Getting Started Tips

If you have imported the Sample Data included with AbleCommerce, you have a store that is ready to go! There is no additional configuration necessary. The only thing left to do now is enter your products and change the style of your store. This is a quick overview of doing just that. Of course, there are many features of AbleCommerce that are not touched on here, so you'll need to do a little exploring on your own.

Before we begin, make sure you are logged into the Merchant Menu. Here are some useful tips when using the menus:

• Click the "X" button to return to the previous page. This button is located on the top, right corner of every AbleCommerce page.
• Click the "?" button for a direct link for the documentation for that page. This button is located on the top, left corner of every AbleCommerce page.

Step 1: Entering your products...

1. From the left-column menu, just click on Categories.
2. Then, click the + Category button to create a category for your product.
3. You will need to enter a category name such as 'Clothing'. If you would like to include thumbnails or descriptions of your categories, then you can enter those here. Click the Finish button to create the new category.
4. If you have a complex or large product inventory, it might be a good idea to create additional sub-categories. You can create as many as you feel necessary to organize your products. Create a sub-category exactly as you would a category.
5. To create a product, just click the + Product button from the top navigation bar. 
6. Enter your product name and a price. All other fields and features are optional and can greatly enhance your product in many ways.
7. Once you've entered some information about your product, just click the Finish button. You can also click the Preview button to see how it's going to look in the store.

Step 2: Changing how your store looks...

1. From the left-column menu, click on Website, this is near the bottom.
2. You will be presented with another menu which allows you to do a number of things, like:
   • Upload images and files using the File Manager system. You can also use wizards to change the layout and types of items displayed on each page.
   • Generate a static site map of your categories and products for search engine submission.
   • Create and Manage the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for your store.
   • Create and Manage Themes for your store, which hold the information for your Headers and Footers.
3. For the purpose of the walk-through, we are going to change the colors in your store. Select the Style Sheets menu item.
4. Double-click the style named 'BlueGray' to open the Cascading Style Sheet. By changing the CSS, you can globally change the colors, font styles, background, and much more. Click the Update button after making your changes.
5. Next, click the 'X' button in the upper-right corner two times to return to the Website Menu.
6. Click on the Themes button and double-click the theme named 'Standard' to edit it.
7. From this seemingly advanced page, you can easily change to a different style sheet, add new links to your navigation, and customize Headers and Footers.
8. You can update the 'Header 1' field with your new company logo and update the 'Footer 2' field with your copyright or privacy notice.
9. Although there are many other ways to completely change the store pages, you can modify a single Style Sheet and a single Theme to completely change the look and feel of your store.

Step 3: Adding your content and style to a page in the store...

1. From the left-column menu, click again on Website then again on File Manager.
2. For this example, scroll down until you see the file named "index.cfm" and click the linked name.
3. Next, click on the link that reads "To edit the wizard options for this page, click here."
4. From this page, you will see a field under the Page Content section. We have placed the text you are reading right now into that field. The content is usually within a table to give you better control of the page layout. Feel free to add your home page content here when you are done reading this tutorial.
5. This page also can be used to change the Theme and Style being used by any particular store template.

   You have been able to see and modify some key areas of AbleCommerce to quickly get started. We suggest that you take some time to become familiar with more of the features that we offer. There are many new and exciting additions to version 5 of AbleCommerce.

    

   A few of our most popular features...	A few of the newest features...
   Product Cross-selling	Drive more traffic to your site with Affiliates
   Inventory Control and low-stock notifications	Increase sales with Promotional Coupons
   Multi-currency and exchange rates	Complete Electronic Software Delivery system
   Group Memberships and Discounts	Cascading Style Sheets, Themes, and Wizards to make design changes and maintanence easy
   Promotions and Specials	Site Map can create a complete static website for better Search Engine compatability
   Product Kitting (eg. Gift Baskets)	Completely new Order Administration with Invoice Editing, Split-Shipments, and a built-in POS terminal.
   UPS Online Tools real-time shipping	Easily add new Gateways for Email, Payments, or Shipping with our integrated interface.
   Integrated real-time payment processors	New Payment methods for Purchase Orders and Paypal, plus a built-in interface for adding new ones.
   Product Batching with Inserts and Updates	New Integration with world renown shipping services: FedX, United States Postal Service, and CanadaPost.
   Many Built-in Reports	Email Manager system for creating any number of customized emails and mailing lists.
   Multi-tier Taxation or an integrated tax service	Built-in Import and Export utilities. Works great for making a backup of your store at any time.
   Shipping from Multiple Warehouses	Enhanced and professional store templates for you to start with a high quality, ready-to-go store.