The catalog
The catalog is the list of everything the sites can sell: products, the categories they sit in, their brands and certifications, and the options they come in. There is one catalog for all the sites. Which of it each site carries is decided by that site’s content rules, and a site can use its own wording for much of it (see per-site wording).
Most of it is under Catalog in the admin menu.
| Menu | What is there | Page |
|---|---|---|
| Catalog > Products | Every product: its text, variants, photos, prices and branding | Products |
| Catalog > Product Categories | The category tree, category pages and their texts | Categories |
| Catalog > Brands | Who makes the products, and their logos | Brands and certifications |
| Catalog > Certifications | Certifications, audits and compliance products state | Brands and certifications |
| Catalog > Product Options | The ways products vary (Colour, Size) and their values | Variants and options |
| Configuration > Catalog > Search Synonyms | Words the site search treats as the same | Search |
| System > Custom Fields | Extra fields for products and other records | Custom fields |
Configuration is itself under System in the menu. Feeds, naming rules and photo rules are covered under Suppliers.
Who can use it
Section titled “Who can use it”The catalog needs the Catalog editor or Manager role (or Super admin). Sales reps and accounts staff don’t see these screens. System > Custom Fields is different: it needs Manager or Super admin, so a catalog editor can fill in a product’s custom fields but cannot define new ones. See roles.
Two kinds of product
Section titled “Two kinds of product”Every product is one of two kinds, and it changes what you can edit.
| Entered here | From a supplier’s feed | |
|---|---|---|
| How it arrives | New Product on the Products list, or imported from the old system | Added to the catalog from a feed |
| Variants | You set them up | Follow the feed; you can hide, reorder and adjust the price of them |
| Prices | A price grid you type in | Worked out from the supplier’s costs and a margin |
| Branding | Described by the price grid’s rows | From the supplier’s data, the mappings and the branding rules |
| Staying up to date | Only when you edit it | The sync keeps it up to date |
The From filter on the Products list shows which is which: Entered here, or a feed’s name.
What a site shows
Section titled “What a site shows”A product appears in a site’s category pages only when all of these are true:
- it is Published;
- the site’s content rules include it;
- it is in stock, meaning at least one variant is on offer and available.
A product that fails the last one still has a page. What that page does is a setting per site: see when a product is out of stock.