Using the admin area

Accessing the Admin Area

To manage your store you will need to login to your admin area which is located at "www.yourcompany.com/admin". Basically, just go to your domain name and add the "/admin" to the address bar in your browser. Once you go to that URL, you'll be prompted to login with your e-mail address and password. After logging in, you will be taken to the home page of your admin area where, you may begin managing your store.


Screen Size: It is recommended that you have your screen size set to 1024 x 768 or higher resolution when using the admin area. This allows you to view more data on-screen at one time without scrolling. To view/change your screen size, minimize your windows, right-click on your desktop and choose "Properties". A "Display Properties" window will pop up. On this window, click on the "Settings" tab. This is where you may change your screen resolution.

Navigating the Admin Area

From the home page of the admin area, you will be able to navigate to all the various sections by clicking on the relevant links. For example, if you're working with products (adding/editing products), you'll find most of the links you need right there under the "Inventory" heading. Once you click into a section (such as "Products"), you will be taken to the products table page, which by default lists all records for that table. In this example, since we've clicked on "Products", the products table page would list all products.

Using the "Table Viewer"

Whenever you browse through the records of your table, you're most likely going to be using the "Table Viewer" page. This page allows you to browse through 25 (up to 500) records at a time, giving you the option of editing each record by simply clicking on the first field listed on the left side of the record. Clicking on that link will take you to the "Record Editor" page, where you may edit the existing record, add a new record or search your table based on any fields.

The light blue tabs at the top-left of the "Table Viewer" each provide the following functionality:

  • SEARCH: Allows you to search the table by any field or multiple fields.
  • EDIT: Allows you to edit a single record.
  • ADD: Allows you to add a new record.
  • VIEW ALL: Displays all records in that table, X at a time (i.e., 50 at a time, with next and previous page buttons).

There are often tan/peach-colored tabs in the top-right of the "Table Viewer" as well. These tabs take you to a new table or view of records. This is basically just a quick way to navigate to a related table.

Editing Records in the "Table Viewer":

An easy way to edit your products (after you've added them) is to access the "Table Viewer". First click the "(edit)" link at the top of the column you wish to edit. This will make the entire column editable. Now you may change the data as you see fit, then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the SAVE CHANGES button to save the changes you've made to the page.

When editing fields in the TableViewer, please note how many columns you have in view that are editable, and how many records you're showing per page. If you have 10 columns editable, and 500 records showing per page, this means there are 5,000 form fields of information that must be passed to the server when you click Save Changes... however there is a limit within your browser that does not allow this. Therefore we recommend that if you need to edit 10 columns at one time, first set your Rows Per Page to less than 50.

Modules Within the "Table Viewer":

CUSTOMIZE THIS VIEW - This module allows you to show or hide any columns of the table. For example, if you're looking at the "View All Products" page and wish to show the column "SalePrice", do the following:

  1. On the right side above the Product List, click "Customize This View"
  2. In the fourth column, choose the "SalePrice" by clicking on the check box
  3. Now hit the "Apply Preferences" button. The selected column should now be showing on this page. PLEASE NOTE: Not all columns can be shown on this page; some tables / columns cannot be displayed in the "Table Viewer"; as they may only be displayed for individual records.

BULK DATA UPDATE - This module allows you to build SQL statements to update thousands of records in your table quickly. For example, if you want to hide all products with manufacturer "SONY", you could utilize this module to run a quick bulk data update on your table. This feature is very dangerous to use because it has the ability to erase or change data in your ENTIRE TABLE with a single click. Therefore, before using this tool it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you first export all of your records for the table you're working with. To export data, please refer to the "Import/Export" section of this manual.

Note: Be careful what you do with this tool, as a simple mistake can change/erase tons of data.

Using the QueryBank:

  1. The QueryBank (at the top of the "Table Viewer" in the light yellow section) is used to remember common searches that you might run. For example, if you do a SEARCH of the Products table every day to pull up a set of 50 products for whatever reason, normally you'd go to the SEARCH page, type in your search parameters and hit search. Now with the QueryBank, you only have to run your search ONE TIME. After performing the search, just type the following into the QueryBank:
  2. A name for your new Query (such as "My XYZ Search").
  3. Leave the "Global" check box checked if you'd like for ANY administrator to be able to view and run this query. Otherwise, uncheck it if you only want this query to be displayed for YOUR admin account. For example, if you're the accountant, you might want a bunch of queries that are only useful to you, and therefore you don't want to waste space on other administrator's screens.
  4. Lastly, just click the "add" button right next to this to add the new query. The new query will then show up at the top of the "Table Viewer" inside this small QueryBank section. So to run the query anytime, just click on the query ("My XYZ Search" link, for example)

Export to QueryBank:

The "Export to QueryBank" feature on the right side of the screen above the list of records is used to quickly export the results currently displayed-to an Excel spreadsheet, for example. This saves the current search query to the QueryBank, which is integrated into the "Import/Export" system. This is also referred to as "SAVED EXPORTS", which you may read more about in the "Import/Export" section of this manual.

Using the "Record Editor"

Whenever you arrive at a page that allows you to edit a single record, you'll be using the "Record Editor" page. This page can be used to do three things: SEARCH, EDIT or ADD records. It is important to realize which mode you're in by looking at the top of the screen to see which of these tabs is selected.

SEARCH

To search for a product for example, you would first go to the "Table Viewer" by clicking on "View All Products" from the home page of the admin area. Next you would click the "SEARCH" tab at the top of the page. That will bring you to the "Record Editor" in SEARCH mode. When in SEARCH mode, you can type in any criteria you wish to search for, then scroll down and click the "Search" button, and it will perform the search and display the results in the "Table Viewer".

EDIT

To edit a product, you would first go to the "Table Viewer" by clicking on "View All Products" from the home page of the admin area. Next, you would click on whatever is the very first field on the left side of the record you wish to edit. The first field on the left is always a click able link that takes you to the "Record Editor" in EDIT mode. So from this page you can now edit this single record. After changing the data on this page, you will then scroll down to the bottom of the page and you'll see a "SAVE CHANGES" button plus two radio buttons below it. The radio buttons are:

  • Save + View Record - This radio button means that after the changes are saved, you'd like to stay on this page, viewing this record.
  • Save + View List - This radio button means that after the changes are saved, you'd like to return to the Table Viewer.

ADD

To add a product, you would first go to the "Table Viewer" by clicking on "View All Products" from the home page of the admin area. Next you would click the "ADD" tab. Next you would begin filling in all the fields necessary. You will then scroll down to the bottom of the page, and you'll see an "ADD NEW RECORD" button plus three radio buttons below it. The radio buttons are:

  • Add + View Record in edit mode - This radio button means that after the changes are saved, you'd like to stay on this page, viewing this record in edit mode.
  • Add + View Record in add mode - This radio button means that after the changes are saved, you'd like to stay on this page, viewing this record in add mode, with all the fields pre-filled with the same data as the previously added product. Therefore, if you're going to be adding many products with lots of the same information, this makes it VERY EASY to keep adding products quickly without having to re-type the same information over and over.
  • Add + View List - This radio button means that after the record is added, you'd like to return to the "Table Viewer".

Helpful note: An easy way to duplicate a product, or add a new product with many of the same attributes of an existing product, is to do the following:

  1. Go to "View All Products".
  2. Click to edit the similar existing product.
  3. Now click the "ADD" tab at the top of the page. This will take you to "ADD" mode with all of the fields pre-filled with the same information as the existing product.

This idea works for any table/record, not only products.

"QuickEdit Toolbar"

For more information on the QuickEdit Toolbar, please see the section in the Volusion Manual on the QuickEdit Toolbar. QuickEdit Toolbar

Configuration Variables

Throughout this documentation, as well as throughout your admin area you'll run across references to configuration variables, commonly called "config variables". Anytime you see a word beginning with "Config_" this is a config variable. For example "Config_EnableCoupons", "Config_WebsiteTitle". So it is assumed throughout the documentation that you'll understand where in the system you'll go to edit the value of a configuration variable. Here's how:

  1. From the home page of your admin area, click on "All configuration variables".
  2. On this page you'll be able to edit the value of any configuration variable.