Catalog overview
The catalog is everything a customer can browse and buy in your store. In GrandNode it is built from a small number of building blocks: products that are sold, categories, brands and collections that group them, attributes that describe the options a customer chooses and the specifications a customer filters by, product tags for loose grouping and search, and product reviews written by customers. This article explains how the pieces fit together and where to find each of them, so that the rest of this section is easy to follow.
Where to find it
Open the admin panel (/admin) and click Catalog in the left sidebar. The flyout lists every catalog screen:
- Products - the product list, with search, filters, Excel import and export, and the product editor.
- Categories - the category tree that forms the main navigation of the storefront.
- Brands - the makers of your products (in other platforms often called manufacturers).
- Collections - curated, cross-category groupings such as seasonal edits or gift guides.
- Product tags - free-form keywords shared across products.
- Bulk edit products - a spreadsheet-style grid for changing names, SKUs, prices, stock and publishing of many products at once.
- Product reviews - moderation of customer reviews.
- Product attributes - the reusable definitions of options such as Size or Color.
- Specification attributes - the reusable definitions of facts such as Material or Screen size, used for comparison and filtering.
Two related screens live elsewhere: the layouts that decide how a product, category, brand or collection page is rendered are under Configuration → Layouts, and the store-wide catalog behaviour (page sizes, what is shown on product pages, search options) is under Settings → Catalog. The Low stock report is under Reports.
How the pieces fit together
A product is the central record. It has a type (simple, grouped, bundled, reservation or auction), prices, inventory rules, pictures and SEO data. A product is then mapped to the places where it should appear:
- to one or more categories - a product may live in several categories at once, for example both Kitchen & Coffee and Gifts;
- to one brand - chosen on the product's General tab;
- to any number of collections.
Attributes come in two kinds and are easy to confuse:
| Kind | What it is for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Product attribute | A choice the customer makes when adding the product to the cart. It can change the price, weight, SKU and stock. | Size: S, M, L; Color: Navy, White |
| Specification attribute | A fixed fact about the product, shown in the specification table and usable as a filter in category pages. | Material: Cotton; Fit: Slim |
Both kinds are defined once in the Catalog menu and then attached to individual products, so the same Size or Material definition is reused across the whole store.
Stores, customer groups and vendors
GrandNode is multi-store. Products, categories, brands and collections each have Limited to stores and Limited to customer groups fields: leave them empty to show the item everywhere and to everyone, or pick stores or customer groups to restrict it. A product can also be assigned to a vendor; vendors then manage their own products in the vendor panel (/vendor), and store managers manage the catalog of their store in the store panel (/store). The screens described in this section are the same in all three panels, with fewer options where a panel is limited to its own scope. Stores, customer groups and vendors themselves are set up under Configuration → Stores and Customers.
Recommended order when you start
- Create the category tree and the brands - see Categories and Brands and collections.
- Define the product attributes and specification attributes you will need - see Product attributes and combinations and Specification attributes.
- Add products one by one (Adding and editing products) or in bulk from Excel (Import, export and bulk edit).
- Set prices and stock rules - see Prices, discounts and inventory.
- Check the result on the storefront with Show in the shop page on the product editor.
Tips and common mistakes
- A product that is not visible on the storefront is usually unpublished, limited to another store or customer group, outside its Available from/Available to dates, or not mapped to any category that is itself published.
- Use product attributes only for choices that really change what is shipped. A fact that never varies belongs in a specification attribute, where it can also be filtered.
- Catalog changes are cached. They normally show on the storefront immediately after saving; if they do not, check that you saved (not only switched tabs) the product.
Related
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