Custom Vantage Web™ How to change settings in your website—Part 2

 

by Amanda Katon

 

Settings, settings and more settings! Last month we began to discuss some of the options available on your Stamp Shop Web website. With the vast amount of available settings, this section will be our focus for the next few months. In this issue, we’ll pick up where we left off by examining the Category and Search options and continue through to the mail server options. Now let’s dig into the Settings Tab even further!

 

Steps to Follow
To view the settings available for your website, you must first be signed into the admin area of your Stamp Shop Web site. Once you are logged in, click the Settings Tab. Then click on the Category and Search link on the left hand settings menu.

 

Within the Category and Search options, you’ll find additional setting options for both categories and search areas on your website. Let’s look at them in greater detail (see Picture 1).

 

 

Show “home” in category tree?: this option, if checked, will display “home” as a link at the top of the list of categories that appears on your website in the left navigation.

 

Show Categories Tabs in Header?: select this option to display your categories within the header (or top) section of your website. A horizontal bar, containing links to your categories, will appear across the bottom of the header just below your logo.

 

Always Show Expanded Categories: this option always shows sub-categories, even if a category
is not selected. This works only when a “CategoryList2” is placed in the nav-column. (The nav-column refers to the column, typically on the left hand side, that helps users navigate the website. It is displayed on all pages, including the homepage.)

 

Tabs per row: set the number of category “tabs” that will display in the horizontal category menu bar when the Show Categories Tabs in Header option is selected.

 

In general, a pager is a short numeral page link that is shown when the display of the content requires more than one page (for example, more products in a category than what will fit on one page—see Picture 2). A pager typically shows the page numbers and a previous and next link.

 

 

Pager Prefix: what is added in front of the pager display. By default, it adds a space ( ).

 

Pager Spacer: what displays between each page number. The default is set to a space, pipe symbol (|), space ( | ).

 

Page Suffix: what is added in back of the pager display. It adds a space by default ( ).

 

Next Page Text: the text for the next link. As a default, this text is set up to display a pipe, a space, the word “Next,” and then another space (| Next ).

 

Last Page Text: the text that displays as the previous link. This is shown as the word “Previous,” followed by a space by default (Previous ).

 

Show Next/Last Links?: if checked, this option will display the next and/or last links on the category pages. If it is left unchecked, it will not.

 

Show Search Results as: select how you would like the search results to be displayed. Choose from a detailed list, a simple list or a grid (the same options that are available in the “category display as” section under the Products Tab) Refer to the January 2013 MIM article on working with categories for more details).

 

Search Results Grid Size: if you choose a grid from Show Search Results as noted above, this option lets you determine the size of the search results grid. Select the number of columns and rows of products to be displayed per page.

 

Flag products as “new”: select this option and the system will automatically display “new” next to a recently added product when it is displayed in a category.

 

Within the Countries link, you will find a list of countries to indicate your company’s shipping destinations around the world. To add a country to your “available” column, click the box directly next to the country name (see Picture 3a).

 

 

Once you are finished, click the Save Changes button at the bottom of the page. You can also set up specific States/Regions within that country by clicking on the State/Region button to the right of the country name and code (see Picture 3b). To enter a new Country State/Region, you must type in the name of the country’s State or Region, along with the Abbreviation (code). Then, from the drop down below, choose the country to which the state/region belongs and click the New button (see Picture 4). 

 

 

Within this link, you’ll find available options for the customizable products on your site. Here, you can prepare and design instructions to help your customers with the creation and design of their own stamps, daters, round products (such as round stamps and seals) and signs. Instructions for the design wizard page can also be specified here. All of the instructions you create can be put on your customizable pages. In the various instruction areas, you can customize the “how to/step-by-step” instructions for your customers, based on the type of product they are customizing. You will find a few other options regarding custom products as well (see Picture 5).

 

 

Preview Location: this option refers to where the preview will display on the custom product pages. You can choose to show the preview on the top, bottom or both top and bottom of the page.

 

Allow Proof (PDF document): check this box if you will allow your customers to view a PDF proof of their product before placing their order.

 

Show products on the Stamp Wizard page: check this box if you would like to display stamp mounts to your customers as they use the Stamp Wizard. (The alternative would be to allow them to design the impression first and then click the Continue button to view the mount options.)

 

Show Help links in Design pages: select this option to allow the Help links to appear on all customization/design pages.

 

URL to help page Stamp Wizard: If you’d like a full page of help options that is independent of the customization page, then this is the help option for you! Here, type the path to the page you have created that will help customers (this can be an html page or a custom page previously built on your website). An example of a path to a custom page would be: /custom.aspx?id=6. Once you have included a path to an existing page on your site and selected “Show Help Links in Design pages,” a “help” link will appear on the design page. When clicked, a window will pop up with the URL you have typed here.

 

Page Instructions for Stamp Wizard: As an alternative to creating the help link above, you can turn to the WYSIWYG editor and make a more simplified instruction area that appears directly on the customization page (see the February 2013 MIM article for a refresher on using the editor). To add instructions for the Stamp Wizard page, click inside the WYSIWYG Editor and design the instructions to your liking. These instructions will appear at the top of the design page for Stamp Design Wizard.

For the remaining URL to Help Pages (Daters, Rectangle/Square (stamps), Round and Signs), follow the same instructions as noted above under URL to Help Page Stamp Wizard. In addition, for the other four Page Instructions areas for Daters, Rectangle/Square, Round, and Signs products, be sure to follow the same instructions noted here in Page Instructions for Stamp Wizard.

 

Custom Image Resolution: choose from three different resolution sizes for the custom image resolution. We highly recommend 1200 dpi. If you change this setting, be aware that all your background and insert images in your CPD Custom Attributes will need to match the new resolution you choose.

 

Multi-Color Impressions (MCI) Font size of blank line between colors: this pertains to the font size of the line separating the two different regions of a multi-color impression.

 

Maximum Characters per inch/mm: set the maximum characters per inch by first clicking the radio button next to “Characters” and then typing the number of characters in the field provided to the right. This setting defines at what point text will compress, based on what the customer enters for text and the size of the text.

 

Maximum % of Compression: set the maximum percent of compression by first clicking the radio button next to “Percent” and then typing the percentage amount in the field provided to the right. Type in the percentage using only numbers and no decimals. This setting, like the Maximum Characters per in/mm setting, defines at what point text will compress, based on what the customer enters for text and the size of the text, but in a percentage versus characters per inch/mm.

 

The following line spacing fields determine the amount of leading between lines of text in generated stamps. We do not recommend making changes to these settings.

 

The Generate Site Map link pertains to creating a sitemap for your website. The sitemap generates a map of active products and non-hidden categories, as well as custom pages. The sitemap is a specially formatted document to aid search engines in indexing your site.

If you have custom code for your sitemap, you can add it by pasting it into the empty box provided and clicking the Submit button. This code will be appended to the bottom of the generated map. If you do not have special code, then you may generate a sitemap by simply clicking the Submit button (see Picture 6).

 

 

If you would like to see the file Stamp Shop Web generates, select the checkbox for Also Send Me a Copy of the File before clicking the Submit button (see Picture 7).

 

 

Once you press Submit, you will be prompted to download a text file that contains the XML code found in the sitemap file. This prompt appears in different formats depending upon the type of browser (see Picture 8).

 

 

After delving further into the Settings Tab, I am sure you’re amazed by what you can control! Stay tuned next month to continue this journey and uncover more of the many available settings and options to enhance your site’s functionality and usability.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Amanda Katon is a member of the Connectweb Technologies, Inc. family, a software development and Web hosting company that specializes in software for the marking devices industry. Katon is a graduate of Mount Ida College in Newton, Massachusetts, with a Bachelors of Science in Graphic Design. Upon graduating in May 2010, she started out working for a marketing company. After eight months, she went back to school at North Shore Community College in Beverly, Massachusetts where she earned her certificate in Web design. She joined the Connectweb family in June 2011, focusing her skills on designing custom websites for Stamp Shop Web customers. As part of Connectweb, Katon enjoys helping customers and building lasting relationships with them by implementing one-on-one customer service. Outside of work, Katon enjoys outdoor activities and doing crafts. For further help, contact Amanda Katon at 800/556-9932; Email: amanda@cwebtechnologies.com