DBC: Distributor Administrator - Catalogs

OVERVIEW

Catalogs are the groupings of items presented on the company’s site. They can be visible to any certain or all groups based on selections made in the setup.

CATALOG LIST

Select your company. After a company has been selected, the list of its DB Commerce catalogs that have been created will appear in the catalog list. The list filters out inactive catalogs by default and is sorted in the order in which catalogs will be displayed to end users.

Note: To include inactive catalogs in the display, click on the ALL button in the top right.

If no catalogs are created or a new catalog needs to be added, administrators can click the “+” icon above the catalog list. They will be promoted with a modal to enter a catalog name with the options to Add Catalog and Continue, Add Catalog and Edit, or Cancel.

  • Add Catalog and Continue: This will add the catalog name to the list. Administrators will then want to Edit their catalog.
  • Add Catalog and Edit: This will add the catalog name to the list but take administrators into the catalog maintenace area for editing.
  • Cancel: Catalog creation will not be saved and the administrator will return to the Catalog List.

To rearrange the catalog display order, administrators can hover over a catalog, click its row, and drag and drop the catalog into the desired position.

The Catalog List includes columns with a count of the number of items that have been assigned to each catalog and the number of user groups to whom the catalog has been made visible. Hovering over the numbers in the “# Items” and Groups” columns will display the first twenty Item Codes in the catalog and the Groups that can see it.

Hovering over any other part of a catalog row will cause action buttons to appear that, when clicked, will allow the administrator to Edit, Copy, Add a Sub-Catalog, Delete or Deactivate the Catalog.

  • Edit: Administrators will be taken to the catalog maintenace area where they can modify the Basic Information, Catalog Images, Select Catalog Items, and Select Group Visibility.
  • Copy: Coping an existing catalog and all the elements within that catalog. When a catalog is copied it will appear below the catalog it was copied from.
  • Add Sub-Catalog: Adding a subdivision of catalogs that can be used to organize and categorize items to make it easier for customers to browse.
  • Delete: Removing a catalog that is no longer needed. Once deleted, a catalog cannot be restored.
  • Deactivate a Catalog: Removing a catalog from a groups visibility. The catalog will no longer show to the group, but it's not deleted. Re-clicking this option will allow the catalog to become visible to the groups again. This is a good option to use if catalog maintenace is needed or a catalog may not truly need to be deleted during a specific time.


CATALOG OVERVIEW

When you click to edit a catalog, you will move to the Catalog Overview section. Here, administrators can modify the attributes of the catalog.

Basic Information

When you click to edit a catalog, you will move to the Catalog Overview section. Here, administrators can modify the attributes of the catalog.

  • Catalog Name: The name of the catalog that will appear to the end users.
  • Special Instructions: Instructions that will appear below the catalog name. Basic HTML is supported.

  • Catalog Footer Text: Instructions that will appear below all the items within a catalog.

    Public Catalog: A catalog that can be made visible to groups from other companies.

    Catalog State: Noting whether the catalog is Active (visible to groups) or Inactive (not visible to groups).

    Catalog Type: The style in which a catalog will show to the end users.

    • Default Catalog Style: When creating a catalog this is the catalog style selected by default. This catalog-style offers a more simplistic view of a customer’s items, showing the item code, full item name, and price. The end user view has larger image thumbnails that display four across, with the option to select a page or View All items. Users have the option to sort by Item Number, Item Name and in some cases Price. (Price will only show if there are no Price Adjustments set for the company.) If Sub-Catalogs are used, they are displayed larger than the item images showing differentiation between a sub-catalog and items. At the bottom of the catalog when viewing as pages, the number of pages appears allowing the user to sort by page. There is a count of the number of items that appear within the catalog.

      Carousel: This catalog-style displays thumbnails five across in three rows of items available in the catalog and allows users to scroll from page to page for additional items. If you selected the catalog type of carousel, you need to select if the default view should be storefront or add/customize.

      • Storefront is the standard Carousel layout.

      • Add/Customize will display a quantity box at the catalog level along with the button "Add to Cart" or "Customize" depending on if it is a Simple or Template Item Type.

        Order Form: This catalog-style is used for stock items (those that do not require further configuration) and allows the user to add multiple items to the cart with a single click.

        For Legacy Sites, administrators will need to select if the default catalog view should be tabular, or storefront.

      • Storefront view will display thumbnails for the items with 5 items across in 3 rows.

      • Tabular view will display as a grid.

        Tap Out: This catalog-style allows the administrator to offer a link to an external site within the catalog tree. This selection will prompt some additional fields.

      • Tap-Out Catalog URL - you will need to enter the address of the website that the user should be taken to
      • Tap-out Form Method – you will need to set whether it is POST or GET.

    • Asset: This catalog- style is used for the organization of digital asset files rather than items.

      Item Sort Type: The ability to sort items within a catalog.

    • Manually: The ability to sort items individually as desired. Select the "Manually Sort Items" button, which will prompt a modal for items to be ordered individually.
    • Sort by Item Code: The ability to sort items by Item Code. Once selected, the administrator will select the "Sort Now" button for items to be sorted in this order.
    • Sort by Item Description: The ability to sort items by Item Name. Once selected, the administrator will select the "Sort Now" button for items to be sorted in this order.

Select Catalog Items

A tabbed display of "Selected Items" vs "All Items" within a company. The Selected Items tab allows administrators to see a filtered list of just those items which have been added to the catalog, versus the Company List tab of all items that have been set up for the selected company. Searching for some or part of an item name or description will filter the list of items accordingly. To add items to the catalog, simply click the tab with the company name, and click the checkbox next to the desired items. Items that have been set up under other companies may also be added to a catalog by clicking the icon next to the current company tab and selecting a company from the list. Clicking the checkbox above the item list will select all items on the current page of results and enable multiple items to be added or removed at once.

Note: “Promo Items” may only be added to catalogs set to the “Carousel” or “Default” catalog type, and administrators will be prevented from adding Promo Items to catalogs not configured in this manner. (The “Add/Customize from storefront” Carousel catalog view option does not apply to Promo Items.) Both “Base Item Codes” and individual variant Item Codes that have been transmitted to your back-office system may be placed into a catalog.

Select Group Visibility

A tabbed display of "Selected Groups" vs "All Groups" within a company. Similarly, when determining group visibility, the subset of groups that have been granted access to the catalog will be displayed by default under the “Selected Groups” tab, while a cumulative list of groups that have been set up for the selected company will be displayed under the “All Groups” tab. To add groups to the catalog, simply click the "All Groups" tab, and click the checkbox next to the desired group. Clicking the checkbox above the group list will select all groups on the current page of results and enable multiple groups to be added or removed at once.

Catalog Images

Catalog Banner Image: A banner-style image that shows above the items within a catalog. The suggested size for your image file is 1140px by 373px at 72dpi.

Catalog Thumbnail Image: For optimal catalog performance and speed, it is strongly recommended to upload a catalog thumbnail image for each catalog. If no specific catalog thumbnail is available, admins can "Generate Image," pulling the first available image from the items within that catalog. If no specific catalog thumbnail is uploaded or generated, the system will automatically pull the first available image from the items within that catalog. This image will then show within the Catalog Thumbnail upload area with the note, "Current image was generated from item BC-01". If no item images are available, the default thumbnail will be displayed like you see today.

OFFICE PRODUCTS

Office Products are integrated with Essendant and Office Depot. Specific set up is required for Essendant. Contact support for further details on set up for both.

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