Adding a Category to a Catalog

Article
11/12/2009

You add a category to a catalog using the Catalog Editor module. When you add products to a catalog, you can dynamically change the editing language for a product or category.

If you imported a catalog in comma-separated values (CSV) file format, you need to create the categories for the catalog and assign products to them.

You perform the following steps when you add a category to a catalog:

Add the category to the catalog
Assign parent and child categories, if needed.
Create category relationships, if needed.
Secure the category, if needed.

Notes

Category names must be unique in each base catalog. Category names must be unique for newly created (not inherited) categories in a virtual catalog.
When you add a new category to a base catalog, the category is automatically added to the associated virtual catalogs, depending on the inclusion rules.
You use the Catalog Editor module to grant permissions to Business Desk users who can edit this category. Do not use the Business Desk Permissions module.

To add a category to a catalog

Verify that the category definition on which you want to base the category has been defined. For information about adding category definitions, see Adding a Catalog Category Definition.
In Catalogs, click Catalog Editor.
In the Catalogs screen, select the catalog to which you want to add a new category, and then click on the toolbar.
In the Catalog Content - <Catalog Name> screen, in the Categories section, click New.
In the New Category dialog box, select the category definition on which you want to base the category, and then click Continue. (If there is only one category definition, this dialog box is not displayed.)

To add category definitions, you use the Catalog Definition Designer module. For instructions, see Adding a Catalog Category Definition.
If this is a multilingual catalog, at the top of the Catalog Editor – <Catalog Name> - new (category) screen, select the language you want to use for the multilingual properties, which have a next to them.

In the Catalog Editor – <Catalog Name> - new (category) screen, the boxes that appear are based on the category definition you select. More boxes may appear than those listed here. Do the following:

Use this	To do this
Name	Type a unique internal name for the new category. The maximum length is 100 characters. Category names must be unique in each catalog. This name is used in catalog reports.
Display name	Type the category name that is to be displayed on your Web site.
Description	Type a description for the category that is to be displayed on your Web site.
Price	Type a price for the category. The price is assigned to all the products in this category. For information about assigning prices directly to the product or the product variant, see Pricing a Product in a Base Catalog and Pricing at the Product Variant Level.
Searchable	Select this check box to have this category be a starting point for a specification search. When this box is selected, this category will be listed on the Advanced Search page on the Web site.

At this point, you can click on the toolbar to save the catalog.

Or, you can proceed to the next sections on the Catalog Editor screen and assign parent and child categories, or secure the category.

To assign parent and child categories

In the Categories section, select the category to which you want to assign parent or child categories, and then click Edit.
In the Assigned Categories section, select the category you want to assign as the primary parent category, and then click Set.
In the Available Child Categories box, select the category you want to add to the parent, and then click Add.

The category moves from the list in the Available box to the list in the Assigned Child Categories box.
At this point, you can click on the toolbar to save the catalog. Or, you can proceed to the next section on the Catalog Editor screen and assign category relationships.

To create a category relationship

In the Category Relationships section, click New, and then do the following:

Use this	To do this
Relationship	Type the name of the relationship. This name is not displayed on your Web site. (You add relationships to categories or products.)
Item	Click the ellipsis button […] to open the Product Picker dialog box.

In the Product Picker dialog box, select the catalog that contains the category with which you want to work.
Select the category from the Categories list to which you want to create a relationship, and then click OK.

The category you chose appears in the Item box of the Category Relationships section.
Click Accept to save the category relationship.
To save the changes and return to the Catalog screen, click on the toolbar.

To secure the category

In the Security section, click Permissions.
In the Accounts dialog box, click Allow to grant access to the Business Desk users who can edit this category, and then click Close.
To save the changes and return to the Catalog screen, click on the toolbar.
To publish the new product on your Web site, click on the toolbar.

The updated catalog is published on your Web site.

Adding a Category to a Catalog

See Also

Additional resources