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The Category Editor

Every category in CleverCat can have its own unique configuration. The Category Editor form can be opened from either the Main Menu, or the Data Editor.

The Category Editor form is divided into two sections. The top half deals mostly with items related to printing.

  • Category should be a unique name. The application will allow you to create categories with the same name, but this can lead to confusion.
  • If Category Label is blank, then the name of the Category will be printed on the catalog pages should that option be selected. Category Label can be the same for multiple categories, and this is commonly done when the user wants to have their products appear to be from the same category, but print with a different template.
    An entire category must print with the same template. So, the only way to change the printing style mid-category, is to break the products into multiple categories, assign each a different template, but give them all the same Label so they appear to be one category.
  • PDF Template is the Printing Template assigned to the current category. You can create as many templates as you require, and assign them to one or more categories at any time. Use the Edit button next to the selector to open the Template Designer for the currently assigned template.
  • Copy Lock: Throughout the Category Editor form, there are numerous Copy buttons. As most users require the same settings for all their categories, they can change just the current category, and Copy that setting to the remainder. However, there are normally categories that should be excluded. For example, if you want to change the Template for all your product categories to a different style, you probably don't want to change your Cover Page. Set the Copy Lock to prevent the current category from being changed when a Copy button is clicked on another category.
  • Date (+) Text prints on one side of the Page Footer. There are several selections for this optional field: Date, Category, Subcategory, and Custom. If you select Custom, the adjacent text box is enabled.
  • Index / Start Page is the starting page number for the category. This number can also be changed on the Printing Menu. Keep in mind that--because you can change templates, and the number of products on a page may change--the indicated Page Number may not be correct until the catalog has been reprinted and its Page Numbers updated to their true value. Before then, the Index number indicates only the Printing Order, not the actual Page.
  • A Page Prefix can be assigned to each category. This is useful for those who prefer that each category begin numbering at page 1, and enables numbering such as Tools-1, Tools-2, Accessories-1, Accessories-2, and so on.
  • A Markup / Discount can be applied to all prices. There is a Global Markup / Discount setting on the Printing Menu, but each category can have its own if you prefer. To use this feature, you must set the field on your Template to be either a Number or a Price field, and then set a value here.
    For example, if you enter 10 in this field, then a value recorded as 100 will print as 110.
    If you enter -20, then a value recorded as 100 will print as 80.
    The Markup / Discount affects only printed numbers. The recorded values will not change.
  • Footer Text prints centered in the Page Footer. This field accepts mutliple lines of text and even basic HTML codes such as Bold and Italics. If you enter a link beginning with "www", that link will become functional.

 

The bottom half of the Category Editor form is organized into four tabs. Three of these relate directly to the Data Editor.

Column Headers / Labels

If you imported your product data from a CSV file, the Column Headers may already be set. You could also have entered them on the Data Editor form, if they were blank. There are two stacks of four columns: Enable, Name, Align, and Type.

  • Enable sets which columns appear on the Datasheet. This setting does not affect the data recorded in the column, only whether it is visible.
    Enable has another function. Should a column on the Datasheet be accidentally dragged to a width of zero, so that it cannot be seen, simply Uncheck and Recheck Enable for that column to reset it to its default width.
  • Name: This field can be multi-line. It is displayed in the Datasheet Header, and also prints as the Label on your Template should that option be selected. Enter a Carriage Return for additional line.
    This field can even be an image. Type in the name of an image file, and set the Label on the Template Designer to be an Image, and that image will print instead of a text label.
  • Align affects only the Datasheet display. There is an Align option on the Template Designer for setting how the field will be printed.
  • Empty deletes all product data from the category but leaves the category and all its customizations intact.
    CAUTION: There is no recovery from an accidental deletion.
  • Most of the Type options: 1, 2, 3, 4, A, and B set only how the field is displayed on the Datasheet or Data Form. The others determine what happens when the field is double-clicked.
    • Photo: Any field in the Datasheet, and its corresponding field on the Template, can be assigned as a Photo Field. When this field is double-clicked, instead of a Text Editor, the Photo Selection Tool is opened.
    • HTML: Instead of the standard Text Editor, an HTML Editor is opened when an HTML field is double-clicked. This allows for inline text editing to change font colors and styles, to highlight specific portions of the text.

Category Images

Users with a large number of products may prefer to organize their photos into separate folders for each category. Create, Assign, and Delete Sub-Folders as required. The name of the Assigned folder will appear in the Category Window on the Data Editor form.
CAUTION: If you delete a Sub-folder, all images stored within that folder will be deleted as well.

There are three spots on a printed page where you can add an image: Header, Footer, and Background. Note that there are settings for both Left and Right page. You can use this feature when printing a center-bound catalog to create an image that seems to span both pages. If an image is chosen only for the Left page, that same image appears on the right.

  • Page Header: There is an option within the Template Designer to have a Company Logo appear in the Page Header. This image file is selected on the Configuration form and applies to all categories. If you want to have a different image appear for each category, select it here. There is also an option to have both the Company Logo and this image share the Page Header, in which case the Company Logo is the same for all categories and each category can have a different image.
  • Page Footer: Select an image file here. To have it printed, select the appropriate option on the Template Designer.
  • Page Background: This image is not affected by Page Margin settings on the Template Designer. You can create an image that matches your page size (8.5" x 11", for example) and it will print to the edge of the page.

NOTE: Images uploaded on this page are not stored in the same folder as your product images. This is to make them easier to find, considering some users have thousands of products.

 

Data Sorting / Grouping

This form is a duplicate of the Data Sorting / Grouping form on the Data Editor. It's purpose here is so that you can use the Copy button to apply the same settings to all categories.

 

Additional Columns

Use this tab to enable or disable additional columns on the Datasheet.

  • Notes: In older, PC-based versions of the application, where it was necessary to save hard drive space, only one column--Notes--was set to store an unlimited amount of text. All fields in the cloud version are unlimited so the Notes column is now just a twenty-first data column.
  • Photo 1, Photo 2: These columns are preset as image columns and cannot be changed. Any of the twenty data columns can be set as an image column using its Type selector.
  • Subcategory 1, Subcategory 2: Currently, Subcategory 2 has no function in the application but may be enabled in the future.
  • Alt Text / Title is the text that displays when you mouse-over and image. This feature may be enabled in future updates.
  • Photo Link: This field is used together with Photo 1. You can set a URL for that image to link to. When your customer clicks the photo in your PDF file, the specified link will open in their default browser.
  • Custom Fields: We can create custom versions of this application with fields that perform mathematical or comparison functions based on other columns. Contact Us for more information.

Print Order, Sub Order: The numbers in these columns are used to organize products into Product Groups, where multiple items are presented in a table represented by a single photo. Members of a Product Group share a common Print Order number. The Sub Order number indicates the printing order within the group.

You can set these numbers manually, or they can be created automatically during the process of importing your data from a CSV file, or using the Data Sorting / Grouping function on the Data Editor.

Page, Position: The numbers are for reference only and should not be edited.
In a Feature Template, where one Product Group can be printed using a larger portion of the page, the Position number corresponds to the product's position in the grid of Product Layouts. The Featured product is always at Position 1.

  • Force Break - Page, Column: Products fill a Template in a grid, flowing in either Rows or Columns. Where there is a logical break in the classification of products, it may make sense to interrupt the flow and have next product start a new Row, Column, or Page. These options enable a checkbox on the Datasheet where you can set these breaks as required.
  • Repeat Table Header For long tables of data, a user might want to repeat the Column Headers to make it easier for the reader to reference the content. This option enables a Checkbox on the Datasheet where you can set these as required.
  • Options: These columns are reserved for future development or Custom appplications.

 

Navigation Bar

The Navigation Bar has some basic functions.

If the Print Preview button is clicked on this form, only a single page of products, plus a second page with one product, will be displayed. To print the complete category, open a Preview from the Data Editor or Printing Menu.

New Category will create a blank category with the default customization.

Delete Category will remove the category and all data stored in that category.
CAUTION: There is no recovery from an accidental deletion. You will be asked to confirm this action.

New Category will create a blank duplicate of the current category with the same customizations.

Find will open a search box listing all the categories.

Next and
Previous will cycle through the cateogories.

 

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