Windows Catalog structures
- Morten Lindequist Køhler
Catalog structures are typically built to manage output channels. This could be a printed catalog, a website, a data feed, etc.
General principle
As a general principle, a catalog structure has two left-side sections. The top one provides access to all products, the bottom one controls the output channel.
Adding, sorting and removing catalog items
One of the main tasks in a catalog structure is to manage assortments. You want to make sure that the right products are included in the right output channels and that items are sorted correctly.
Example: Let’s say you want to add all your gray Oval pots to the Cooking section of your catalog. To do this, you navigate to relevant items in the top section, select them and drag them onto the Cooking node in the bottom left-side section:
When you now click Cooking, the new items are shown below existing items in right-side grid (you may have to hit F5 to refresh grid):
Split screen
If you want to add and sort items in one operation, you can use split screen. You activate split screen by clicking the split screen icon at the top of the screen:
With split screen active you can navigate main product structure (top) and output channel (bottom) independently and drag items from top grid directly to bottom grid.
Example: Let’s say you want to add the 1208-PEBO to the Cooking section of the catalog. You navigate to the right product in the top section and the right catalog chapter in the bottom section. You can now drag the item directly into the Cooking section and drop it in the right order in one go:
The bottom grid is immediately refreshed to show the new item:
Managing catalog structure
Another important task in a catalog structure is to manage the structure of the catalog itself (chapters, subchapters and related information).
To understand how to do this, you just need to see, that left-side sections are grids, exactly like right-side grids. This mean you have access to the same context menu and grid toolbar as you have right-side.
Manage catalog information
Example: In this screenshot we have widened the left side by dragging the divider. We have then used to grid toolbar to show all Catalog columns:
From here you can manage information (texts, images, etc) related to each catalog chapter directly in the grid. You can also open an item editor for any chapter and manage data there.
Add/remove catalog chapters
Since the left side Catalog structure is a grid, you can right-click any item and access the context menu.