Custom Vantage Web™ How to Create Shared and Private Features
by Amanda Katon
Introduction
So far we have shown you step by step how to use various tools within the Stamp Shop Web Admin to create various types of products to sell on your website. This month we will be discussing how to create and apply shared and private features to a product. What are shared and private features you may ask? Well, quite simply these features are what allow your customers to choose such things as ink color on non-customizable products, such as a stamp pad or bottle of ink, type in their notary names, address, select a state, and so much more! These features can be added, edited, and deleted at any time. The difference between a shared feature and a private feature is that a shared feature is created once and has the ability to be added to multiple products, whereas a private feature is created just for one particular product. In this installment both options will be demonstrated.
Steps to Follow
Let us start with creating Shared Features! To begin, sign into your website with your administrator’s username and password. Once you have signed in, you will see the admin area of your website with the blue tabs along the top of the page. Click on the Products tab. Then in the left-hand navigation choose Shared Features (see Image 1). To create a shared feature, first you must choose what type of feature you would like to create. The different options include text input, drop down list, radio button list, HTML area, accessory checkbox, accessory radio button list, and accessory drop down list. Once you choose one of the above options, click the New button.
Text Input
If you have selected the text input option and clicked the New button, on the next screen you will need to begin by typing in a Property Name. This field is what you, the administrator, will see in the list of available shared features to choose from when you add this feature to a particular product. Next you will want to enter a Display Name; this is what the customer will see on the store view that labels the choice field. Next, if you would like the feature to be a required field for customers to fill in, check the checkbox next to the Required Field option. Below the required field is the ability to Wrap Text. This will force the text inside the box to wrap so it flows nicely. If you do not wish to have this ability turned on simply uncheck the box. Lastly, you can choose the size of your text input area by specifying the number of columns and rows. Setting the number of columns, is the equivalent to setting the width and setting the number of rows is equivalent to setting the height. These settings do not affect the amount of text a customer can type; it only sets the size of the box. When you have completed all the options you wish to utilize click the OK button to save the text input shared feature (see Image 2).
Drop Down List
If you have selected the drop down list option and clicked the New button, on the next screen you will need to begin by typing in a Property Name (name displayed for administrators) and then type the Display Name (name displayed to the customer). Unlike a text input feature, with the drop down list you need to create new Items which are the choices that will appear to the customer. To add new items click the New button next to the word items. On the next screen you will have various options pertaining to that item. First you will see the Null Item option which does not have any value; an example of its use would be a display name of “Choose your Ink Color”. Next, you can choose whether or not you would like this item to be the default item selected. Just below that is an Image URL section where you would type the path to an image you would like to display next to the product feature. For example, when you upload the image “stamp.jpg” to your website’s images folder you would then type the path as “/images/stamp.jpg”. We recommend that this image size be 16px square. The next four fields pertain to adjusting the price of the product when the feature option is chosen. The amount is added to the price, cost, weight, or shipping. For example if purple ink is $1.00 more than the default black ink item you would add $1.00 to the price field. Therefore if your customer chose purple ink over black it would charge them an extra $1.00 for that choice. When you have completed the item click the OK button. You can add as many items to the drop down list as you wish (see Image 3).
Radio Button
If you have selected the radio button list option and clicked the New button, on the next screen begin by typing in a Property Name (displayed for administrators) and then type the Display Name (displayed to the customer). Then you have the option to decide if you would like the radio buttons to display in a vertical list that fills one column or in a row with several columns by entering the number of columns you’d like. Lastly, you will need to add the radio button list options by adding new items. The same settings apply here for adding new items as they do for a drop down list. Once you have added all the items you would like click OK to save the radio button list (see Image 4).
HTML Area
If you have selected HTML Area, click the New button. Next you will need to type the property name (displayed for administrators) and then type a display name (displayed to the customer). The HTML area below is where you can add HTML code to display to the customer. An HTML area can be used to add instructions for the customer on a particular product. When you have typed all the HTML code you wish click the OK button to save your changes (see Image 5).
Accessory Checkboxes, Accessory Radio Button Lists, and Accessory Drop Down Lists
Accessory Checkboxes, Accessory Radio Button Lists, and Accessory Drop Down Lists are examples of accessory product features. These three accessory features provide you with the option of having additional products as options for your main product. For example, if you are selling a rubber stamp but would like to give the customer the option of adding an ink pad to their cart without having them shop around the site for the ink pad, you can add an accessory feature to the rubber stamp. Create an accessory checkbox, radio button list or drop down list for the customer to choose either one ink pad or several different colored ink pads. It's important to understand that to add an accessory the product must already exist on your site. Also, each accessory feature will do the same thing; add a product to your main product. The 3 different accessory features give you the choice of how the options of adding a product will display to the customer, either as check boxes, radio buttons, or as a drop down list. To add these features simply choose the type you’d like, click new, add items and click OK when finished to save your accessory feature. The act of setting up items in an accessory feature is similar to those of the normal features, the only difference is you will search for a product and once you find the product you will check the checkbox next to the SKU number and then click the select button near the bottom of the window. After that, click the OK button to save your changes to the item. Once you have added all the items you would like displayed for the customer click the OK button to save the accessory feature (see Image 6).
To add a shared feature to a product you first will want to find and edit the product you’d like the feature to appear on. Once you are editing the product, click on the product features link in the left-hand navigation. On this screen you will see toward the top a dropdown list labeled Add Shared Features. Click the drop down list and choose the shared feature you’d like to add (name comes from the property name of the feature). Then click the Add button to the right of the drop down. Your selected shared feature will populate below and you have the ability to move the feature above or below other features to achieve the display order you wish by clicking the up or down arrows to the right of the feature. You can also delete or edit these features from this screen as well (see Image 7). Lastly, click the continue button to return to the main screen for products.
Private Features
To create a private feature (to be used on just one product instead of many), first start by clicking on the Products tab and finding the product you’d like to add it to, then Edit that product. Once you are editing the product on the left-hand navigation you will see a link labeled product features, click the link (see Image 8). This will look exactly the same as it did in the shared features section where you can choose the type of feature you’d like and add items to that feature. The only difference is a private feature is only for that one specific product instead of a shared feature which can be applied to many different products.