Reference Guide

• If you want to add the new Product and go back to the Product main screen, or

• If you want to add the new Product and stay at the Add Product screen and create another product.

• Reload the page and discards unsaved changes.

The product code uniquely identifies the product in the store database.

• The product code must be unique. It can be up to 50 characters long, but shorter codes will make some screens and reports easier to read. Customers may be able to see the product code, depending on your store settings.
• The product code is not case sensitive,

  so: CANDY,

  Candy,

  cAnDy,

  candy

  would be considered duplicates, and only one would be allowed.

• Product codes can contain letters (upper and lowercase), numbers, dashes and underscores. For example: RULER-12in or Pen_Black_3pk would be allowed.
• Product codes cannot contain: spaces, decimal points, quotation marks or slashes. For example: RULER-12" or Pen Black 3pk would not be allowed.
• You can sort products by code, either ascending or descending, to determine the order on the product list screen, and within categories. The strategy described below, under Product Name, can be used with product codes, to determine the display order when sorted.

The name of the product that customers will see in your store.

The product name is a descriptive label. It appears in many areas of the store, including the major heading for the product details screen.

The name can be up to 100 characters long, alphanumeric, and can be changed at any time. Upper — and lower — case letters, along with numbers, spaces, and symbols, can be used in the product name.

Product display order can be determined by name. This can be either ascending or descending on the product list screen, and within categories. Some businesses choose to name products so the ordering naturally clusters certain items or brand names together. To do this, establish a naming convention in your store where the more general information comes first, followed by the more specific information. For example:

• Pants, Flared-leg
• Pants, Straight-let
• Scarf, Silk
• Scarf, Wool
• Skirt, Blue
• Skirt, Red

Compare the order above with:

• Blue Skirt
• Flared-leg Pants
• Red Skirt
• Silk Scarf
• Straight-leg Pants
• Wool Scarf

1. Click on the Lookup button.
2. In the Category Lookup dialog box, select a Category, then click OK.

Canonical Category Code: If you want to assign a product to one or more categories, use the Category Code field (above) or see Catalog > Edit Product > Categories Tab. Use the Canonical Category Code for the following reasons:

• Default Breadcrumb category (CSSUI Stores only): Use the Canonical Category Code field to create a "default" category for products if you are using Smart Breadcrumbs. Normally, breadcrumbs that appear in your online store are created as the customer navigates to a product. For example, the customer starts on your store's home page, clicks on one of your store categories, and then selects a product in that category. The breadcrumb might look like this:



However, there are cases where the customer can go directly to a product page without navigating; for example, if your customer reaches a product page from a Google search, or from search results in your store. In this case, Miva Merchant software doesn't know how to create a breadcrumb.

Miva Merchant handles this case with the Canonical Category Code. If the customer jumps directly to a product page, the breadcrumb will show the category that you entered in this field. If you leave this field empty and the customer jumps directly to a product page, the software will use the first category in the category tree to which the product is assigned, as the breadcrumb default.



• Default highlighted category in category tree (CSSUI and MMUI stores): If a customer jumps to a product page without navigating, the category that you enter in the canonical field will be highlighted in the category tree:

Allows you to use multiple templates for products. For example, you could use one product display template for DVDs that you sell and another product display template for t-shirts.

Example: Creating and using multiple product templates

1. Go to > User Interface. The Pages main screen is selected by default.
2. Create a duplicate PROD (Product Display) page.

2.1. Edit the original PROD page. In the Page tab, select all of the template code and paste it temporarily into a text file.



2.2. Select the Items tab. This screen shows you all of the items that can be added to this page. A gray icon means the item is not currently assigned (in use by the page). The blue icon means the item is currently assigned to the page.



2.3. Click on the Assigned heading until it has a minus sign next to it That will sort the item list and put all of the items in use at the top of the screen.

2.4. Make a note of all of the items currently in use by the page. You can do this by making one or more screen caps, or you can select all of the items in use and then click the button to export the list as a text file.

2.5. Go to > User Interface > Pages tab and click the Add Page button.

2.6. In our example, we'll use PROD_T-SHIRT as both the new page Code and Name. Paste the template code that you copied from the original PROD page into the Template field of the new page, then click the Add button. An Items tab will appear. Click on the Items tab.

2.7. Open the screen capture that you made of the Items tab for the original PROD page, or your exported CSV list. In the Items tab of the new page, select the same items, then click the Assign Record(s) button.



Your new product page now has the same template code and items used by the original PROD page. Now you can customize the new product page in any way that you wish.

3. Associate the new template with a product.

In our example we'll edit one of our t-shirt products. In the > Catalog > Products > Edit Product (product name) > Product tab > Alternate Display Page field, enter "PROD_T-SHIRT", or click on the Look Up button; then click the Update button.

4. When the customer reaches the product page for the t-shirt that we edited, the page will be displayed with our customized product template, instead the standard PROD template.

Note that you can use the same process to create multiple templates for your categories.

1. Create a custom category page, CTGY_T-SHIRTS for example.
2. Edit a category and enter "CTGY_T-SHIRTS" in the > Catalog > Categories > Edit Category (category name) > Category tab > Alternate Display Page field.

Shipping charges are usually based on the combined weight of the products ordered. The Weight you enter here should be the shipping weight of the item, including any required packaging. For instance, a 40 pound blown-glass art piece might require a wooden crate and cushioning materials weighing an additional 20 pounds, so the shipping weight would be 60 pounds for that item.

Weight values are always specified in the Units of Measurement (Weight) field on the Edit Store / Settings screen. There is one unit of measurement that is used for all weights throughout the store.

The Description is what customers see on the product screen in your store. The description can be as long as you like, and can be entered as plain text to use the default formatting, or as HTML code, to format the description exactly as you like.

If Rich Text Mode is enabled, you can apply formatting or insert tables and images directly in the text box.

Wrap Text: Wrap Text only affects the Description field in the edit product > Details section. It does not affect how product description text is displayed in your on-line store. You may want to check this box if you often have long product descriptions.

Note: Wrap Text does not work in conjunction with Rich Text Mode. Rich Text Mode enables word wrap in the input box by default.

Before you can use the Wrap Text field in Edit Product, you must set your account default for this field.

1. Go to > Users and edit your user account.
2. Select the Settings tab.
3. Check the Wrap Text in Product Description checkbox.



4. Now you can go back to > Catalog > Edit Product > Product tab > Details section and check the Wrap Text checkbox.
• The Wrap Text checkbox in your user account sets the default for your admin account.
• The Wrap Text checkbox in Edit Product turns the setting on or off for a specific product.

The Rich Text Editor works just like the text editors in WordPad or any email client application. You can choose font family and size, text and background color, apply bold, italic, underline or strikethrough, include bullet and numbered lists, insert tables, hypertext links and pictures. You can also set text alignment (left, right, center, justified) and perform search and replace functions.

Before you can use the Rich Text Editor on Description fields, you must set your User account Text Editor Settings to enable it.

1. Go to Users and edit your user account.
2. Select the Preferences tab.
3. Set the mmtexteditor Preference.

   • mmtexteditor.richtext = 1 defaults to rich text mode when available

   • mmtexteditor.enabled = 0 disables the rich text editor completely

Note that enabling the Rich Text Editor will cause slower load times on pages with Rich Text editors.

• Taxable: Select Taxable if this product is subject to tax. Whether a product is taxable or not depends on your location and jurisdiction. Some things, such as services, certain food products, or some books are not taxed. Check with your accountant or tax attorney for specific, up-to-date information.
• Active: Select Active if you want the product to appear in the store. Clear the Active check box to hide the product. This is convenient for seasonal or occasional products. Rather than deleting them, and all the information that goes with them, set them to inactive until you want to make them available in your store again.

The freight class is based on four properties:

• Density
• Stowability/Dimensions
• Handling
• Liability

See also: http://cerasis.com/2013/11/20/freight-class/

You must check this box if your product meets the definition of "dangerous goods" as defined by the U.S. Department of Transportation. See:

• https://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/resources/ship/idg/index.html
• https://www.ups.com/content/us/en/resources/ship/hazardous

Use these fields to describe the smallest box that this product can ship in. If you are using Always Use the Fallback Package Dimensions, and the fallback dimensions are not the same as the shipping dimensions for this product, the shipping rates that you get for this product will be also be inaccurate.

To get the most accurate shipping quotes for this product:

1. Enter the shipping dimensions for this product in these fields.
2. Use Pack by Quantity or Pack by Weight.

3. Make sure you've created at least one box that this product can be shipped in using the > Shipping > Boxes tab.

   But see also: > Shipping > Settings Tab > Packaging Rules Section > Box Packing

You might use this field if you have special packaging requirements for a product. For example, if you sell a hat that ships in a special box, you would enter the dimensions of the special box in the Shipping Dimensions field, and then create a box with those same dimension in Packaging Rules > Boxes Tab.

When the system tries to calculate the shipping rate, it sees that this item must be packaged separately, so even if the whole order could fit in one box, the software will put the entire order minus this product in one box, and then go looking for a box to put this product in. If you enter the shipping dimensions for this product as 12" x 12" x 12", and then create a box the same size, the software will automatically choose that box since it looks for the smallest box to use.

You can control the shipping methods that you want to offer customers at the store level (store wide default shipping methods). You can also control the list of shipping methods that are available for a specific product (product level shipping methods).

To enable shipping methods at the store level, you first enable a shipping module, then you edit the module's tab to enable specific shipping methods. For example, if you want to offer your customers FedEx shipping:

1. Enable the FedEx Web Services module ( > Shipping > Add/Remove Modules tab.
2. Select the > Shipping > FedEx Web Services tab > Available Services, and check the shipping options that you want to offer.

If you want to restrict shipping options at the product level:

1. Go to > Catalog > Products tab > edit a product > Products tab > Shipping Rules section.
2. Check the Limit Shipping Methods checkbox, then check the boxes next to the shipping methods that you want to offer for this product. Only the shipping methods that you've checked will be shown to customers in the "Ship Via" dropdown list in the Shipping/Payment Selection screen, when they buy this product.

   But see also: To Disable Off-Line Payment Methods for Digital Products for an example of restricting payment methods at the product level.

   

Thumbnail images are small images, usually about 150 x 150 pixels, that can appear in different pages in your store. The example below shows how to add a thumbnail image to a product, and then have the thumbnail image appear in the Category page.

1. In the edit product screen > Product tab > Legacy Images section > Thumbnail Image field, click on the Upload button.



2. In the Upload File dialog box, click the browse button and browse to the thumbnail image that you want to associate with the product. If you've uploaded the image before, check the Overwrite button to upload the image again.
3. After you've browsed to or manually entered the path of the image file that you want, click the Upload button.
4. In the Edit Product screen, click Update. The thumbnail image is now associated with a product.
5. To make the thumbnail appear in a particular page, for example the Category page:

5.1. Select > User Interface > Pages tab.

5.2. Edit the Category Display (CTGY) page.

5.3. Scroll down to the Category Product List Layout section. Click on the Image drop-down list. Select Thumbnail, then click the Update button.



After you click the Update button, thumbnail images will appear in your store's category page.

The process for adding a full-sized image to the product page is the same as adding a thumbnail image:

1. Follow the steps in the Thumbnail section to attach a full-sized image to a product. A good size for a full-sized image is about 300 x 300 pixels.
2. Edit a page so that full-sized images will appear in that page. Many store owners use a full-size image in their Product Display (PROD) page. Edit the Pages > PROD page and select the Product Display Layout tab. In the Image drop-down list, select Full-Sized.