This page is used for managing product types. By default Avactis shopping cart system has two product types - General and General (Advanced). You can create new product types by clicking the Add New Type button. To edit the existing types, you can click the link with the name of a product type and go to the edit page.
Product Types.
Imagine that you sell DVDs and Books in your store. Each of these products has attributes describing it. In this example, the attribute for Books is the ISBN (International Standard Book Number), which is not used when entering DVD details.
To facilitate processing of various kinds (types) of products, we introduced 'product types'. In this example we have two product types - DVDs and Books. The product type for the goods is entered only once. This facilitates the process of catalog creation, product search and comparison. The Manage Product Types section describes how to enter a new product type.
Edit Product Type
This section includes attributes that define the parameters of the selected or newly created product type. You can add or delete product attributes as required.
Product Types.
Imagine that you sell DVDs and Books in your store. Each of these products has attributes describing it. In this example, the attribute for Books is the ISBN (International Standard Book Number), which is not used when entering DVD details.
To facilitate processing of various kinds (types) of products, we introduced 'product types'. In this example we have two product types - DVDs and Books. The product type for the goods is entered only once. This facilitates the process of catalog creation, product search and comparison. The Manage Product Types section describes how to enter a new product type.
Product Attributes
Product attributes define various characteristics of a product. For instance, attribute Unit Price (Base Price) defines the product price, while attribute Weight defines the product weight.
By default, Avactis suggests attributes common to the majority of products. These attributes are system-defined and cannot be deleted. If you don't need a certain attribute for your product, just make it 'invisible' by removing the checkmark in the Visibility column. To obtain help about an attribute, click the ? icon. Information about the attribute and its features will be displayed.
Why do we need to edit Product Types?
Editing of product types allows us to add new attributes for products. Once a product type has been created, you will only see those product attributes that are relevant to the product type in question when you enter new products.
Visibility determines whether the attribute for a given product type is visible or not. If the checkbox for the attribute is selected, then this attribute will be displayed when you enter information about the product. The checkbox should be unselected if the attribute in question does not determine the product's parameters.
For instance, if the product does not have weight (e.g. software, music and other digital products), you may set the Weight attribute to the Invisible status. In this case you will never be prompted to enter the product's weight when you enter data about a software product.
You may set default parameters when entering a new product type. For instance, if the product type is Taxable, you may set 'Yes' as the default value. Consequently, you will not need to change the 'Taxable' value each time you enter a new product of this type.
Custom Attributes
When you create a new product type, default attributes may be insufficient for the description of products. For instance, existing default product types do not have the Length field. If your store sells any products characterized by length, you may introduce a new attribute, Length, using the Add button in the New Custom Attributes section.
Avactis allows you to enter several types of attributes:
Text and Numbers (Single Line).
This attribute type has a number or single-line text as a parameter. For instance, you should use this attribute type for the new attribute, Length, which has a numeric value of the parameter.
Big Text (HTML Text).
This attribute type has some large regular text or HTML as a parameter. This attribute may be useful for displaying large textual product descriptions.
Using Edit, View or Delete links, you can edit, view or delete custom attributes.
To save the changes, click the Save button. To close the window, click the Cancel button.
Custom Attribute Formats
Single Line Attribute
Attribute Format: Single Line Text and Numbers
This page is used to create and edit custom attributes having a Single Line Text and Numbers format. This format allows input of both numerical product parameters and short text strings of up to 256 characters.
To create an attribute having this format, enter the appropriate values into the Attribute Tag, Attribute Name and Attribute Description fields. Click the Add button to add the attribute to the product type being created or edited.
To save the added custom attribute and all changes, click the Save button on the New/Edit Product Type page.
Field Descriptions:
Attribute Tag.
The store tag name. The tag name distinguishes a given attribute from other attributes created by the user or attributes available in the system by default. The tag name must be entered without any blank spaces. The following letters and digits are allowed: 0-9, A-Z, a-z, -, and _. For example, if you create an attribute describing the size of a flower bouquet, you can name it FlowerDimensions (no black spaces).
Attention: You cannot change or edit Attribute Tags after creation.
Note: Functional word Product at the beginning will be automatically appended to the tag name. For instance, if you have created a custom attribute called FlowerDimensions, you need to use the tag
<?phpProductFlowerDimensions() ?>
in the templates. The tag assigned to the attribute in the system is displayed below the Attribute Tag line. Please refer to the documentation for additional details about Avactis tags.
Attribute Name
Defines the attribute name. For example, you may use "Flower Dimensions" to describe an attribute representing the dimensions of a flower bouquet. An attribute name can contain any characters, including blank spaces.
Attribute Description
Contains the attribute description. Using the example above you may provide a description such as this: "This attribute describes the physical dimensions of a flower bouquet. Example: 16"H x 12"W."
Big Text Attribute
Attribute Format: Large Text
This page is used to create and edit custom attributes having a Large Text format. This format allows input of text strings of unlimited length.
To create an attribute having this format, enter the appropriate values into the Attribute Tag, Attribute Name and Attribue Description fields. Click the Add button to add the attribute to the product type being created or edited. To save the added custom attribute and all changes, click Save on the New/Edit Product Type page.
Field Descriptions:
Attribute Tag.
The store tag name. The tag name distinguishes a given attribute from other attributes created by the user or attributes available in the system by default. The tag name must be entered without any blank spaces. The following letters and digits are allowed: 0-9, A-Z, a-z, -, and _. For instance, if you create an attribute describing the features of a TV set, you may use TVSetFeatures (no blank spaces) as its name.
Attention: You cannot change or edit Attribute Tags after creation.
Note: Functional word Product at the beginning will be automatically appended to the tag name. For instance, if you have created custom attribute TVSetFeatures, you need to use the tag
<?php ProductTVSetFeatures() ?>
in the templates. The tag assigned to the attribute in the system is displayed below the Attribute Tag line. Please refer to the documentation for additional details about Avactis tags.
Attribute Name.
Defines the attribute name. For instance, you may use "TV Set Features" to describe the features of a TV set. An attribute name can contain any characters, including blank spaces.
Attribute Description.
Contains the attribute description. For instance, you may provide a description such as "This attribute allows you to specify TV set features."
