Creating a new product | Kartris User Guide

4.2.2. Creating a new product

If you are creating an 'options' product, then you will need to create the options first.

Then you can either go to 'Products > Add New Product', or you can click the 'New' link next to the products section in a category view. This will bring up the product editor page.

4.2.2.1. Category parent

Each product must belong to at least one category. In such cases, the category that a product belongs to is called its 'parent'. To select a category, enter the name (or part of the name) in the single line text box of the 'category parent' section. A list of matching categories will spring up. Select the appropriate one and hit the 'Add' link next to the box. The category will be added in the box above.

Kartris supports multiple category parents. You can use the same process to add further categories. All the categories that a product belongs to will be listed in the multiple dropdown.

To remove a category from being a parent of this product, simply highlight it in the multiple dropdown list and click the 'Remove selected' link.

These product-category relationships will only be saved when the product is updated/created with the 'Save' button.

4.2.2.2. Product type

There are three selectable types of product – single version, multiple version and options product. These are explained further in @4.1.4. Product types.

When you select the product type, some of the dropdown menus immediately below will be enabled or preset to certain values and disabled. This is because certain selections of these only apply to certain product types.

If you are editing an existing product, and find that you are not permitted to change the product type, it is most likely because the product has associated data which is incompatible with the other product types. For example, if you have a multiple-version product, it cannot be changed to a single version or options products without first deleting the extraneous versions.

4.2.2.3. Product not visible warning

After creating a new product, you will see a warning at the top of the page that the product is not live on the web site because there are no versions live.

This makes clear if there are any reasons why the product being viewed is not visible from the front end of the web site. The reasons include:

No valid live version
Product is disabled ('show on site' checkbox unchecked)
Product belongs to a customer group (in this case, the warning makes clear that the product is only visible to members of that group, and not the wider public)
None of the parent categories are live

If you find for some reason that a product you created doesn't show up on the front end of the site, check it in the back end - this warning should provide clear guidance on the reason, and hence what steps you need to take to fix it.

4.2.2.4. Creating a version

In Kartris, every product must have an least one 'version' under it. A version is the record that contains the price, tax rate, SKU (unique item code), item weight and stock quantity information.

If you create a 'single version' product, a new version is automatically created. However, you must still go to the 'versions' tab in order to enter a price and other minimum information, as well as to set the new version live.

For other product types, you must also create at least one version before the product is complete and can be visible on the front of the web site to be purchased.

4.2.2.4.1. RRP

RRP, or recommended retail price, let's you display a guide price on your site for the manufacturer's recommended pricing, typically in order to demonstrate how much cheaper than the norm your price is.

To activate this, you must first turn the RRP display on with the frontend.versions.display.showrrp config setting, then you can set a value for RRP for each version. Note that this only shows on some version types; options products do not display this for example, because the price of options products is not fixed - and providing an RRP for each permutation of options would be unnecessarily complex for what is essentially just a guide and marketing device.

4.2.2.5. Editing versions and adding content

Once you have created a version, you may wish to add images or media. This can only be done for multiple version type versions.

4.2.2.5.1. The 'Images' tab

Kartris versions can have unlimited images. To add an image for a version, click the images tab and then 'Add new'.

Hit 'Browse' and navigate to an image on your local computer. Ideally, this image should be sized already for use as a 'large view' image on your site. Ideally this should be big enough to exploit the space available on large screens (e.g. 1200px or more wide) but compressed to a reasonable size (perhaps couple of hundred KB).

Once selected, click the 'upload' link to the left of the browse box.

You can upload multiple images one by one, or you can multi-select in the dialog and upload several at once. They will appear here as a list. The image order can be changed using the up/down buttons, or it can be deleted.

Where there are multiple images, only the first will display within the version listing. The others will be visible in a gallery under the first image if the image is clicked to view the large view.

4.2.2.5.2. The 'Media' tab

You can upload or create links to media in much the same way as for products. See @4.2.2.8. The 'Media' tab‍ for more details.

4.2.2.6. Finding and viewing versions

Versions can be reached in a number of ways.

You can navigate the category structure and see products listed; clicking the [+] sign to the left hand side of the product name will expand the product so that its versions are visible.

Versions can also be found from the search box in the Kartris back end. When editing a product, you can switch to the 'versions' tab to see all versions listed.