Getting Started with a Product Catalog

The creation of a catalog requires data be added to the Product Application in the form of product properties and pre-built product page types added to the Pages Application for the products to display in the website.

The Product Application in Atlas is a non-ecommerce catalog for the presentation of detailed product data. This can be as simple as a few products to feature occasionally or as large and complex as needed. The first step is planning out what the catalog needs to be. Are you featuring all one root category of product such as feed? Or will there be other categories such as clothing or machinery? What parent categories will be needed? What kinds of sub-categories within the parent categories will be useful to allow your visitors to narrow down the product type or form?

You can imagine the categories as a pyramid with the root category at the top, parent categories spread out at the next level beneath it, then product types under each parent category.

Atlas - Master Category Page Type
To construct the catalog in the Pages Application, begin with the top-level Atlas - Master Category Page Type. It works well as the home page of the product catalog. It contains large photos and clickable links to each of the parent categories and has an expandable left product navigation automatically generated by the Product Application.

Atlas - Product Category Page Type
This page type displays a listing of all products that fall under a product category. The products include an image, title and product form text, and are clickable to their individual Product Page Type. It also has an expandable left product navigation automatically generated by the Product Application.

Atlas - Product Page Type
Each product needs this page type as a product detail page. It focuses on one product and automatically includes all the data related to the product. It also has an expandable left product navigation automatically generated by the Product Application.

Product Info

The Product Info tab in the Product Catalog opens the section devoted to adding new and editing existing individual products in the catalog. This content feeds into all the product-related widgets on the ATLAS site. Any changes here update throughout the website automatically.

PROPERTY	DESCRIPTION
Item Code (Required)	Each product needs an individual code of text and/or numbers to work properly. This could be an invented code, an internal code or a manufacturer’s code.
Name (Required)	Descriptive product name in text which will appear as the header in various product widgets.
Detail	Paragraph of more of descriptive text which will appear on the Atlas – Product Page Type (a product detail page featuring one product)
Select Category	List of product categories presented with checkboxes from Product Category Properties section of this application. Multiple categories can be selected. If no categories are selected, the product will not appear in the site.
Product Type	Product type is a useful way to create a subgroup of a product. For example, new versus used. Like many elements of the product properties, it is dependent on the products being featured and the customer need.
Product Form	For example, bagged feed versus block feed. Will automatically be a clickable link in the Atlas - Product Category Page Type
Product Animal/Other	Descriptive text appearing on the product detail page
Image	Select product image from the Media Library Application
Image Title	The title attribute on an image adds a tooltip with title text to the image. Hovering the mouse over the image will display the tooltip. Optional but recommended.
Image Alt Text	This attribute provides alternative information for an image if a user for some reason cannot view it (because of slow connection, an error, or if the user uses a screen reader). Optional but recommended.
Image Description	Provides description for image.
Show on Live Site	Checkbox to show or hide product on live site
Bulk Option Available	Checkbox to show or hide the Bulk Option Available text on the Atlas – Product Page Type
Redirection Link Button Text:	This optional button could serve as a link to a manufacturer’s product PDF, to an MSDS or whatever is needed. The button text should reflect its purpose. It will appear on the detail page - the Atlas - Product Page Type.
Redirection Link Button URL:	Add URL directing to a document in the Media Library Application or a full URL on the internet
Page Redirection URL:	This optional button could serve as a link to a manufacturer’s product PDF, to an MSDS or whatever is needed.

Product Details Info

The Product Details Info tab in the Product Catalog opens the section devoted to adding new and editing product details that appear in an accordion format in the Product Detail Page Type. This content feeds into all the product-related widgets on the ATLAS site. Any changes here update throughout the website automatically.

PROPERTY	DESCRIPTION
Enabled	Checkbox to show or hide this product detail entirely on the Product Details page.
Display Order	A numeric entry to assign a specific order to the detail in the accordion.
Heading (Required)	This text heading will appear on the clickable accordion pane.
Details	Editable text area that allows for any type of content to appear in the opened accordion pane.

Product Category Info

The Product Category Info tab in the Product Catalog opens the section devoted to adding new and editing existing categories in the catalog. This content feeds into all the product-related widgets on the ATLAS site. Any changes here update throughout the website automatically.

PROPERTY	DESCRIPTION
Parent Category Menu	Select an existing root level, main category or sub-category to assign as the parent category of this branch of the catalog.
Code Name (Required)	Automatically generated if nothing is added. The system will not allow duplicate code names, spaces or special characters.
Display Name (Required)	The category name that will appear as a header title on the ATLAS Product Category pages
Navigation/Menu (Required)	The product name that will appear in the Product Category Widget for page navigation.
Category Image	Select a Product Category image from the Media Library Application Media Library which will appear as a thumbnail in the Product Category Widget.
Category Image Title	The title attribute on an image adds a tooltip with title text to the image. Hovering the mouse over the image will display the tooltip. Optional but recommended.
Category Image Alt Text	This attribute provides alternative information for an image if a user for some reason cannot view it (because of slow connection, an error, or if the user uses a screen reader). Optional but recommended.
Show in Category Listing	Checkbox to show or hide this product category in the product info tab properties.
Enabled	Checkbox to show or hide this product category entirely on live site.

Product Application