Converting to and Setting up Catalogs - MKB 0108 Follow

Catalogs are one way you can display your Products (Order Forms) to your customers in the storefront. Whether you are switching from a different display type, or setting up your website for the first time, this article will demonstrate how to start using Catalogs to give your users a clean, organized way to navigate and display all your Order Forms.

There are 4 different ways to display your product Order Forms to your users:

1. Links
2. Pull-Down Menu
3. Table
4. Catalog (recommended)

This article covers the fourth option, Catalogs. Below are screenshots of these different options. 

Links - Displays Order Forms vertically with no icons.

Pull-Down Menu - Displays Order Forms in a Single pull down menu at the top of the screen with no icons.

Table - Displays Order Forms with an icon. NOTE: you will not be able to group or categorize Order Forms together using this display.

Catalog - Our recommended display. This display allows grouping and categorization of your Order Forms along with an icon.

 

To select the Catalog Display Type, log into your MyOrderDesk website and navigate to Site Settings > Options > Send Files and Orders.

You’ll see the 4 different display types listed. This is a global setting that will apply to all users in your storefront. 

 

Adding an Icon to your Order Form

Catalogs are like folders where you will collect your various Order Forms into. If you'll be using Table or Catalog display, you'll want to add an icon to each of your Order Forms to represent the types of products that it is.

To add an Icon to an Order Form, go to Tools > Order Forms, and highlight the row of your Order Form and then select Edit. 

Step 1.) Along the Settings Navigation Bar, select the Icon option as seen in the screenshot below: 

Step 2.) Hover over the end of the Form Icon field to display the icon that will give you access to the File Library. 

From here you can locate a file already uploaded to your File Library, or Select the option to upload a new file. When you upload a file from your computer you will need to specify what folder you want to upload to. Select a folder that exists, or create a new folder. Once your folder is selected, Add the file and Start the upload. 

 

Creating a Catalog

Navigate to Tools > Catalogs from the administrative menu. 

You’ll arrive at the Catalog page where a list of your all catalogs will be shown. There is one catalog which cannot be copied or deleted and that is the Top Level Catalog which is your main “Order” page. 

To create a Catalog, select the New button and enter in a Catalog Name in the popup window, and click on OK. If you'll be setting up Catalogs for multiple Groups of users, we recommend including the Business or Group name to make it easier to identify each Catalog.

After your new Catalog is created, you will be brought to the Catalog Properties page where you will make decisions on how you want this Catalog to be set up. Complete the prompts and then Save. 

• Name - Will display the name you created. You can edit the name here.
• Enabled - Select to have the Catalog available for use in the storefront.  
• Parent Catalog - Catalogs can be "nested" in other catalogs. To place a catalog inside of another catalog, use the "Parent Catalog" pulldown menu.
• Sort Order - If you would like to put your Catalogs in a certain order, indicate a number (larger numbers displaying first). 
• Layout Settings - There is a default Layout Setting that you can use. If you are creating custom Layouts (created in Admin > Catalogs > Layout Settings tab), then select the layout you would like to use for this particular Catalog from the dropdown. 
• Banner - MyOrderDesk supports an unlimited number of rotating and static banners that can display throughout your website. If you have created a banner you would like to have display at the top of this Catalog, select it from the dropdown. (Banners are created in Admin > Site Settings > Banners).
• Image - You will want to display an image above the name of your banner. As you did with the Order Form image, hover over the end of the Image field to display the icon that you can select to choose or upload an image to your File Library. Either select an image already uploaded, or upload a new image from your computer. 
• Description (upper) - If you would like to enter custom text that will display above the list of Forms in your catalog, enter it here. 
• Description (lower) - If you would like to enter custom text that will display below the list of Forms in your catalog, enter it here. 
• Enable WYSIWYG Editor - For the two text description areas, you can enable the editor to display more than just plain text on the page, or add images, links, etc. to the text. 
• Meta Description - Used for SEO purposes. 
• Meta Keywords - Used for SEO purposes. 
• Links to this Catalog for web browsing and email use - Convenient links you can use when linking users to your Catalog page from a browser or from an email. 
• Internal details on the Catalog creation. 

Assigning Order Forms and DocMart Lists to your Catalog

Next to the Properties Tab you will see a tab for Order Forms and DocMart Lists. This is where you will select which Forms and Lists you want to display inside this Catalog. Go to each of these tabs and select the item you want added and turn it ON in the dropdown. You can add multiple at one time, or if you want to assign one at a time so you can indicate the sort order they should display, you have that option at the bottom of the page beside the dropdown menu. 

 

Setting Up Custom Layouts

There are many options when deciding on how to layout your Order Forms and Catalogs. We've created some default, recommend settings that you can customize to your liking. 

 

Step1.) In the Administration Menu, Navigate to Catalogs > Settings

Step1a.) We recommend naming your first layout something such as "Default Layout". Type that in and click on "New Layout". This will use our recommended Catalog settings. As you begin creating more Catalogs, you can use the arrow next to the "New Layout" button to use some of our other recommended Layouts.

 

 

In the catalog layout section, you can set whether or not you see the Name and/or Image of the catalog once that catalog is selected.

If you have sub-catalogs you can control where those catalogs appear when accessing the parent catalog. By default it is set to intermix with Order Forms. Use the options here to change the location of the sub catalogs.

 

 

 

To enhance the catalog experience you may want to enable the side bar section. This is useful if you've got many sub catalogs and Order Forms.  If you’d like to display a random items in the side bar area (which is useful for publicly available storefront websites) you can choose which catalogs to select the item from using the Feature Image pull down. See images below.

 

 

 

The Item Layout area is where you can change the size of the Icons for this layout.  If you are new to catalogs, and plan on changing the icon size, we suggest turning on both border styles for the Item and the Icon. That way, you'll be able to see how the 2 dimensions correlate.

 

 

Enabling your Catalogs by Assigning them to Groups of Users

Once all Catalogs are customized to your liking, you will need to set them to "ON" for the groups that should have access to them.  Navigate to Users & Groups, select the group that should have access to the Catalog(s), and select the Assign button and then from the dropdown menu, select ON.