In a new store, before any products can be added, you need to create categories.
To add a new category/subcategory:
| 1. | Go to the 'Categories Management' section of the Admin zone (Management menu->Categories). You should see a form titled 'Categories'. The first time you enter the 'Categories Management' section, this form will be empty. |
On your subsequent visits, after you add some categories, the 'Categories' form will contain a list of existing categories.
| 2. | If you want to add a root level category: Click the Add new button at the bottom of the 'Categories' form. |
If you want to add a subcategory: Go to the category level at which you want the desired subcategory to be created and click the Add new button at the bottom of the 'Categories' form.
Note: You can freely move between category levels by using category name links and the category level navigation bar: clicking on the name of a category brings you to a lower level in your category tree; clicking on a link in the category level navigation bar brings you to that specific level. See Navigating the category tree for details.
| 3. | Set the parameters of the new category/subcategory by completing the 'Add category' form (See Defining category parameters). Be sure to click the Save button at the bottom of the ‘Add category’ form to save the changes. |
Basically, this is all: after you click on Save, the category details are entered into the store database and the category is considered successfully created. After an automatic page refresh, you should see an information box with a confirmation message.
Now, if you wish, you can add international descriptions for the category (See: Managing international category descriptions).
Parameters of a new category (including the category location, description, category icon, etc). can be defined using the 'Add category' form.
To define the parameters of a category :
| 1. | (Optional) Select an image that will be used as a category icon for the category (Category icons are small images which can be displayed next to category names): |
| a) | In the 'Category icon' section of the ‘Add category’ form, click the Change image button (below the default 'No Image Available' image). The 'Image selection' window will appear. |
| b) | Specify the location of your image file (use an appropriate Browse button if the file is located on the server or on your local computer, or enter an image URL if the file is located on the Internet) |
| c) | Click on Apply. The desired image should appear in the ‘Add category’ form instead of the 'No Image Available' image. |
Note: X-Cart does not set physical limitations as to the size of category icons which can be used; however, we recommend you keep your category icons relatively small. Recommended category icon image size is from 30x30 px to 50x50 px.
If you do not wish to use an icon for the category being created, leave the default 'No Image Available' image selected in the 'Category icon' section. The default image will not be displayed in the place of the category icon.
Please be aware that, if you do not define an icon for a subcategory, the subcategory will use the icon of its parent category (or of its grandparent category, if an icon for the parent category is not defined).
| 2. | (Optional) Use the 'Position' field to specify the category's position in the list of categories. A category's position is defined relative to the positions of the other categories of the same level and branch of the category tree and is expressed by a whole number. Categories with smaller position numbers get placed closer to the top of the list. |
Tip: Although there is no principal difference whether you set the position numbers of your categories as 1, 2, 3 or 10, 20, 30, the latter method of numeration seems more convenient, as it allows for creation of categories between any two existing ones without having to reassign the position numbers of all the surrounding categories.
If, at this point, you decide to leave the 'Position' field empty, the category will be automatically assigned the position 0 (zero). Please note that, if more than one categories are created on the same level with the same position number, they will be arranged in the order of creation.
| 3. | Use the 'Category' field to provide a name for the category. |
Note: make sure you do not use the '<' and '>' symbols in the names of categories. Any characters to the right of '<' and the '>' character will not be displayed.
| 4. | (Optional) Enter a description for the category into the 'Description' field. To start a new line of text or insert a line break in the description, simply press Enter. |
Note: A category description is a short text describing what kind of products is contained in the category. Category descriptions appear on category pages in the Customer zone.
| 5. | Use the 'Membership' box to specify the membership level(s) for which you want the category to be available. By default, All is selected, which means that the category will be visible to all the visitors of your store, including non-members and users who are not logged in. Selecting a specific membership level in the 'Membership' box makes the category available only to the members of this level; non-members and users of other membership levels will not be able to see this category. |
| 6. | Set the category's status by selecting Enabled or Disabled from the ‘Availability’ box. |
Enabled means that the category is visible to customers and can be used as a parameter in product search.
Disabled means that the category does not appear anywhere in the Customer zone.
Note: In X-Cart PRO, the Disabled status of a category does not affect the providers' ability to work on its products.
| 7. | (Optional) Use the 'META keywords' and 'META description' fields to provide keywords and a description for the category. Doing so ensures better ranking of the category pages in search engine listings. |
| 8. | Click on Save. |
Managing international category descriptions
If your store supports more than one languages, you need to provide names and descriptions for your categories in all the languages supported by your store. In X-Cart, a combination of a category's name and description in a language other than default is traditionally referred to as the category's international description.
To add an international description for a category:
| 1. | Open the 'International descriptions' form for this category. |
If you are working on a category that has just been created: After you see an information box with a message confirming successful creation of a category, scroll down to the bottom of the page. Below the 'Modify category' form with the details of the newly created category, you should see a form titled 'International descriptions'.
If you are working on a category that was created some time in the past: Open the category for modification, scroll through the 'Modify category' form; below this form you should see a form titled 'International descriptions'.
| 2. | Select the desired language from the LANGUAGE selectbox. |
| 3. | Use the CATEGORY NAME field to enter a category name in the selected language. |
| 4. | Use the DESCRIPTION field to enter a category description in the selected language. |
| 5. | Click the Submit button at the bottom of the 'International descriptions' form. The international description should be added. After an automatic page refresh, you should see an information box with a confirmation message. |
If you scroll down to the 'International descriptions' form, you should see your description added to the list of international descriptions for the category:
To edit an international category description, change the corresponding category name and/or description and click on Submit. The international description should be updated.
To delete an international description, click the Delete button below the name of the corresponding language. After an automatic page refresh, you should see an information box with a confirmation message.
If you scroll down to the 'International descriptions' form, you should see that the description has been removed from the list of international descriptions for the category.