posted on July 8, 2002 12:35:20 PM new
Now that I imported my AuctionWatch Sales Manager BE inventory database into Sales Manager Pro, so that I can upload inventory to my store without putting it on eBay, I find that I never handled store categories.
I manually set categories for a half dozen or so items so that I could actually see listings--but this is extremely tedious. The Profile Editor can set default categories for use on eBay (or Amazon or Yahoo) but what about for the Storefront?
===Related question===
Why does only the lowest level category show up in the storefront? I have listed several laserdiscs and I don't have 'laserdisc' in the title--I thought it would show up as part of the category tree.
===Related question===
How can I do global 'find-and-replace' or just global 'set field to' operations in SM Pro? SM BE has this option (edit multiple), although it crashes more often than it works. At least SM BE uses Access databases so that I coiuld modify the data directly. What format are those DAT files for SM Pro?
posted on July 8, 2002 01:00:58 PM new
Hi Allbooksandrecords,
Unfortunately, Profile Manager does not yet have a tab for Storefronts. You will have to set the category for each item individually.
The storefront shows a list of categories and the number of items in each category on the left hand side. Regarding your second question -- what is it that you want to set globally for your storefront? You should be able to do these things via the Storefront Wizard, which can be accessed online.
Thanks for the bad news (individual editing of categories), now I am asking for more.
What I want to do globally is:
For each item, prefix the existing title (which is the actual LaserDisc name) with "LaserDisc: ". For example,
A Bronx Tale
becomes
LaserDisc: A Bronx Tale
The wizard offers no way to do this.
===
On the display of categories:
The categories which show up on the left show only the bottom level of the category tree. In other words, the customer sees "Drama" instead of "Entertainment->LaserDisc->Drama" and so the most important part (the media type) doesn't show up anywhere.
===
On the capabilities of Profiles regarding categories, plus the issue (from the stores message center) of categories:
First of all, the storefront should be treated as a fourth auction venue. There should not be missing features in BE and Pro regarding the stores. I am looking at AW storefront as a replacement for our eBay store which has never been used very well. But I need to be able to use it conveniently.
Second, I agree with others' comments that custom categories would be a worthwhile enhancement. However, if the existing categories, or the categories from any one of the auction venues, could be used in the Pro profiles, my immediate needs would be satisfied and I could wait--a long time--for custom categories.
Finally--I wouldn't bother to voice my complaints if I didn't find the overall concept and much of the implementation to be very good. AuctionWatch was recommended to me be someone who does lots of auctions; I am impressed but I need a little support on the use issues I have raised. Please pass my comments on to your engineering department and try to get some action. I think the problems could be fixed without too much work on their part, and the result would be a much more consistent interface.
Thank You
Chuck Gregory, computer consultant to
All Books and Records
Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
