Creating and Managing Categories in Magento

Now we will take a look at creating a new category in the Magento Admin.

Selecting a Store

The first thing to do is select the store where you would like to add the category from the Choose Store View dropdown menu. The default is for all stores managed by the admin panel, but you can elect to create the category in only one of the stores by selecting that store.

After that you will need to enter a name for the category which will appear on the sites selected. You can then select the location the category will be located in. The default is Root Catalog, meaning the category will be a top-level category. If you select an existing category the new category will be created as a sub-category of the one you selected.

You can then enter a description, upload an image and enter meta information for the category.

Display Options

After that it really gets interesting. If you would like customers to be taken to a landing page – instead of the standard product listing page – when they select the category, you can select Static Block Only from the Display Mode dropdown and then select a static block from the CMS Block dropdown. This list will contain all the Static Blocks created in the Magento CMS (Don’t have any static blocks? Why don’t you check out How do I create and edit static blocks?). An example would be to create a Nike static block and direct all customers to that page when they select the Nike category.  There are three options in the Display Mode dropdow:

Display products only

If you don’t need this category to look particularly fancy, select this mode.  It will display the products you associated, the description you enter, and the image you upload. (If you want an image or description – if not, just leave these fields blank.)

Display only Static Block

Have a bunch of specific content you want to show for a certain category?  The “Static Block only” display mode will not display products on the page – it will only display the static block you select, making this page appear as a landing page to your customers.  Editing Static Blocks is done under the CMS menu, and is covered by this article.  This is perfect if you want to get your customers excited about the category before showing them products.

Tip:  Make this page an anchor category and let your customers use layered navigation to find their products after viewing the landing page!

Display Static Block and products

So you have several category pages where you want the same content, but feature different products?  Easy – use this display mode:

• Create a static block for the content you want to use between categories.
• Now go back to manage categories, and find your category
• Select display mode “Static block and products”
• Select the static block you created in step 1. The static block will appear above the list of products.

That’s it!  Repeat for any other categories where you want to show this content.

Is Active: Yes or No

You then select whether the category is active on the site. Selecting no will hide the category on the site.

Is Anchor: Yes or No

Finally you select whether the category page is an anchor. Anchors are used for the Layered Navigation in Magento.

If you set the category to be an Anchor the layered navigation (see How Does Layered Navigation Work in Magento? for a look at the layered navigation) will display the sub-categories of this category in the layered navigation. The layered navigation then takes all the products underneath, including ones in the sub-categories, and displays all the filterable attributes of those products. If you do not set the category as an Anchor it will not display the filterable attributes in the layered navigation.

Here is a look at the layered navigation for the Apparel category which is set to be an anchor.

Adding products to the category

Now you can select products to populate the category from the Category Products tab and you have created a new category for your online store.  In the Category Products tab (accessible from the top of the category page), search for the products you want to associate and then click the checkboxes of these products.  After the products are checked you’ll be able to control their Position in the category listing.  Example in the screenshot below:

Adding customer design to the category page

You can customize the design of each category individually in the Custom Design tab. This controls the look of the category page, including the objects on the page and the structure of the page. Select the design you want from the Custom Design drop-down. Magento comes with several different design options out of the box, but you can add your own. If you leave this drop-down blank, it will automatically use the Current package name design. This can be edited by navigating to System > Configuration and clicking the Design tab. Enter the name of the design you want in the Current package name field, and this design will apply to all categories for which you do not specify a different design. Select your preference from the Apply To drop-down. This category only means that the design will only apply to this one category page. This category and its products means that the design will apply on this category page, and on the pages of all products associated to this category. If a product is associated to multiple categories, each with a different design, the design displayed on that product page will be determined by the design of the category page from which the user navigates to that product. This category and its child categories means that the design will apply on this category page, and on the pages of all sub-categories, sub-sub-categories, and so on. All mean thats the design will apply to this category, its child categories, and its products. With the Active From and Active To fields, you can select a time frame in which the category will automatically switch to a design, and then switch back to the blank option when the time frame ends. This is perfect for the holidays, so that you can create a holiday design for you pages, and then have your site automatically switch back to the normal design whenever you want, without having to remember to do it yourself. The Page Layout drop-down determines the structural aspects of the page. No layout updates uses the default settings that come with the Magento installation. Empty displays the category page without any objects, except for the content (products or static blocks only), category name, and view options (number to display per page, view as grid or list, and sort be options). 1 column displays the contents, category name and view options, as well as the header, footer, search field, and navigation bar. Column on the left adds the left column to the 1 column display, which by default includes the currency selection and layered navigation. Column on the right adds the right column to the 1 column display, which by default includes the shopping cart view, wishlist, compared products list, polls, and newsletter sign-up. 3 columns displays both the left and the right column. The Custom Layout Update is essentially a static block, with a few differences. Rather than HTML, the structure must be in XML format. The Update will display at the bottom of the page, below the products, whereas a static block will display above the products (if the static block is set to display with products). The Update will display on the page only during the dates specified in the Active date range.

Front-end

Finally navigate to the front-end and view the products.  Below is a screenshot with product images removed:

The products will adhere to the Position entered in the admin panel.

Magento Template

Magento content management system is an open source eCommerce application, perfect for online stores. It is a powerful software characterized by great flexibility and full control over the look, content and functionality of your online shop. Magento CMS was created not so long ago but proved itself to be an excellent solution for web store owners.

As our resource is aimed towards bringing quality tutorials on how to start business online, this time we would like to offer you a tutorial on how to create and customize online store run on Magento CMS and based on Magento template. You will get detailed instructions regarding Magento engine and Magento template installation procedure.

Magento engine installation procedure

From the very beginning you need to download the latest Magento package. At the moment Magento version 1.3.2.1 is available now.  This release solves an issue for users running Magento with PHP 5.2.0, and changes to index.php to support the new Compiler Module.

First of all go to http://www.magentocommerce.com/download/noregister and download the Downloader as zip (not the Full release). Then extract the files. And after that upload them to server through FTP. Pay attention that you follow all server requirements. You may also do it through cPannel -> File Manager.

Set file permissions: navigate to the directory with your FTP client. Then locate the function “Change Permissions” or “Change Mode” in your FTP client and select it. Change mode to writable.

You may do the same via cPannel: login to the cPanel for your domain and click on the File Manager icon under the Files Selection. Make sure that a Show Hidden file is selected. Then check the checkboxes next to files and folders to set the permissions.

If you still feel that you don’t have enough knowledge or time to go though the whole customization process, you may take the opportunity of Template Tuning services. Here you can order the template customization at an affordable price. Their web developers will easily and skillfully do all the necessary changes for you. But if you are not afraid of difficulties, then let’s go on!

Magento template installation procedure

Magento template is one of the simplest and easiest ways to change the layout and design of your web store without changing the software it is based on. With the help of Magento theme you gain more control over the look and presentation of the material and information on your web site. Due to the Magento design diversity it’s become very easy to keep your web store attractive and up to date.

When you start searching for a site template, you will come upon many web page designs. But as usual, I recommend you to review website templates provided by TemplatedBusiness. It offers high quality design products that can be easily customized to meet your project needs. Here you will find both Magento static templates and Magento Flash templates that correspond to the main web standards and concentrate on the customers’ core requirements both in terms of usability and information. Well, my choice is 23786.

Let’s start the Magento template installation.

1. Open hosting control pane.
2. Get to database management tool (usually phpMyAdmin is used).
3. Create new database.
4. Import the dump.sql file from the template sources>sample data folder.
5. Run your website (the installation procedure begins).
6. Enter all required data (host name, database name, user name, and password).
7. Go through all installation steps.
8. Upload the “app” and “skin” folders from the template themeXX folder to your Magento root folder (accept the replacement).
9. Upload the media folder from the Magento template sources>sample data folder to the Magento root folder on your server.
10. Refresh the website.

Sometimes it’s required to clean the Magento cache:

- go to your_domain_name.com/index.php/admin.
- select System>Cache Management.
- In Cache Control box check all options and in All Cache dropdown select Refresh.
- Then click Save Cache Settings in the top right corner.

Open your website and refresh the page (CTRL+F5).

And now the most interesting and creative part of your web store customization.
Once you have completed the Magento installation, you can proceed with the configuration of your web site.

Web store customization procedure

1. Configuration settings

Navigate to System -> Configuration. Here you can configure the script options per your personal needs. Most options are self-explanatory:

2. Changing your store’s name and Home page texts

To perform the modifications you will need Adobe Photoshop CS+.  Before you start you should install necessary fonts (usually they are placed in “sources/fonts” folder- in this tutorial you’ll find more detailed description. After that open .psd file in Photoshop and let’s learn how to make necessary customization.

With the help of Horizontal Type Tool enter your store name instead of the default one. If the slice is not long enough and your site title goes out of its limits, don’t worry. You may easily resize the slice. For this choose the Slice Select Tool and highlight the logo (mouse left click + CTRL). By mouse left clicking stretch the slice borders.

After making all these changes we need to save the customized logo. While the slice is still selected, go to “File” -> “Save for Web and Devices”. Make sure that your logo image file is in .gif format and has the same name as the default one. You can use either an ftp manager or the ftp tools provided by your hosting provider to copy the image from your computer to the server. Upload your “logo.gif” file to the server so that it replaces the default one.

Once you have completed, you may proceed with the Home page banners editing. Using the Horizontal Type Tool modify banner texts and then re-save them and upload to the server as described above.

3. Customizing HTML Title and Meta Data.

In order to proceed customizing your web store you need to navigate to the Magento’s admin area.

After you logged in, go to CMS section. Click on the Manage Pages link in order to proceed with the pages’ modification. Here you will see the list of all existed sub-pages. Select the Home page to edit it.

Home Page General Information will open. Edit the page title. Note: if a page in your site does not have a customized title, then it will use the title given here. All of Magento’s built-in pages have their own title.

After that go to your Meta Data by following the Meta Data link in the left vertical menu. Write keywords and Meta description that utilizes keywords and will entice users to click the link at the search engines. Pay attention to the number of words in your Meta description: it should be between 150-160 words.  Save changes.

4. Managing Static blocks

Static blocks is another useful option. For example, you can edit the footer block which contains the links located at the bottom of your main page:

5. Managing Polls

The Poll Manager allows you to create and edit your polls:

The Home page is ready!

6. Managing Categories and Products.

Once you are ready with the Home page customization, open the Catalog section -> Manage Categories.  Now it’s time to create a new category. “Name” is the only required field. Set the category status to “active”.

Once you have a new category, you can add some products under it. This can be done through the Catalog -> Manage Products section. Click on the “Add Products” button. “New Product” page will open. Configure product settings: product attribute set to “default”, product type – “simple”. Then press the “Continue” button.

Now enter details for the product. Specify the following mandatory fields: product name, product description, short description, a stock keeping unit (or SKU), product weight and product visibility.

Clicking on the “Create New Attribute” button will allow you to add attributes to your products. Once you are ready with the product details, click on the “Save” button to continue.

After that you will be transferred to the “Prices” page where you can specify the default product price, a special price and its validity, the cost and whether it is taxable:

Click the “Save” button. The new product has been added to your online shop. After that you have to assign your product to the category. For this follow the “Categories” link in the Product Information section on the left and check the necessary categories.

After that you can go to the “Meta Information” section and enter Meta data for your product.

Then you should define the available quantity of the product and whether it is in the stock. Follow the “Inventory” link:

You can also upload product images, check product reviews, product tags and the other options. Once you are ready, click on the “Save” button.

From the Catalog category you can also manage the attributes, rewrite URLs for the products, perform searches, edit tags, generate a GoogleMap and manage reviews and ratings:

7. Managing Promotions.

From the Promotions section you can set promotions, define the rules for them and the customers’ groups for which the promotions are valid:

8. Managing Reports

Magento CMS provides a good opportunity to get multiple comprehensive statistics and reports. Just go to the “Reports” section and monitor your sales, products, customers, shopping cart, reviews, tags and search terms.

Choosing a hosting provider

We are one click away to setup your web hosting. Please feel free to contact us at server@youngminds.com.np

Website Promotion

You may find a lot of website promotion services all over the Internet. We provide all kinds of SEO, SEM services as listed below:

- Search Engines Inclusion
- Website Analysis Report
- Keyword Research Report
- Link Building Campaign
- Link Analysis Report
- Search Engine Optimization Report
- Search Engine Rankings Report.

Magento

Magento ecommerce software is being widely discussed both by the web designers and the online merchants. Some people say Magento is as easy as Point and Click and others say it’s complicated. So, what’s the truth? I would say Magento is easy but you need to learn how to use it first.

Are you new to Magento and want to take advantage of this powerful solution? Then, you need a good tutorial to help you and I’m here to point you in the right direction.

The Magento tutorial is divided into the following sections:

• Magento engine installation procedure
• Magento template installation procedure
• Web store customization procedure

1. Configuration settings
2. Changing your store’s name and Home page texts
3. Customizing HTML Title and Meta Data.
4. Managing Static blocks
5. Managing Polls
6. Managing Categories and Products.
7. Managing Promotions.
8. Managing Reports

• Choosing a hosting provider
• Website Promotion

Basically the Magento tutorial is a step by step guide on how to setup and manage Magento stores. Not only can you learn how to build the Magento store, you will also learn how to promote it to achieve the best profits.

Whether you are a web designer or an online merchant, this tutorial is what you need to start a successful Magento store and therefore, an effective online business.

Admin login problem in Magento

Today’s Magento installation has become a real drag!! The upgrade to version 1.2.1 was troubling as after the upgrade I had trouble logging into the admin page. After digging for hours trying to find a fix, I finally came up with the right fix!! View Entire Thread Here

The long and short of the fix is that apparently the newer Magento version is implementing some security check to make sure that the domain is a valid one that is accessing the admin page; a valid domain name or host consists of one with a period in the host name, so if you are installing locally using something like http://localhost, YOU WILL RUN INTO THIS PROBLEM! There are a couple ways to fix this

1) you can reference your admin page by using http://127.0.0.1 (this way it has periods in the host name) instead of localhost or

2) if you are on windows xp, add a host record in your hosts file by going to: C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc and have 127.0.0.1 point to something like magento.localhost

3. modify the core Magento code (keep in mind you may have to re-apply the fix if you update the code Magento code) – go to: app/code/core/Mage/Core/Model/Session/Abstract and open up varien.php, and comment out lines 73 (comment out the comma at the end of the line) through 76 so that it looks like the following:

// set session cookie params
session_set_cookie_params(
$this->getCookie()->getLifetime(),
$this->getCookie()->getPath() //remove this after putting on server (leave the comma)   ,
//$this->getCookie()->getDomain(),
//$this->getCookie()->isSecure(),
//$this->getCookie()->getHttponly()
);

Update (For Magento 1.4.*)

In Magento 1.4, you have to comment code from line 86 to 98 in app/code/core/Mage/Core/Model/Session/Abstract/Varien.php. Like this:-

01	/*  if (!$cookieParams['httponly']) {
02	    unset($cookieParams['httponly']);
03	    if (!$cookieParams['secure']) {
04	        unset($cookieParams['secure']);
05	        if (!$cookieParams['domain']) {
06	            unset($cookieParams['domain']);
07	        }
08	    }
09	}
10
11	if (isset($cookieParams['domain'])) {
12	    $cookieParams['domain'] = $cookie->getDomain();
13	} */

Referred from: CasualCommerce.com and Chapagain.com.np