DELUXE CATALOG ADMINISTRATION 

1. The Administration Area

• Go to www.yoursite.com/shopadmin/ to access your administration area.
• Enter the password you provided as the "Administration Password" when your system was first set up. If you have forgotten the password, click the Forgot your password? link to have the information emailed to you.

2. View Your System Variables
You should not need to make changes to your variables, as they have been made for you during installation. However, if you want to make changes to your font type and color, number of products per page, currency symbol, etc., this is the place to do it.

• Select Update under the "System Variables" heading in your administration area.
• Use the following as a guideline when entering your system variables. The items in green are optional items and are not necessary when entering variables.
  • Web Site Name: Your site's name. ex.) Cassie's Collectibles
  • Web Site URL: Your site's web address, without the http://. ex.) www.mysite.com
  • Administration Email: A general email address used to retrieve your admin password.
  • Catalog Page: Add the relative URL (just the name of the page and the extension, minus the http:// and/or www part) of your existing catalog page. Please note - you can only use pages with the extension .php - if your server allows, you can also use the extensions .htm or .html. ex.) catalog.php
  • Mals-E Cart ID: Your Mals-E account number (not password!) ex.) 6184875
  • Currency: Your currency symbol. ex.) $
  • Font Style: The font style of your catalog. ex.) Arial, Helvetica, Sans-Serif
  • Order Button: The URL of your order button. Upload an image if you want.
  • Search Button: The URL of your search button. Upload an image if you want.
  • View Cart Button: The URL of your cart totals button. Upload an image if you want.
  • Product Lines: Add a color if you want lines between each item (or if using multiple columns, lines around each product). ex.) #000000
  • Navigation Bar Type: The way your categories will be displayed on your catalog page. Select "Vertical Display" to list all main categories in a column. Select "Vertical w/Subcategories" to display main categories and their subcategories in a column. Select "Horizontal Display" to list all main categories in a row.
  • All Product Link: Set to Yes if you want to show an "All Products" link in your category list.
  • Sale Product Link: Set to Yes if you want to show a "Sale Products" link in your category list.
  • New Product Link: Set to Yes if you want to show a "New Products" link in your category list.
  • Advanced Search: Set to Yes if you would like for your customers to be able to perform more detailed searches on the search.php page.
  • Show Out of Stock: Set to Yes if you want items that are sold out to still appear on your catalog page, but just appear as sold out. Set to No if you don't want these items listed.
  • Email to Friend Link: Set to Yes if you want "Email to a friend" links under each product, so your customers can send that product's information to others.
  • Product Columns: Set the number of products to list across. Selecting 1 means your products will be listed in rows down the page, allowing customers to order from that screen. Selecting 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 means the products will be displayed in that number of items across each page, the image, name and price will be listed on the page in that number of columns, and clicking the item will give more details and order information.
  • Page Numbers: Set to Yes if you want to show page numbers at the top of your catalog page. Set to No if you simply want "Previous" and "Next" buttons.
  • Product Rows: Enter the number of rows of items to display on each catalog page. This must be a number greater than zero. Keep in mind that pages with many rows will take longer to load.
  • Options Per Item: Enter the number of options to display in your admin area. This must be a number greater than zero. Keep in mind that it will take longer to load admin pages with many options.
  • Product Link Color: Add a color if you want the category links on the How to Shop page to be a certain color. ex.) #000000
  • View Cart Link Color: Add a color if you want the view cart information to be a certain color. ex.) #000000
  • Category Link Color: Add a color if you want the category links in your navigation bar to be a certain color. ex.) #000000
  • Product Order: Select the order in which your products will be listed. Sort by item name (A-Z or Z-A), catalog number, item units, or a different random order each time the page is displayed.
  • Initial Page: Select the message to display when you first go to the catalog page. Use the standard "How to Shop" screen that lists categories, show the newest items added, or use your own custom HTML page.
  • Limited Qty Info: Set the general message to appear when a product has a limited inventory quantity if desired or leave blank for no message. ex.) Limited quantities available.
  • Meta Description: Create a general "description" meta tag to include on the catalog page when a specific category is not chosen, for search engine success. Do not include the <meta> tag itself, just list the actual description. ex.) The best collectible store on the internet
  • Meta Keywords: Create a general "keywords" meta tag to include on the catalog page when a specific category is not chosen, for search engine success. Do not include the <meta> tag itself, just list the actual keywords. ex.) collectibles, gifts, records, antiques, toys, jewelry

3. Add Your Categories

• To add a new category, just click the "Add" button under the Categories, enter the name of the category, and click "Add Category". Your category should now appear on the admin.php page.
• To edit a category, select a category from the drop-down box and click "Edit". Update the name of your category, and click "Edit Category". Your information has been saved.
• To delete a category, select a category from the drop-down box and click "Delete". When the system asks you if you are sure you want to delete the category, select "Yes". Your category has been deleted.
• You can add, edit or delete categories at any time. If you edit or delete a category, it will automatically be edited or deleted from any products under which that category is listed.
• To set a category as a sub category, select a main category from the items in the Parent Category field. Categories already assigned as main categories cannot be set as a sub category, and sub categories cannot be parent categories for any other category.
• To display a button instead of a text link on the navigation bar, enter an existing image URL in the Image (optional) field, or use the Upload" button to load an image from your computer.
• Add a Description and it will display under the category name when you view items in that category. You can use HTML coding for this field.
• Add Meta Keywords and a Meta Description if you want specific meta tag information to display when you view items in that category. Only add the keywords and descriptions themselves, not the <meta> tags or attributes.
• Select "Yes" or "No" from the Active field - inactive categories (and their subcategories, if they exist) will not display in the navigation bar. (Note: Products in that category will still appear as active.)

4. Add Your Items

• NOTE: Do not use : in your item names! They will not work correctly, as that character is needed for the Mals cart to work properly.
• To add a new item, just click the "Add" button under the Items.
• When adding an item, if you have default items or options added, click "Set Default" to populate the fields with the default information.
• To edit a item, select an item from the drop-down box and click "Edit".
• To delete a item, select an item from the drop-down box and click "Delete". When the system asks you if you are sure you want to delete the item, select "Yes". Your item has been deleted.
• There are three pages of information for each item:
  • Page 1: "Add" or "Edit" your product information
  • Page 2: Add your options and attributes if desired.
  • Page 3: Add related items and/or inventory quantities if desired.
• Add the Item Name, Description, and some Keywords if desired. The keywords will not display on the catalog page, but they will be used when a customer performs a keyword search.
• If you want a small "thumbnail" image, set the image URL in the Thumbnail URL field, or use the upload button to load a graphic from your web site.
• If you want a larger "pop up" images, set the image URL in the Large Image URL field, or use the upload button to load a graphic from your web site. You can also enter an HTML URL if you want your customers to get a product page when they click the smaller image.
• Add Units if you need shipping units for the Mals catalog (many do not), and a Catalog # if you wish to track that number throughout the ordering process.
• Add a Regular Price if you aren't planning on listing price information in the first product option. To mark an item as a sale item, simply enter a Sale Price - it will be displayed in red on the catalog page, and the original price will be crossed out.
• Set the Out of Stock field to "Yes" if you want to show an item on the catalog to draw interest, but don't wish to allow customers to order that item.
• To take an item off the catalog page, yet keep the information in storage for a later date, change Active Item to "No". This is useful for holiday items or special offers that are presented periodically, etc.
• You may add up to 5 categories to each product. However, you do not need to add all five categories. If you do not include at least one category, the product will not be visible through category searches on the catalog page, though it will still be seen with keyword searches.
• All information is added, edited and deleted in real-time. That means, when you change the name of an item or category, it is automatically changed on your catalog page for viewers to see.

5. Updating Item Options

• After entering the basic information for each product, you can enter option information.
• Options can be: Text Boxes (single line fields), Memo Fields (double line fields), Drop Down Boxes or Radio Buttons.
• With each option, you must add an option Name. Examples of option names include "Colors", "Sizes", "Fabrics", "Songs", etc. Whatever you want to be in front of the text field or drop-down box on your catalog page should go here.
• Include a Type - Drop Down Box or Radio Buttons (with or without prices), Memo Field or Text Field.
• Drop Down Boxes and Radio Buttons allow the customer to choose one of several attributes presented. These are ideal for products that have several different sizes or colors, for example.
• To add the attributes to a drop-down box or radio button, type all your options into the "Attributes" box, separating them by ~ ex.) If you want a drop-down box that shows five colors available for a product, you might use "Colors" for the Option Name, select "Drop Down" for the Type, and type the following into the "Attributes" box:
     Yellow~Red~Blue~Green~Purple
• For Option #1 only, you may choose to create a drop-down box or radio button with the prices listed in the attributes by selecting "Drop Down with Prices" or "Radio Button with Prices". The option that the customer selects will determine the price of the item. You can also specify shipping units if used in the Mals system, though this is not necessary. The format used is: Attribute1:Price:Units~Attribute2:Price:Units~Attribute3:Price:Units
• These option types are used most often with sizes or specialized styles. For example, a small shirt costs $18, a medium costs $20, and a large costs $22. In this case you would set up Option #1 as follows:
  Small:18.00:0~Medium:20.00:0~Large:22.00:0
• Set the Active field to "Yes" to display the option now, or set to "No" if you want that option to stay hidden until a later date.
• Note: If you don't have enough options per item, you can increase them by changing the Options per Item field in the variable listings in Step 2.

6. Related Items & Inventory Quantities

• After entering the options for each product, you can enter related products and instock quantities
• Select any product from the drop-down box to set as a related item.
• You can select up to 5 related items.
• Related items are shown only when using a multi-column format (set Product Columns in the Variables area to 2 or more), after selecting an item to view in detail on the catalog page.
• To remove related items, select "None" from the drop down box.
• Inventory quantities can be set either for the main item or for the first option, if that option is a drop-down box or radio button.
• Any item with an instock quantity of zero will be considered "out of stock", and will either appear on your catalog as "out of stock" or not appear at all, depending on the value you set in your inventory system.
• Any option with a quantity of zero will be considered "inactive" and will not appear on your catalog page.
• IMPORTANT: To use the inventory control feature, you must set up your finish page through Mals. To do this:
  • Log in to your Mals-E account.
  • Select Cart Set-Up.
  • Select Remote Calls.
  • Add the page www.yoursite/finish.php, where you replace "yoursite" with your actual site name. ie.) If your site is windywillows.com, use www.windywillows.com/finish.php.
  • Do NOT add the http:// part.
  • Do NOT select "Debug mode".
  • Save your configuration and you're set!
  • Create a test order, ordering a product that has inventory quantities, to check the system. You should receive an email that gives you information about the quantities that were sold, how many are left, etc.

7. Setting Defaults

• Select the "Defaults" button from the administration area to add or update your defaults.
• Select any product from the drop-down list to set as a default. Whenever you add a new product, you can click the "Set Default" link to add the information from this product into the form.
• Select any option from the drop-down list to set as a default. Whenever you add a new product, you can click the "Set Default" link on the options page to add this option's information into the form.
• Use the defaults to set product information or options that you enter often, to save on your typing time. 

8. Item Searching

• The Item Search area of the administration panel is designed to assist companies who have many products in their administration area.
• Select a category and/or type a keyword, then select a status (in stock, out of stock, all products, etc.)
• Choose the number of items to display per page.
• Select "View Items" to list all the products with that criteria. If you add a new product or edit or delete a product from the list, you will return back to the list when finished.

9. Wholesale Vendors

• You must manually enter a vendor into the administration area to set them up as a wholesale vendor.
• Select Add under "Wholesale Vendors" to add a new vendor.
• Select Edit under "Wholesale Vendors" to edit an existing vendor.
• Select Delete under "Wholesale Vendors" to permanently delete a vendor from the system.
• Add the company name or individual's name under Company.
• Enter the vendor's email address under Email Address.
• Under Contact, add any contact information you wish to store for this vendor. For example, address, phone number, web site, contact name, etc. Use Ctrl+Enter to go to the next line (Windows).
• Enter a password for this vendor under Password. Please note: if this password exists for another vendor, the system will not add that password.
• Set a discount amount under Discount. All products will be discounted by this rate when the vendor shops your site.
• Set the Active setting to "Yes" if you want to activate that vendor. Inactive vendors will not be able to obtain wholesale pricing.
• After adding or editing vendor information, send your vendors to www.yoursite.com/wholesale.php to log in and shop for items. They will receive their discount on all products in your store.

10. Price Search Setup

• If you would like a price search on your site, you must first add the price points for your search.
• In the administration area, select Prices under "Price Search".
• Enter the starting price and ending price for each line in your price search drop down box.
• If you want an "Under $X" listing, enter 0 for the starting price and X for the ending price.
• If you want an "Over $Y" listing, enter Y for the starting price and 0 for the ending price.
• Remove all price points or set all points to zero and save if you don't wish to have a price search on your site.

11. Product Sales Listing

• The Product Sales Listings show the quantities and dates of the items ordered for a quick check of your most popular items and the quantities sold.
• It does not show any ordering information (ie. your customers' addresses) - it is recommended that you use Mals for this or download the mOrders system for best results.
• In the administration area, go to the "Product Sales Listing".
• Select a date range (month and year) to restrict your sales reports.
• Select a way to sort the records - by the quantity sold, price of the item, or date it was sold (all can be sorted from lowest to highest or "decreasing", which is highest to lowest).
• Choose the number of items to display per page.
• Select Sales to view your reports.
• This information comes from actual product orders, so you should not need to update these fields. However, you can add, edit or delete a sales record manually if you need to.
• Enter the item name in Item, the price that the item sold for in Price , the date it sold in Date, and the quantity sold in Qty.
• Shipping units are optional, and are only used if you use them for Mals.
• Dates should be added in the format mm/dd/yy.
• Prices should only include numbers, not currency symbols.
• Edit and delete all items on the page at the same time. Make all changes to the form fields, and click the check box next to any product you wish to delete. When you select Update, all of your changes on that page will be made at once.

12. Your Pages

• To view your catalog, go to www.yoursite.com/catalog.htm. (Note: if you used a different page for the catalog page, substitute that page for catalog.htm.) You can use this URL in any text or button links on the rest of your pages, to connect your site with your catalog.
• If you have selected "Advanced Search" in Step 2, you can view your search page at www.yoursite.com/search.php.
• After entering your wholesale vendors, ask them to log in at www.yoursite.com/wholesale.php.
• If you chose the "Custom Page" option as your initial page in your Variables area, you can access your custom page at www.yoursite.com/custom.htm. You can add any HTML components to this page as desired. 

13. Customization
Installation includes a one-time set up of the scripting components on your existing page template or on one of our free templates. It does not include any HTML work, modification of the scripting inserts or future catalog page fixes, so if you decide to customize your catalog, do so at your own risk! Keep in mind that if you make changes to your catalog page and it stops working, we do charge for a fix of your catalog.

IMPORTANT: If you decide to edit your catalog page, FTP the file from your web server into your web editing program before updating. Do NOT import from your web editor or save the page after it has been parsed by your browser, because your catalog will no longer work!!!

• Open the catalog page (ex. catalog.htm) in your favorite web editor.
• Change the page design just as you would any other HTML page.
• Make sure that the scripting components are included in your page's HTML code. These are:
  • View Contents (optional): Add this code wherever you want your customer's cart totals to go:
    <script language="php">include("$DOCUMENT_ROOT/inc/viewcontents.php");</script>
  • Search (optional): Add this code wherever you want the keyword search box to go:
    <script language="php">include("$DOCUMENT_ROOT/inc/search.php");</script>
  • Navigation Bar: Add this code wherever you want to show your category list: 
    <script language="php">include("$DOCUMENT_ROOT/inc/navbar.php");</script>
  • Title (optional): Add this code wherever you want to show your category titles.
    <script language="php">include("$DOCUMENT_ROOT/inc/title.php");</script>
  • Products: Add this code wherever you want to display your product list.
    <script language="php">include("$DOCUMENT_ROOT/inc/products.php");</script>
• The following line MUST be at the top of your page, above the <HTML> tag (may vary slightly if your catalog was placed in a subdirectory of your web site):
  • <script language="php">include("$DOCUMENT_ROOT/inc/openinfo.php");</script>
• If you change the name of your catalog page from catalog.htm to another name, make sure to change this in the Variables area as well.
• If you or your web designer has questions about customizing your catalog page, or would like to hire someone to make modifications to either your catalog page or the scripting components, please email us at contact us for assistance.

14. Database Information

• It is important to back up your mySQL database whenever you add new information. Your best bet is to use a utility such as phpMyAdmin, which is often installed on your server. Use our general instructions for a quick guide on how to create backups with phpMyAdmin.
• You can add entire text files, database dumps or spreadsheets full of data to your mySQL database in one large chunk, instead of adding products individually. This service is not included with the OptionCart Catalog installation, but can be done yourself through phpMyAdmin, if you are familiar with the service.
• Information about the table structure, to assist with a product upload :
  • Shop_Items: Contains the majority of the product information (name, description, price, categories, etc.)
  • Shop_Options: Lists all of the product options. This table is linked to the Shop_Items table by the item ID number: Shop_Options.ItemID = Shop_Items.ID
  • Shop_Related: Links the ID numbers of a product with its related products. This table is linked to the Shop_Items table by the item ID number: Shop_Related.ProductID = Shop_Items.ID (of the main item) and Shop_Related.RelatedID = Shop_Items.ID (of related items).
  • The categories listed in the Shop_Items table are linked by the category name, not by ID.
• Need help? Contact us if you have questions or need a professional install of a text file or existing spreadsheet.