Product Management
From the Inventory dropdown, click "Products".
This will list all existing products in your database. From this page
you may add new products and/or edit your existing products.
Adding New Products:
1) The easiest way to add new products is to click
to edit an existing product, THEN click the "ADD" tab at the top
of the page. This will pre-fill, all of the fields with the same data
as that existing product to often save you time from having to retype
common information. If you'd rather not have all fields pre-filled you may simply
click the "ADD" tab from the "View All Products" page.
2) Fill in all the fields appropriate for this product.
Please note that almost all of the fields are
optional and are rarely
used. The field names listed in Bold are
mandatory and must be filled in before you click on the "Save
Changes" or "Add New Record" buttons. Here is a list
of the most commonly used fields:
| Field |
Description |
| ProductCode |
A unique part number/code for this product.
Please see a detailed tutorial below for more information on
choosing your product codes. |
| ProductName |
The complete name of your product. |
| ProductNameShort |
The complete name of your product, but shorter.
Try to omit any unnecessary words. This value is used in only
two places:
1) On the home page of your site in the "Featured" sections
where there's not much room.
2) In the URL of the page to help search engine rankings if
you have "SEO Friendly" enabled. |
| Product Description |
A long, detailed description of your product. |
| Product Description Short |
A one or two paragraph maximum description,
which is shown in search results and therefore should not have
too much text. |
| Product Price |
The price at which you're selling this product. |
| Product Weight |
The weight of the product in pounds. This
weight is used by the shipping calculation systems. If your
product weighs less than a pound, such as a 1/2 pound, put
0.5 into this field. |
| Product Category(s) |
Type in the CategoryID(s) of the categories
in which you want this product to show up. You may type
multiple categoryIDs separated by commas. |
3) Upload the product's photos (see below
for instructions).
Choosing Good Product Codes:
1) Be sure not to use any of the following reserved
product codes: "SETUP", "GFT", "FEE".
Also be sure that your Product Codes do not begin with either "DSC-" or "MEMBERSHIP-".
2) Try to avoid any characters other than
regular letters and numbers. For example try, to avoid the following
characters: (") or (') or (&) or (/) or (\) or (+)
or (#). Also do NOT include spaces within
the Product Code.
| Examples
of GOOD Product Codes... |
| ABC123 (Highly
Recommended) |
| ABC-123 (Highly
Recommended) |
| ABC:123 |
| ABC_123 |
| ABC=123 |
Uploading Photos
There are multiple photo uploading options from automatic
thumbnail creation to pre-thumbnailed batch uploading.
| Upload Method |
Description |
Easy-Auto
(Recommended!) |
PROS: Upload one large photo,
and it will automatically create the four required thumbnails. |
| CONS: You can only upload
one photo at a time. Also, ".gif" is not
supported through this
upload method. |
| Drag & Drop |
PROS: Drag your files right
from your desktop, and drop them into this window. Upload multiple
files at once. |
| CONS: You must resize and
correctly name each of your photos before you upload them. |
| Basic
Form |
PROS: Will work on any computer
or browser. |
| CONS: You must resize and
correctly name each of your photos before you upload them.
You can only upload 10 photos at a time. |
When creating photos for your products, follow these standard guidelines:
1) Each of your main product photos must be resized to three smaller sizes
(we call them thumbnails).
2) Each photo must be named according to the naming syntax
described on this page.
Most people use the "Easy-Auto" method described above, which can be accessed
by going to "EDIT" an existing product and clicking on "Upload Photo". This is
by far the easiest way to upload photos. If you use this "Easy-Auto", method you
can disregard all further notes below about photos because the Easy-Auto method
takes care of everything automatically.
If you have thousands of existing photos, we have a program that will automatically
resize (create thumbnails) and rename all of your photos with a single click.
You can download this program here: http://www.volusion.com/support/thumbnail_generator.asp
Naming Syntax:
(product code)-(photosize).(filetype)
NOTE: The following photo types are supported: ".jpg",
".gif" and ".png".
| PhotoSize |
Recommended
Dimension |
|
| 0 |
50x50 |
REQUIRED |
| 1 |
100x100 |
REQUIRED |
| 2 |
500x500 |
REQUIRED |
| 2T |
150x150 |
REQUIRED |
| ....................................................................................... |
| 3 |
500x500 |
OPTIONAL |
| 3T |
150x150 |
OPTIONAL |
| 4 |
500x500 |
OPTIONAL |
| 4T |
150x150 |
OPTIONAL |
| ....................................................................................... |
| etc. |
etc.
(unlimited photos supported) |
etc. |
EXAMPLE
This is how you would name the photos for a product
with product code CD445. |
| CD445-0.jpg |
| CD445-1.jpg |
| CD445-2.jpg |
| CD445-2T.jpg |
| CD445-3.jpg |
| CD445-3T.jpg |
| CD445-4.jpg |
| CD445-4T.jpg |
Manufacture's Logos are also supported! Simply upload the
manufacture's logo as a ".gif" file into the "photos/manufactures/" directory
and name the files the same as the manufacture's name. For example,
if a manufacture's name is "Sony", then name the file "sony.gif".
Recommended maximum image dimensions are 100 x 40 (width x height).
Upload Instructions:
To upload a product's photos, start by clicking on a product's "Product code" then
click on "Upload New Photos" on the upper left-hand corner of the "Edit" products
page. Then click on the "Browse" button and locate the file on your
computer (note: The Easy-Auto Upload does not support .GIF image files), click
on the file, then click "OK". Then click on the "Upload my Images" button.
The photo will be renamed and resized in the proper way automatically. After
the file has been successfully uploaded you, will see a preview of the resized
photos.
Inventory Management
To begin using the live inventory management feature, start by defining your
current product's "StockStatus" value in the "Products" table.
Understanding InStock vs. Out of Stock:
A product is InStock if the "StockStatus" field for the product is
greater than zero or if the "StockStatus" field is left blank (NULL).
A product is Out of Stock if the "StockStatus" is zero or less.
As long as this "StockStatus" value is not left blank, each time this
item is purchased your store will automatically subtract one from the product's
"StockStatus" value. If this field is left blank, the system considers the product
to have UNLIMITED stock andtherefore always in stock.
Each time you receive a new product into inventory, you can add the quantity
to the product's "StockStatus" value.
Displaying StockStatus to the Customer:
If you set the "Config_EnableLiveStockStatus" variable to "Y",
you may allow the customer to view your actual "StockStatus" quantity
on the product details page. Or, if instead you set the configuration variable "Config_EnableDisplayStockStatus" to "Y",
you may allow the customer to view the text "In Stock" on the product
details page if your product's current stock status is greater than 0, or "Out
of Stock" if the "StockStatus" is less than 0. If you do not wish to display
any indication of "StockStatus" to the customer, you may set the configuration variable "Config_EnableDisplayStockStatus" to "N".
You may also use the "Availability" field of the "Products" table
to indicate availability. This field is a static field, not affected by your
actual "StockStatus" in any way.
Handling BackOrders:
Setting the configuration variable "Config_EnableAllowBackOrders" to "Y" allows
customers to still order products which currently have a "StockStatus" of less
than 1. If you want to allow backorders only on certain products, you'll need
to enable this variable, and then use the "DoNotAllowBackOrders" field
of the Products table to disable backorders for the remaining products.
Recurring Payments
Recurring payments allow you to sell products which have a recurring fee, such
as a monthly fee. Setting the config variable "Config_EnableRecurringPayments" to "Y" allows
six extra form fields to be displayed on the Product Configuration page so that
you may have the option to set up products to incur recurring fees. You'll be
able to create any schedule of fees, including monthly fees, yearly fees, any
number of months in between and even promotional start pricing.
Setting up a product that costs $19.95 per month:
1) Set the ProductPrice to "$0.00".
2) Set the RecurringPrice to "$19.95".
3) Set the RecurringHowOften to "1".
Setting up a product that costs $99.00 per year +
$20 setup fee:
1) Set the ProductPrice to "$20.00".
2) Set the RecurringPrice to "$99.00".
3) Set the RecurringHowOften to "12".
Setting up a product that costs $19.95/mo for the
first Three months, then $49.95/mo thereafter:
1) Set the ProductPrice to "$0.00".
2) Set the RecurringPrice to "$49.95".
3) Set the RecurringHowOften to "1".
4)
Set the RecurringStartPrice to "19.95".
5) Set the RecurringStartDuration to "3".
NOTE: The "RecurringDuration" field if left blank means the recurring fee will
be charged infinitely until the account is cancelled. If you fill in this field
with "12" for example, that would limit the recurring fee to be charged only
for 1 year (12 months).
Downloadable Products
To set up a downloadable product, go to edit the existing product and then follow
these steps:
1)
Set the field "ProductWeight" to "0".
2) Fill in the field "Download File" with the name of the file you're going to
upload. For example, if the file is "eBook.zip", then type "eBook.zip" into
this field.
3) At the top of this EDIT product page, click on the link titled "Upload Software
File" which will allow you to upload your "eBook.zip" file to the server. Be
sure your file is named "eBook.zip" before uploading it.
NOTE: Sometimes Microsoft Windows will hide the extensions of your files, which
may cause confusion when working with your store, where the extensions of files
are important. So to adjust your Windows setting's please follow these steps:
1)
Double-click on your "My Computer" icon.
2) In the window that pops
up, go to TOOLS > FOLDER OPTIONS.
3)
A dialog box will pop up... now click on the "View" tab. Now UN-CHECK the box
that says "Hide extensions for known file types" and click the "OK" button to
close the window.
Product Key Distribution
The "Product Key Distribution" system is used for the following scenarios:
* If you sell software that requires you to provide a unique activation code
to each customer purchase.
* If you'd like to send an e-mail to a customer to provide more information about
a specific product purchased.
This system basically sends out an e-mail to the customer when payment is received
for an order (received meaning either authorized or captured).
Setting Up Key Distribution:
From the home page of your admin area, click on "Product Key Distribution", then
click on the "ADD" tab at the top of the page. Now for this example,
let's say the first piece of software you want to set up is called "BlueSkySoftware".
1) Set the field "KeyType" to "BlueSkySoftware".
2) Set the field "Email_Template" to "generic.asp". You can also create a new
customized template for each key type if you'd like.
3) Set the field "Email_Subject" to "Your BlueSkySoftware key".
4) Set the field "Date_Added" to today's date. Keys will be distributed OLDEST
first.
5) Leave the field "AllowReuse" blank because you don't want to reuse any keys.
6) Leave the field "Used" blank because this key is obviously not used yet.
7) Fill in the "Email Body" with the key itself, such as "ABCD-1234-WXYZ-9876". You
may type anything else into the body as well, before or after the key, but obviously
the point of this is to give the customer their activation key code. It is often
easiest to add any additional text into the "Email Template" itself by creating
a custom e-mail template, rather than entering lots of text here.
8) OK, now click the "Add new record" button to add this new key. You can repeat
this process for as many keys as you have. If you have 100 keys for this "BlueSkySoftware"
product ready to go, you'll need to have 100 records in this "Product Keys" table.
After you've added a few records and tested that everything is working properly,
it's often easiest to import them from a .CSV file (see the Import/Export section
of this manual for more information).
OK now that you've created your keys inside the "Product Keys" table, you'll
need to go to the "View All Products" link from the home page of your admin
area, and then click to edit the product that is associated with this "BlueSkySoftware"
set of keys. Once you've clicked to edit this product, you need to type "BlueSkySoftware"
into the field "Uses_ProductKeyTypes". Now whenever someone orders this product,
it will send the customer a unique key for the "BlueSkySoftware" automatically as soon
as payment is received for the order.
Utilizing the "Allow Reuse" Field:
Basically there is one key difference to the above set of steps if you're not
distributing UNIQUE keys. The only difference is the field in the "Product Keys"
table called "AllowReuse", which if you set to "Y" you only have to set up
one record, as opposed to setting up 100 records (one for each time the product
is ordered). So this "AllowReuse" allows a single key to be reused unlimited
times. This transforms the ability of this "Product Key Distribution" system
to be beneficial for many uses. You do not have to include a "key" in the e-mail
that is sent to the customer, you can instead just send an e-mail full of content
about the product they just purchased. For example, if you set up this system on
a digital camera, you could send the customer an e-mail about photography tips
& advice. Another useful example would be if you sell information, and whenever
a person buys the product called "Secrets of Online Marketing" for example, your
store could automatically send them an e-mail with that information or an e-mail
with a link to download or view that information online. |
