size / Style / etc.)(Options cannot vary price.)
- Inventory Quantity
- Payment Methods (ie. PayPal / Merchant Acct / etc.)
- Shipping Methods (ie. USPS / UPS / Fedex / etc.)
- Featured Products (if any)
- Keywords (if applicable)
- Related Products (if this thorough)

Cataloging method can be quite involved, so please consult with the designer to ensure the website is structured appropriately.

With the product(s) prepared we upload it...

Especially if hundreds of products, it's far more efficient for the designer to IMPORT the products database all at once.

However, of course products can be uploaded one by one...

Please note the preferred browser for this programming is Firefox (Mozilla Firefox), and this will have best results. A free download, and a good browser.

Please note also that it is recommended to use 2 DIFFERENT browsers;
one to login to the /TOOLS/ (ie. Firefox), and the other to review the changes (ie. IE, etc.).

If viewing the front-end website, while at the same time logged into the /TOOLS/ back-end interface, the browser operates like the Visual Editor, and gives unexpected results for viewing.

Or simply LOG OUT of the /TOOLS/ before viewing the front-end website.

1.) For /TOOLS/ go to www.[YourDomain].com/tools
It drops you into the 3.0 admin tools.
Login with username/passwd provided you.

2.) Click into SHOPPING MANAGER, then PRODUCTS, CART AND CHECKOUT.

3.) (If needed) Click open the YELLOW FOLDER icon, this reveals the sub-Products within that Product ("child" Products under its "Parent" Product).

1.) For the target Product, click open the "V" menu and go to EDITING FORM.
The editing form opens in the right window.

2.) Please DO NOT CHANGE the TEMPLATE on a Product (top pull-down). The Templates control how the Product is displayed on the front-end website, and if the wrong Template, Product may not display correctly to the viewer.

3.) Modify and fill in all appropriate fields for that Product.

a. Typically TITLE is the short version of the PRODUCT NAME. Try to keep these short.

b. Typically HEADING (or PRODUCT NAME) is either the same as the Title, or the longer version.

c. SUMMARY (or SHORT DESCRIPTION) is a brief shortened version of the Product DESCRIPTION. Does not offer paragraph breaks, etc.
Copy/paste the text in from Excel or MS Word (however, double check the final display as MS Word inserts special characters not read by the browser such as quotes ("), etc.).

d. DESCRIPTION (or LONG DESCRIPTION) can be as long as needed. Copy/paste the text in from Excel or MS Word (however, double check the final display as MS Word inserts special characters not read by the browser such as quotes ("), etc.). If paragraph breaks are not working, use the Advanced tab and select PLAIN.

e. Within the DESCRIPTION (or LONG DESCRIPTION) there can be HTML code, offering a lot of formatting possibilities and things like inserting IMAGES, and even 3rd Party CODE such as embedded VIDEOS, etc.
See more info in the ADVANCED CMS HELP.
(NO IFRAME code is permitted.)

f. IMAGE (or PRODUCT PHOTO) becomes automatically sized down to fit the website, preset by the designer. Click to choose and upload the IMAGE, also using the help box at the upper right.

4.) SAVE the Product.

5.) Using other TABS offers even more options.
(Basic / Publish / Modules / Pricing / Search / Advanced / Access)

6.) Click the PUBLISH tab and select ALWAYS to make your Product live and open to the public for viewing.
Products can be published by DATE if desired.

7.) SAVE the Product.

8.) Click the PRICING tab and enter the other Product info.
Items with asterix (*) are necessary to the proper workings of the store.

a. *ITEM CODE is the SKU # or unique product code.

b. *PRICE is the RETAIL PRICE (ie. $100)

c. PRICE NOTE (ie. "each" or "per 100", etc.)
(may not display if not programmed into your page.)

d. RECURRING PRICE (ie. $25 per month)(if applicable)

e. DISC. PRICE (ie. $80)
Please note that this field will override Discount Promotions such as Discount Code, etc..

f. DISC. QUANTITY (ie. 10)
Meaning ten or more to get the discounted price above.

g. *PRODUCT TYPE (select Physical / Downloadable / Service)

h. *TAXABLE (yes or no)
Services for example are not taxable.

i. NON TAXABLE AMOUNT (ie. $30)
Where a portion of the total Product is non-taxable.

j. *WEIGHT (ie. 5)(units in Lbs)

k. PACKAGE WEIGHTS (ie 1) - if package adds separate weight.

l. CUSTOM SHIPPING COST (ie. $10)
Please note this overrides normal shipping costs.

m. OPTIONS (ie. Blue,Green,Yellow) or (Small,Med,Large) etc.

n. AVAILABILITY (select In stock / Out of Stock / Backordered)

o. *MANAGE INVENTORY (yes or no)

p. QUANTITY AVAILABLE (ie. 100)
Meaning how many on hand in stock.

q. *MANUFACTURER (select)
Mfg's are entered separately under OTHER CONTACTS.

9.) SAVE the Product.

10.) Click the ADVANCED tab and to SORT your Product in sequence with others in the SORT NAME field, enter either a number (ie. 001, 002, 003, etc.) or a letter (ie. A, B, C, etc.).

Please note that if you want to SORT Products in a given section of the website, ALL Products in that section must have an entry in the SORT NAME field. Otherwise Products without an entry will float to the top of the sequence.

11.) SAVE the Product.

12.) Click the SEARCH tab to insert KEYWORDS and DESCRIPTIONS into a Product to better attract and improve listings on Search Engines.
Try not to insert too many Keywords, as this will be regarded by the Search Engines as spam.

13.) SAVE the Product.

14.) Click the ACCESS tab to control and limit the access of a given Product from certain users/viewers.
Please note this is an advanced function, and could prevent viewers from seeing the website correctly. Please consult the designer for more info on how to use this functionality.

15.) SAVE the Product.

Please note that we DO NOT recommend using the Visual Editor or the "Browse and Edit" function to make Product modifications.

Although the Visual Editor works well, and is often very convenient for making changes and working in a visual environment to see the changes made, the down-side is that it uses and inserts certain html code that sometimes conflicts with the overall code used to create the website originally. It also may lessen the overall Search Engine Optimization the designer constructed into the original website, lowering Search Engine listings.

For these reasons, we recommend you favor the EDITING FORM over the Visual Editor.

1.) Click the LINK of THAT Product in the list of Products.
That brings up the Product in the Visual Editor in the right window.

2.) Modify and fill in all appropriate fields for that Product.

a. Click on the PRODUCT NAME to make a change.
With the field "active" you see the little YELLOW MENU above the field, giving you options for formatting. Not usually needed on the PRODUCT NAME field.
Click SAVE on the yellow menu bar.

b. Click on the DESCRIPTION to make a change.
With the field "active" you see the little YELLOW MENU above the field, giving you options for formatting. Click and drag to SELECT the text for which you want to FORMAT.

Select:
- B for bold
- I for italic
- U for Underline (not recommended in any website)
- FONT to change type style
- SIZE to change font size
- COLOR to change text color
- LINK to insert a link (then click OK)
- IMAGE to insert a floating image (not the main image)

Copy/paste the text in from Excel or MS Word (however, double check the final display as MS Word inserts special characters not read by the browser such as quotes (""), etc.).

When done, click SAVE on the yellow menu bar.

i. Within the DESCRIPTION there can be HTML code, offering a lot of possibilities like 3rd Party CODE such as embedded VIDEOS, etc. See more info in the ADVANCED CMS HELP.
(NO IFRAME code is permitted.)

j. Click on the IMAGE (PRODUCT PHOTO) to make a change. (This is the "main image" as opposed to flown-in images covered above.)
With the field "active" you see the little YELLOW MENU above the field. Browse to choose an image, and once uploaded, then click CONFIRM.
The image becomes automatically sized down to fit the website, preset by the designer.

3.) SAVE the Product using the yellow button upper left.

1.) For the target Product, click open the "V" menu and go to DELETE.

1.) For the target Product, click open the "V" menu and go to MOVE.

2.) Click on the new "PARENT" Category, under which the target Product will be moved.

Just in case the designer/developer has not entered all categories, or if the website is automated enough to self-list Categories as added, you may add more yourself.

1.) Click "V" menu of PRODUCTS the top of the tree (or the "PARENT" Category, under which the NEW target Sub-Category will be added), and select ADD.

2.) The system creates a generic new Category and offers the TITLE "New Item."

3.) Change the tmp TITLE from "New Item" to the correct TITLE for that new Category. Then click the little "x" to the left, or simple hit the enter key on your keyboard.

4.) Click open the "V" menu and go to EDITING FORM.
The editing form opens in the right window.

5.) IMPORTANT - if needed, CHANGE the TEMPLATE (top pull-down) on the new Category to the Category Template. The Templates control how the Product is displayed on the front-end website, and if the wrong Template, Product may not display correctly to the viewer.

6.) Follow the steps above to MODIFY the new Product, and fill in all appropriate fields for that Product.

Please note that it is recommend using the Products, Cart And Checkout tree view to ADD a new Product, over the Add Web Product wizard built into the programming.

0.) Gather product info OFFLINE using MS Excel (maybe MS Word for the descriptions, and keep photos separate), and of course review, proof and spell check.

1.) Click "V" menu for the "PARENT" Category, under which the NEW target Product will be added, and select ADD.

2.) The system creates a generic new Product and offers the TITLE "New Item."

3.) Change the tmp TITLE from "New Item" to the correct TITLE for that new Product. Then click the little "x" to the left, or simple hit the enter key on your keyboard.

4.) Click open the "V" menu and go to EDITING FORM.
The editing form opens in the right window.

5.) IMPORTANT - if needed, CHANGE the TEMPLATE (top pull-down) on the new Product to the Product Detail Template. The Templates control how the Product is displayed on the front-end website, and if the wrong Template, Product may not display correctly to the viewer.

Follow the steps above to MODIFY the new Product, and fill in all appropriate fields for that Product.

0.) Once you've modified or added a Product as above, review the Product to ensure all looks correct.

1.) It's handy to preview the Product by simply clicking the LINK of THAT PRODUCT in the list of Products (in the Products, Cart And Checkout tree view).

That brings up the Product in the Visual Editor (which you do NOT want to use to make edits) which here acts as a browser, and gives a quick preview of the Product.

Review the Product top to bottom and ensure all looks good.

2.) However, the real test is in your local browser once you have LOGGED OUT of the /TOOLS/ back-end interface.

Again review the Product top to bottom and ensure all looks good, and that ALL LINKS WORK and arrive to correct locations.

End.

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