Newest KB Articles in Products

Google Product Search Feed

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 18:43:09 GMT

Increase traffic to your store with a Google Product Search Feed

Colony One provides an add-on service for your COOLSite products to be converted to a Google formatted "data feed" and uploaded into Google Merchant Center automatically and daily. The products will then show at www.google.com/shopping

Increase traffic and sales
Product Search connects your products to the shoppers searching for them, helping you drive traffic and sales to your store. Your products will appear on Google Product Search and may even be displayed on Google.com, depending on your items' relevance.

Reach qualified shoppers
Reach shoppers precisely when they are searching for items to buy on Google.

Get started right away
Just email Support and let us know you would like the "Google Product Data Feed Service Added to your Account". The service is only $10 /month for the daily created data feed. As soon as we enable the service, you can submit your feed file to Google following the instructions below.

Already Have the Service? Follow the instructions below.

Google Merchant Center is a place to upload your product data to Google and make it available to Google Product Search and other Google services. You simply just need to Google Categorize your existing COOLSte Classes using the easy wizard and then you can submit your feed to Google Merchant Center. See steps below for more details.

Step 1 - Map COOLSite Classes to Google Categories

COOLSite Admin > My Catalog > Google Product Feeds
Click, Add New Category Mapping and the Edit Category window will display
Google Category: copy/paste Google Category into this field. See Full Google Category List.
Active: check to enable the category to show in the Google feed file.
Mapped Class: choose an existing Class that you want mapped to the Google Category from above.

Step 2 - Add data feed settings to Google Merchant Center

Login to Google Merchant Center at: www.google.com/merchants
You should now be at the Dashboard.
a)
Click Settings > General and fill out all info, including Website URL. (e.g., http://www.domain.com)
Save changes (at bottom)

Below Website URL, if it displays Verified then skip to step b) below, else if is displays Unverified then continue to next line.
Below Website URL, click Verify this URL
Click, Alternate methods
Choose, Add a meta tag to your site's home page
Copy the meta tag provided, and paste it into your COOLSite Admin under Meta Tags > HTML HEAD TEXT, click Submit
Go back to the Google verify page and click Verify at the bottom.
It should show Verification successful, then click Continue
Below Website URL it should now show Verified
Click Claim this URL and it should display Verified and claimed

b)
Within Google Merchant Center, Click Settings > Tax and shipping
- Set Tax settings for your state
- Set Shipping methods
ex 1: You can set one shipping price for all your items, Free being most popular.
ex 2: You could use a structure based on the weight of the packaged item.

c)
Within Google Merchant Center, Click on Data feeds > New Data Feed
Format: googlebase
Data feed filename: #.xml (where # is your COOLSite Site ID)
Save changes
--Now you should be back to the Data feeds
Under Upload column click Create schedule
Feed URL: http://www.domain.com/Ext_Product_Feeds/Google/#.xml
*(where # is your COOLSite Site ID)
*Note: The Feed URL file creation on Colony One side runs at 12am, so after mapping your classes for the first time in Step 1 above, you should wait until the next morning to check if your feed file is displaying products.
If your Feed URL is displaying products then continue below.
Click Schedule and Fetch Now
Status column should now show Processing...
You can check back later to see the result.

--
Additional Info - Field mappings

COOLSite Attribute	Google Attribute	XML
N/A	id	<g:id>
Product ID	manufacturer part number	<g:mpn>
Product Name	title	<title>
Description	description	<description>
N/A	product category	<g:google_product_category>
N/A	product type	<g:product_type>
Product URL	link	<link>
Images (1)	image link	<g:image_link>
Images (2 +)	additional image link	<g:additional_image_link>
N/A	condition	<g:condition>
Availability	availability	<g:availability>
Price	price	<g:price>
Sale Price	sale price	<g:sale_price>
Class	brand	<g:brand>
Weight	shipping weight	<g:shipping_weight>

Additional Google Attribute Information https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/188494?hl=en#US

Product Options

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 19:10:05 GMT

Overview
Product options allow your customers to choose specific attributes or add-ons for each product. (e.g., size, color etc.)
Options (e.g., blue, red) are contained within Groups (e.g., Color).

Step1: Managing the Product Options
COOLSite Admin > My Catalog > Products > Manage Options.

Manage Options tab Lists all of your existing Product Option Groups.
From this screen you can Edit Groups, Options, Up Charges, etc.

Add New Options Group tab allows you to Add a New Option Group.
--Option Group Name: This is the name that is displayed on the products page next to the product it relates to.
--Type: Choose to show your product options as a Select List menu (Drop Down) or single line Text Input field.
a) Select List option type displays a drop down of choices with different up charges (eg. Color > red, blue, green, etc.).
b) Text Input option type is used when you need the customer to add some information regarding the product. This might be a personalized message added to the product such as engraving text on jewelry (eg. Happy Anniversary).
--If you choose Text Input, Text Input Up Charge will be shown which adds an Up Charge to the Product cost if any text is input by the customer prior to being added to the shopping cart.

Click Add Option Group to Save.
--

Step 2: Apply the Options to Products.
COOLSite Admin > My Catalog > Products > Manage Products.

Add or Edit a Product and there is a top Tab for Options.
Click Add Option to apply Options to the Product.
You can either Add New Option Group OR Select an existing Option Group.
--

Step 3: Customer Checkout with Product Options

Add to Cart:
Now when you view a product on your website that has Options applied it should have the select list or text input options that you applied in the Admin steps above. e.g.,

Shopping Cart:
The shopping cart will display all products added to the cart as well as all Options and related up charges for those products.

When a product is purchased and an Option with an up charge is chosen, the up charge will be added to the price of the product upon checkout. For example, when purchasing an item costing $20.00 and choosing the Option called Color>Red with an up charge of $2.00, then the total product cost will be $24.00 upon checkout.

Marking products as "Out of Stock" or "Inactive"

Thu, 08 May 2008 20:00:01 GMT

To mark an item as "out of stock" or "inactive", edit the product via "Products > View/Edit Products" in the admin.

Once you have selected a product to edit, you will see a field named "Active". Uncheck the checkbox next to this field to mark the item as "inactive". When an item is inactive, the item will not display on the site. Customers will not be able to purchase or view the product. The product is not deleted however and can be put back on your site simply by editing the product again and checking the "Active" checkbox.

Adding Picture Captions to existing Product Photo's

Thu, 08 May 2008 19:59:31 GMT

To add a picture caption, you will need to click on "Products > View/Edit Product" from your admin area and then click on a product to edit from your list of products. From the next page, you will need to scroll down to the bottom section that says "MANAGE IMAGES for this Product". In this section, you will notice a column that says "Edit Info." Click on the icon below that column and to the right of the appropriate image that you would like to add/edit the picture caption for. You can make your changes to the picture caption from the next page and then click on "Save Changes" when you are done.

You can now view your website and take a look at the product that you just edited the picture caption for.

Copying & Pasting information from your Product Sheet (Document) to your Site

Thu, 08 May 2008 19:47:42 GMT

Below are the instructions on how to copy and paste information from the Product/Data Sheet/Website that your dropshipper has supplied you with, onto your site.

*Note: Before copying and pasting information from any of the above sources, please make sure that you have the permission from your dropshipper to do so.

When you open up the document/website containing the text you want to copy over to your site, you will need to first highlight the text from the document/website and then hold down the “CTRL + C” keys on your keyboard to copy the selected text. Next, when you go to add a new product (Products > Add New Products) or edit an existing product (Products > View/Edit Product), you can paste the text you previously copied to the respective field (ie: Product Name, Product Description, etc…) in your admin area by holding down the “CTRL + V” keys on your keyboard.

*Note: You cannot copy and paste images from these sites into your admin area. Instead, you will need to first save the image onto your computer as a .gif or .jpg image type and then upload it to the respective area in your admin.

Product Search Box

Thu, 08 May 2008 19:46:05 GMT

If you would like to use a small product search box, you can use one of the the following HTML that can be placed in a Free Form page or Configure Layout area in the Edit Raw HTML section.


<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="cart-tab">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td align="center" class="realtorheaderbg1"><strong>Search</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" class="defaulttext"><br /><form action="/index.cfm/__Products/fuseaction/listproducts" enctype="application/x-www-form-urlencoded" method="post" name="ViewProducts">
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td align="center"><input class="form" maxlength="30" name="textfilter" size="19" type="text" /> <br /><a href="../index.cfm/Search">Advanced Search</a>    <input type="submit" name="button" id="button" value="Go!" style="font-size: 11px;" /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</form></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div><br /></div>


Alternatively, you can use this HTML code to get a search box that prefills text which also disappears when user clicks inside the box:

<div>
<script type="text/javascript">// <![CDATA[
function clearMe(formfield){
if (formfield.defaultValue==formfield.value)
formfield.value = ""
}
// ]]></script>
<script type="text/javascript">// <![CDATA[
function clearMe(formfield){
if (formfield.defaultValue==formfield.value)
formfield.value = ""
}
// ]]></script>
</div>
<form action="/index.cfm/Products/fuseaction/listproducts" method="post" name="ViewProducts"> <input alt="search" class="txtInput" name="textfilter" onblur="this.value = this.value || this.defaultValue;" onfocus="clearMe(this)" value="Product Search" /> <input class="btnSearch" name="button" type="submit" value="GO" /> </form>

Promotional Codes

Thu, 08 May 2008 19:45:40 GMT

You can add promotional codes to your site by clicking on “Promotional Codes” from your admin area. Then, click on the “Add Discount Code” button from the next page.

You can then fill out the necessary information and click on the “Submit” button at the bottom of the page when you’re done. For more help on filling out the required fields, please click on the “Get More Help” link in the yellow box above.

At this point, you have successfully setup a Promotional Code on your site and you can now do the following to allow customers to know about these promotional codes that you are currently running on your site.

You can create a new free form type page on your site, where you can add all of your current promotional codes to. Your customers can then go to that page and locate the code that they would like to use with their order. Once they locate the code, they can then apply it accordingly to their shopping cart as follows:

When your customers add a product to their shopping cart, they will see a box that says "Enter a promotional code" where they can enter and submit one of your promotional codes. Then, when they apply that code to their shopping cart, if their current order total matches the promotional criteria, then the discount will be applied.

How to Add Products

Thu, 08 May 2008 19:33:29 GMT

How to Add Products

STEP 1

If you have not yet created the Classes (Categories) and Manufacturers that your products will reside in then you must add them first.

A) Create your Classes:
Classes > View/Edit Classes will list what you currently have. In your admin area under My Catalog, choose Classes > Add a New Class. This will give you Work with Classes.

Add a Class:

Class Name: Enter the name of the class or category. Ex: DVD Players, Toys, Art, etc.
Description: (Optional) Describe the characteristics of the class that you are adding.

Finally, you must click the Add button and your class will be added. You will need to repeat this step for each class/category that you would like to setup.

B) Create the Manufacturer:
Manufacturers > View/Edit Manufacturers will list what you currently have. In your admin area under My Catalog choose Manufacturers > Add a New Manufacturer. This will give you Work with Manufacturers.

Add a Manufacturer:

Manufacturer Name: Enter the name of your manufacturer. Ex: Sony or Pioneer would be a manufacturer name for a CD player.
Description: (Optional) Describe the characteristics of the Manufacturer that you are adding.

Finally, you must click the Add button and your manufacturer will be added. You will need to repeat this step for each manufacturer that you would like to setup.

STEP 2

Once you have added your Classes and Manufacturers for the products you want to add then you can continue with the following:

A) Create the product:
In your admin area under My Catalog choose Products > Manage Products. On the following page click the Add New Product link above the product list on the bottom half of the screen.

Now there are a series of tabs in which you must fill out the desired information about your product.

    a. Main
        i.Product ID: Gives each product a unique number in which you can reference and search by in your site. This could be a stock or catalog number, etc.
        ii. Product Name: This where you will put the name of the product
        iii. UPC Code: List the UPC or scan code for easier tracking of products.
        iv. Availability: Select either “In Stock” or “Out of stock” mattering on the availability of the item.
        v. Active: By clicking this checkbox it will allow your item to be viewed on your catalog page. If you do not want your product to be available to your customers but still in the database then uncheck the Active Item checkbox.

    b. Description
        i. This is where you can go into detail about the product. For example, if you were entering products for a CD store, this would list songs on the disc or a review of the disc.

    c. Small Description
        i. In this area provide a quick and concise description of your product for viewers to acquire general information about the product.

    d. Categories
        i. Class: You must select a class/category for which the product that you are adding will be grouped under. The class must be created prior to setting the product to that class (see step 1(a) above). Otherwise, you can use the unspecified default class. However, by setting up your class list before hand, this will allow you to filter your catalog pages by classes if desired and allow for better organization of your products.
NOTE: You must have AT LEAST ONE class entered or you will not be able to properly add a product!
        ii. Manufacturer: You must select a manufacturer for which the product that you are adding will be grouped under. The manufacturer must be created prior to setting the product to that manufacturer (see step 1(b) above). Otherwise, you can use the unspecified default manufacturer. However, by setting up your manufacturer list before hand, this will allow you to filter your catalog pages by manufacturers if desired and allow for better organization of your products.
NOTE: You must have AT LEAST ONE manufacturer entered or you will not be able to properly add a product!
        iii. Featured Item: By clicking the checkbox it will allow your item to be viewed on your catalog page as a featured item only. If you do not want your product available to your customers, uncheck the Featured Item checkbox.
        iv. New Item: By clicking the checkbox it will allow your item to be viewed on your catalog page, listed under your New Products Page as a new item.
        v. Vendor: Helps determine the wholesaler vendor that the product comes from.
        vi. Search Key Words: In this area provide keywords that you would like this product to fall under when customers are searching for products on your site. Make sure to separate these keywords with commas.

     e. Price
        i. Price: Specifies the price of the product. It should be in the form 'xxx.xx' with no $ sign.
        ii. Sale Price: This where you will put a product on sale. You can enter a sale price less than the previously set price to put the product on sale.
        iii. Show all Prices: Select this option to have the product price and the sale price listed with the product price shown as cancelled.

    f. Shipping
        i. Weight: Specify the weight of the product. It will also be used to calculate the shipping if you have chosen Weight Based Shipping. Must be in the form of numbers only. Make sure to specify whether the measurement is in lbs. or oz.
        ii. Dimensions: Enter the dimensions of your package.
        iii. Free Shipping: Click yes if you want the item shipped for no charge. Note that you can only choose this option if you have defined shipping methods for ship free products.
        iv. Shipping Surcharge: Add an additional charge to a product due to shipping.
        v. Case Pack: Specify how many products will be included in a case if necessary.
        vi. Options: This is where you specify an option for the product. For example, if you were entering products for a tee shirt store, it would give the available options of sizes of Small, Medium, Large, etc. To do this click the “Add Option” button and then either click “Add new Option Group” to create a brand new one to apply or select an existing option group to apply to the product.

    g. Images
        i. Note that you cannot add photos to a product until it is added to the database. If you have not yet added the product skip over this step and add the product.
        ii. Once you have added the product by clicking the “Save” button you will be prompted to add pictures. You can do this by clicking the “Upload New Pictures” link on the “Images” tab and browsing for the desired picture.

    h. Files
        i. Note that you cannot add files to a product until it is added to the database. If you have not yet added the product skip over this step and add the product.
        ii. Once you have added the product by clicking the “Save” button you will be prompted to add files. You can do this by clicking the “Add New File” link on the “Files” tab and browsing for the desired file.

Finally, you must click the Save button underneath the tab area and your product will be added. You will need to repeat this step for each additional product that you would like to add.

Dropshipper - Product Supplier

Thu, 08 May 2008 19:33:00 GMT

In your COOLSite admin area under Resources you will find a link to a Dropshipper Directory where you can search for a Dropshipper. You can also locate numerous dropshippers by simply utilizing search engines to search for specified wholesalers of products that you wish to sell.