Catalog Item Administration

Catalog Items (also refered to as Nodes) are used, in conjuction with classes, to build your catalog.

Catalog Items List

Selecting Catalog Items from the Linkbar will present you with a list of the items defined in Catalog.

Toolbar

In conjuction with selecting one or more checkboxes in the list, the Toolbar provides the following functions:

• Publish the selected item(s).
• Unpublish the selected item(s).
• Edit a selected item.
• Add a new item
• Delete the selected item(s).

Filters

You can filter the list by the following:

• Part of a string in the title of a item.
• The published state of the items.
• The category that the items are in.
• The class that the items are.

List Interaction

You can interact with the list of items in the following ways:

• Click the linked column headers to change the sort order of the list and to reverse the sort direction.
• In the Title column, click the first link to edit the item.
• In the Published column, click the icons to toggle between published and unpublished states.
• In the Order column, click the up and down arrow icons to weight the ordering in different directions.
• Use the list pagination features as you would for any other component.

Related Information

The table also shows how many categories each item has been placed in.

Batch Update

You are able to batch change the category that items belong to.  Select any number of items from the list, then select one of the categories from the batch list.  You can then select an option to add this category to the item, remove the item from this category or set the item to only this category.  Having selected a category and option, click Process.

Adding or Editing an Item

Toolbar

The Toolbar provides the following functions:

• Save the current item but as a new copy of the original item (Save To Copy).  Any change made are saved with the new item, not the original.
• Save the current item and then returns you to add another (Save & New).
• Save the current item and return to the list.
• Apply the changes made to the current item and return to the same page to continue edits.
• Cancel the edits without saving and return to the list.

Main Page

The add/edit page is divided into two main areas: a Title Block and a tabbed section.

The Title Block allows you to manage the following fields:

• Title - the title for the item.
• Alias - The alias for the category used in URLs when Search Engine Friendly URLs are activated.
• Subtitle - An optional subtitle for the category.
• Class - The class that this item is in (this affects the custom attributes that are available for this item).

General Tab

This tab allows you to manage the following fields:

• Abstract - An optional summary or abstract for the item.
• Body - An optional description or body text for the item.
• Published - Allows you to set the item to a published or unpublished state.
  
• Access - The access level that control who can view the item.
• Order - The weighted order for the item.  Negative numbers rise to the top of lists, and positive numbers sink to the bottom.  The order values do not need to be sequential.
• Owner - An optional User ID that directly relates the item to user.
• Start Publishing - An optional date to start displaying the item, or a start date applicable in the Calendar View.
• Finish Publishing - An optional date to finish displaying the item, or a finish date applicable in the Calendar View.
• Display Date - An optional display date used for sorting by date.

This tab allows allows you to assign the item to any number of categories.  Use Ctrl-Click to select more than one category or to unselect existing categories.

Attributes Tab

This tab allows you to define either Standard or Optional custom attributes to the item.  Both types of attributes are based on the class that the the item is assigned to, and the fields that have been defined in the class.

The Standard Attributes will be automatically generated based on the fields defined in the class.  You can set the Access Level for a Standard Attribute to be displayed for either Public or only for Registered users.  The ordering of Standard Attributes is controlled by the order by which you defined the fields in the Class.

The Optional Attributes are added manually.  You can add two types of Optional Attribute.

The first type is a Taxon, which if available, is one of the items in one of the lists you have created.  Select the appropriate Taxon and click the [+] button to add it as an Optional Attribute.

The second type is a Custom type which is just an arbitrary type of attribute.  Just click the [+] button beside the label.  Type in a Label as desired.

The Value for Optional Attributes is optional.  Set the Ordering to alter the position of the attribute when displayed.  You can set the Access Level for a Standard Attribute to be displayed for either Public or only for Registered users.

Media Tab

This tab you to manage the following Media settings for the category:

• Thumb - An option image path that could relate to a thumb sized image.
• Small - An option image path that could relate to a small sized image.
• Medium - An option image path that could relate to a medium sized image.
• Large - An option image path that could relate to a large sized image.
• Full Size - An option image path that could relate to a full size sized image.
• Caption - An optional caption that will be used for the any of the other preset sizes listed above.
• Gallery Folder - An optional path that will be examined for images to use in a popup gallery.  Images to be used for thumbs must be prefixed with "t_".
• Custom Code - Optional custom code to be used for media such as Flash or other web objects.

For the five preset sizes, you can use the Media Manager to select the image by clicking the Select button beside each field.

This tab you to manage the following Map settings (supported by Google Maps) for the category:

• Longitude (X) - The latitude (X coordinate) for the map point.
• Latitude (Y) - The longitude (Y coordinate) for the map point.
• Map Width - The display width of the map (in pixels).
• Map Height - The display height of the map (in pixels).
• Initial Scale - The initial map scale (smaller numbers show more of the Earth).
• Map Zoom Control - Whether to display the zoom controls on the map.  A number of variations are available.
• Map Type Control - Whether to display the map type controls (Map, Satellite, etc).
• Map Overview Control - Whether to display an overview (birds-eye view) map within the main map.
• Map Scale Control - Whether to show the scale controls on the map.

If you have a Google Map key defined for your Administrator path (because Google looks at the path, you will need to obtain a map key for both the website and the administrator), then a simple location finder is provided beside the map fields.  Type in an address and click the Find button.  Use the zoom controls on the map to fine tune your location.  Pan around by clicking on the map and dragging it around (while holding the mouse button down).  Move the map marker by clicking on it and dragging it around (while holding the mouse button down, then release the button at the desired location).  When you are happy that the marker is in the correct location, click the Use This Point button and the coordinates will be updated.

Parameters Tab

This tab you to manage the following settings for the item when displaying the actual item (in the Node View).

• Icon - The default icon style (when defined) to use.
• Show Node Subtitle - Whether to display the subtitle.
• Show Node Owner - Whether to display the name of the user that is assigned as the owner.
• Show Node Date - Whether to display the node date field.
• Show Node Start Date - Wheter to display the start date field.
• Show Node Finish Date - Whether to display the finish date field.
• Show Abstract - Whether to display the abstract.
• Show Action Print - Whether to display "print this page".
• Show Action Email - Whether to display "email to friend".
• Show Action Icons - Whether to display the print and email actions as icons (otherwise they are display as text links).

Metadata Tab

This tab you to manage the following settings for the category:

• Keywords - An optional set of keywords (separated by commas) that will be inserted into the actual web page (good for Search Engine Optimization).
• Description - An optional description that will be inserted into the actual web page (good for Search Engine Optimization).  This description will usually be display as a part of the search results in search engines.
• Reference - An optional external reference to an external datasource.
• Comments - Additional comments that relate to the item (usually not on public display).

Other Tab

This tab you to manage the following E-Commerce settings for the category:

• Price1 - A price for the item.
• Price2 - An alternative price for the item.
• Currency - The currency that the prices are based on.
• Stock Available - Whether or not stock is available.
• Stock Available Date - If out of stock, when stock is available.
• Stock Level - The number of items in stock.

Additional Comments

Class parameters allow you to adjust the amount of information available to edit.  For example, if you items do not require pricing data, then you can turn all the E-Commerce field off in the Class.

Optional Attributes are typically used in conjunction with Lists to indicate the item in the catalog has some variation available to it.  For example, apparel may have several different color variations, or a laptop may have configuration options (memory, hard drive, video card, etc).

The Value field for Optional Attributes is not directly supported out of the box.  However, in conjunction with Layout Overrides, if can be used to display modifiers.  For example, if the Optional Attribute related to a choice of memory sizes in a laptop, the Value could reflect the price diffence relative to the base price (possibly Price1).

The Reference field (see the Metadata Tab) can be used in conjuction with importing data with our Exchange extension and would allow you to update particular dataset.