All products share the same basic attributes. Those attributes are broken up into tabs, which are explained below. Each product is a combination of parent product and variant information. A variant is simply a version of a product, which inherits much of its information from the parent. For example, if you sell movies that come in DVD and VHS format, the different formats could be set up as variants. Some product information (movie name, manufacturer, etc) comes from the parent product while some details (price, weight, etc) come from the variant.
Every product has at least one variant so that all of this information can be present, but products do not all have to have multiple variants.
See the sections below on product and variant properties for details on which attributes come from which level.
Parent Product Properties
Main
| Property Name | Description |
| Name | The products's name. This is visible to all customers |
| Product Type | General type of product (generic, gift card, kit, etc) |
| Manufacturer | Manufacturer. Use the predefined "Generic Mgf" if no custom ones have been created |
| Distributor | Provider/Drop-shipper product is assigned to |
| SKU | SKU number |
| Manufacturer Part # | This value will be sent in distributor emails if populated (optional) |
| Published | Determines whether or not the product appears on the front end of the site |
| Google Checkout Allowed | Determines whether customers can use the Google checkout button on the cart page (if configured) or must go through standard checkout |
| Display Format XML Package | The XML package chosen here determines how the product detail page is laid out |
| Page Size | If multiple variants exist, determines how many are displayed per page |
| Column Width | If multiple variants exist and are being displayed in one of the grid XML packages, determines how many columns to arrange them in |
| Tax Class | Which tax class to use to look up/apply tax rates to this product during checkout |
| Quantity Discount Table | If a discount table is selected here, customers will get a discount based on the number of this item they purchase. |
| Start Date | The first date you wish the product to appear to customers. Defaults to today's date |
| Stop Date | The last day you wish customers to be able to view that product. Generally left blank. |
| Show Buy Button | Setting this to No hides the Add to Cart/Wishlist/Gift Registry buttons |
| Requires Registration to View | Hides the product from anonymous customers |
| Is Call to Order | If this is set to Yes, a "Call to Order" prompt is displayed to customers, and there are no "buy" buttons |
| Hide Price Until Cart | This prevents the item price from showing up on the product detail page |
| Exclude From Product Feeds | Prevents the software from exporting this product's info when feeds (PriceGrabber, Google, etc) are executed |
| Is a Kit | Sets this as a kit product |
| Track Inventory by Size and Color | Allows you to specify individual inventory level for every size/color combination set up on the product variant(s)
(Using this method will not work with Kits tied to the variant) |
| Color Option Prompt | Text to display to customers for attributes they may choose instead of "Color:" |
| Size Option Prompt | Text to display to customers for attributes they may choose instead of "Size:" |
| Requires Text Field | If Yes, a text field will be displayed on the product detail page, for customers to enter personalization/custom information |
| Field Prompt | How to label the text box if "Requires Text Field" is true |
| Max Length | Max number of characters allowed in the text field |
Images
On the images tab, you can upload images to display for your products. Icon images display in category-level views (where many products are shown at once) and a few other places if the store is configured to do so. Medium images show on the main product detail page, and large images show in a separate window if customers click a link on the product page to do so.
By default, the software will resize images uploaded through this page to thestandard sizes – 150x150 for icons, 250x250 for mediums, and 500x500 for larges. To change these sizes or other Image Resize settings, go to Configuration → Advanced → AppConfig Parameters in the admin site and choose “IMAGERESIZE” from the Config Groups dropdown.
The Multi-Image Manager links allow you to upload multiple images of a certain size. On the product detail page, customers will be able to cycle through the multiple images.
The top field on this page, labeled “Image Filename Override” allows you to specify a filename for the software to use for this product's images (by default, images are saved as productID.jpg). This is useful for bulk-uploading images, which can be faster than loading them individually through the admin site. You can specify a filename in this field (with extension), and then FTP your images to the following folders:
/images/product/icon/filename.jpg
/images/product/medium/filename.jpg
/images/product/large/filename.jpg
NOTE: Image filename override only works for products with a single image.
See here for information on configuring the software's image resize tools.
Summary
Information entered on the Summary tab is not actually displayed anywhere on the front end. This can be used for internal notes, special instructions, etc. This tab uses the Telerik RAD editor, and can accept HTML code. To insert HTML, click the “<>” button at the bottom of the editor.
Description
The Description tab is where product information is entered. All of this information will be displayed to customers on your product detail pages. This tab uses the Telerik RAD editor, and can accept HTML code. To insert HTML, click the “<>” button at the bottom of the editor.
Search Engine
The fields on the Search Engine tab are used to generate the “meta” information for your product pages. This information is part of what most search engines use to index your site's pages, so you should take the time to put good information here.
Note: The “No Script” field is not used.
Product Feeds
The text (no HTML allowed here) in this box will be used for descriptions in product feeds you export through the admin site.
Mappings
On this tab, you control where each product appears on your site and (if desired) who can see it. In the Category and Department columns, simply check the box(es) for the entities you want your product to appear in. Any customer who navigates to those areas will see this product.
In the Affiliates and Customer Level columns, you can set whether or not members of each of these groups will be able to view this product (see
here for more information on product filtering).
Options
| Property Name | Description |
| Related Products | Insert Product IDs (not names) here. These products will be displayed in a special box at the bottom of the main product's page |
| Upsell Products | Insert Product Ids (not names) here. These products will be displayed in a special box at the bottom of the main product's page and can also be displayed on the shopping cart page |
| Upsell Product Discount Percent | If a customer adds an upsell product to the cart from the parent product's detail page, the discount here will be applied. If they add this product from its own page, the discount will not apply |
| Requires Products | Insert Product IDs (not names) here. If a customer adds this product to the cart, the required product(s) will be added as well |
| On Sale Prompt | If your product has a sale price set, this dropdown determins which prompt precedes that sale price. New prompts can be created at Configuration → Pricing and Promotions → Sales Prompts |
| Page BG Color | Not currently used |
| Contents BG Color | Not currently used |
| Skin Graphics Color | Not currently used |
Extension Data
Information entered on the Extension Data tab is not actually displayed anywhere on the front end. This can be used for internal notes, special instructions, etc.
Variant Properties
Main
| Property Name | Description |
| Variant Name | Name of this product variant (optional). This value will be appended to the parent product name if filled in |
| SKU Suffix | This value will be appended to the parent product SKU on receipts and during checkout )optional) |
| Manufacturer Part # | This value will be sent in distributor emails if populated (optional) |
| Published | Determines whether or not the variant appears on the front end of the site |
| Restricted Quantities | If your variant can only be purchased in certain quantities, list them here (ie: If you sell by the dozen – 12, 24, 36, etc) |
| Minimum Quantity | Smallest quantity customers are allowed to add to the cart |
| Price | The price that will be displayed to customers |
| Sale Price | If this field is populated, the product detail page will list the normal price with the sale price underneath |
| Customer Enters Price | If this is set to true, customers can set their own price for the product (often used for donation or gift card products). NOTE: This option does not work for kit or pack products! |
| Customer Enters Price Prompt | Label for the text box customers enter their price in on the product detail page. NOTE: This option does not work for kit or pack products! |
| MSRP | For internal use only |
| Actual Cost | For internal use only |
| Is Taxable | Determines whether or not this variant is taxed under the class set for the parent product |
| Is Ship Separately | If using realtime shipping, this instructs the carrier to calculate the cost of shipping this item in its own box. This is done by sending the product dimensions, instead of just the weight that is usually sent to the carrier |
| Is Free Shipping | Set whether or not the item gets free shipping, or if it doesn't even need shipping at all (such as a service or digital product) |
| Weight | Variant weight, used for shipping calculations |
| Dimensions | Size (height x width x depth) of the package the item ships in (in the format N x N x N or NxNxN) |
| Current Inventory | Number of this item on hand |
Images
See “Images” section under Parent Product Properties above for full details. Variant images will only show when using certain XML packages for display (Display Format XML Package attribute on the parent product).
Description
The Description tab is where product information is entered. All of this information will be displayed to customers on your product detail pages. This tab uses the Telerik RAD editor, and can accept HTML code. To insert HTML, click the “<>” button at the bottom of the editor.
Product Feeds
The text (no HTML allowed here) in this box will be used for descriptions in product feeds you export through the admin site.
Attributes
On the Attributes tab, you can define user-selectable attributes that change the variant (for example the size and color of a t-shirt). Values defined here will be listed as dropdown menus on the product detail page. You can also specify SKU suffixes that will be appended to the base SKU on receipts to indicate which attributes were chosen.
You can also specify price modifiers for these attributes by enclosing them in
brackets immediately after the attribute name. In the example below, a shirt with a base price of $12 for the medium size would be $10 for small, or $15 for large:
Sizes: Small [-2.00], Medium, Large [3.00]
Note: These fields can be called something other than Color and Size, using the “Color Option Prompt” and “Size Option Prompt” attributes on the parent product (see above).
Miscellaneous
These fields are not currently used.