Switching to Sub Category and Collapsible Skins New programming enhancements and features are not compatible with the older Q-Net skins. If you are using either the original Drop Down skin or the Standard Category skin you will need to upgrade your sites. The Sub Category skin and the Collapsible skin will be the only skins that will be supported. Update as soon as possible to avoid any potential problems with your Q-Net sites. Features available only with Collapsible skin: New Kits feature, Item detail popup with the ability to view 35 images per item, Vendor Catalogs, future and present Office Product enhancements. This document covers: How to determine which sites need to be updated. Setting up a category tree and assigning categories to items Upgrade from the old skin to the Sub Category skin Upgrade from Sub Category to Collapsible skin After upgrading from the old skins to Collapsible, a document is available for customizing the Collapsible skin. Contact lori@equantum.com to request the document for customizing the Collapsible skin and the Item Detail Popup.
Determining which sites need to be upgraded. In Distributor Setup we have added a column to display the skin used on each of your Q-Net sites. In the column labeled Skin the sites are labeled Old for the Drop Down and Standard Category skins. Any site labeled Old needs to be upgraded to either Sub Category or Collapsible. Although the Sub Category skin can be used, to utilize all of the new enhancements and features Q-Net has to offer, you should update to the Collapsible skin. Log into Distributor Setup. Click on Administration, then select Distributor Access. In the list of your clients we have added a new column called Skin. This column will display which skin your site is currently using. Click on the header to sort the column by the skin type. OLD = Dropdown or Category skin SUBCAT = Sub Category skin COLLAPSE = Collapsible skin If your skin type is listed COLLAPSE no change is needed. If your skin type is listed as SUBCAT you may want to upgrade to Collapsible. If your skin type is listed as OLD, the site will need to be updated to Sub Category before updating to Collapsible.
The Drop Down skin used a drop down field to select a catalog. The Standard Category skin displayed one category level on the side bar. The categories were preceded with a bullet and were underlined. The Sub Category Skin displays three levels of categories but the bread crumbs are required to navigate back to the previous levels. No new enhancements will be available for this skin. The Collapsible skin displays all 3 levels of categories, and uses the new item detail popup screen. All new development is geared for the Collapsible skin.
Some things will change: Accessing the Catalogs With Dropdown or Category skin, the user clicks the Shop button to access the catalogs. With the Sub Category and the Collapsible skins the catalogs are displayed on the Welcome Page. After changing your Dropdown and Category skin to Sub Category or Collapsible, the shop button will be linked to the Welcome Page. Contact graphics@e-quantum.com to have your Shop button linked to the Your Catalog. Send a message stating that you have updated all of your sites to the new skins and would like your site reviewed. Custom Messages The custom message for Welcome Screen Bottom is not used with the Sub Category or Collapsible skins. If you have messages in this area, you will need to move them to Welcome Message Top. Other custom messages that are not used for the newer skins due to changes in the entry pages and the favorites catalog: Favorites - + Add Favorites OnMyList Heading Quantum Catalog (Description, Inventory, ItemID, MyList, Order Unit, Price, Qty. Heading Supply Catalog (Description, Item ItemID, MyList, Order Unit, Price, Qty. Quick Entry Supply Catalog (Substitue Item, Warning Invalid Item and Invalid Qty. Quick Entry Warning (Invalid Item, Invalid Qty, Warning Restricted SAGE Catalog Name SanMar Catalog Name If you are not comfortable with making these site changes or have any questions, please contact Q-Net support. If you would like to schedule an appointment, contact elizabeth@e-quantum.com.
The Category Tree When items are assigned to a category, the category tree in e-quantum determines in which order the categories are displayed on Q-Net. If an item is not assigned to a category, the item will display in a category named Miscellaneous. Both the Sub Category and the Collapsible skins display up to 3 levels of categories. The sidebar displays an arrow when lower levels of categories are available. The item count of the category is displayed in parenthesis after the category title. When a category tree is not defined, the categories will display in a random order. The tree can be set up at a system level for clients that use the same items. The tree is set up at the client level to customize the titles and display order by client. Categories will display up to three levels. Enter the lowest level category in Item Maintenance. The category tree determines the order the categories will display. Item categories can be added on the fly during the category mapping.
Setting up the categories in e-quantum Before setting up the category tree, decide the order you want the categories to display on the site. If you are offering just a few items. You can may only want to display the level 1 category. Using multiple categories allows the user to view similar items on one page. The arrow icon indicates the category is collapsed and can be expanded to view another level. After determining how many levels you will be displaying, you will be defining the lowest level in Item Maintenance and creating a category tree to map how the categories will display. The item categories can be added on the fly during the category mapping or all of the categories can be defined before starting. From e-quantum main menu, go to Inventory > Maintenance > Category Maintenance. Enter in the categories that will be displayed. Include the all of the levels of categories. The Category ID does not display on Q-Net. The ID will be entered into Item Maintenance; the description field displays as the category name on Q-Net.
Setting up the Category Tree The category tree can be added to the system default. Since most client have unique titles to their categories, you may want to create the tree in client maintenance. Creating a category tree in client maintenance: Edit the client, go to the Q-Net tab. Select Q-Net Configuration and go to the Category tab. The Use System Default check box will be marked, the options on the page will be unavailable. Uncheck the box to begin creating the category tree. Uncheck the box to begin creating a category for this client. The dialog box has three options: Start fresh Do not copy option allows creating a new category tree specific to this client. Copy default category tree copies the category tree that was created in Q-Net > Q- Net Maintenance > Internet Configuration > Category Tree. Copy tree from another client allows copying an exiting tree from another client. Once the tree has been copied, changes to the tree will only affect this client. Select Start Fresh to enable the Add option to begin creating a category tree.
Clicking Add will bring up the Define Item Categories box. Add the first category level. In this example the category for Clothing is added to the Level 1 box. To add additional Level 1 categories, click Save and enter the next Level 1 into the Level 1 box. Sub categories are added as level 2. Highlight the category, click on Add, the Level 1 category displays in the Level 1 field, enter the sub category in the Level 2 field. An additional level can be added using the Level 3 field. The categories are displayed in the order they are listed in e-quantum. Use the Move up or Move Down options to change the order of the categories. Highlight the level and move it up or down. The levels can only be moved within the their current level. To change a Level 1 category to a Level 2, the category must be deleted and reentered under the correct level. Category Tree in e-quantum Display on Q-Net
Viewing the Categories on Q-Net On Q-Net when the catalog is selected, the levels will be collapsed. Categories with sub categories will display an arrow. Click the arrow to view the sub category Level 1 When the tree is collapsed, only level 1 displays. Level 2 Level 2 Clothing category is expanded, displays the Level 2 sub categories. Caps, Mens Wear and Womens Wear are level 2 in the category tree. Level 3 Level 3 The Caps category has sub categories. The arrow allows the user to view the sub categories under Caps. The level 2 categories of Caps, Mens Wear and Womens Wear are still displayed.
Item Setup In item maintenance, enter in the category on Page 3 in the Category field. This category should reflect the lowest level of the category. The category tree will determine under which categories the item will display. Enter the category ID or right click to display the list of categories. If the category needed is not on the list, click Add to create a new category. Additional Categories The item can be displayed in other categories. On the Qnet button, click on the Categories tab. The category from page 3 will display at the top of the page as the Primary Category. Use check boxes to choose additional categories the item will displayed under. Mark Additional Primary When the category tree has been created and the items have been categorized, export the client to Q-Net.
Change from Old Skin to Sub Category If you have decided to use the Collapsible skin, your site must first be updated to the Sub Category. Log onto Distributor Setup, go to Site Appearance > Sub Category Setup. The site must be Sub Category before upgrading to Collapsible Select the client in the dropdown. The Select Cost Center dropdown can remain Distributor default, this applies the changes to all of the client s cost centers. When an option is switched on at the Distributor level, it cannot be removed at the client level. The Number of Columns and Rows affects the amount of items displayed per page on the Sub Category and Collapsible skins. The Collapsible skin uses the amounts to calculate the items per page. Sub Category uses the entered amount to determine the display.
Click Save to convert your site from Old skin to Sub Category. If you will not be upgrading your site to Collapsible at this time, a document on the options for Sub Category is available upon request. It is strongly recommended to upgrade to the Collapsible skin. All new enhancements to Q-Net will be developed using the Collapsible skin. Changing to Collapsible Category If the site is not on Sub Category skin, follow the steps in Change from Old skin to Sub Category before beginning. Log onto Distributor Setup, go to Site Appearance > Collapsible Category Setup.
In Collapsible Category Setup, enable the Collapsible Sub Menu option. Use the Default setting if you want all of your sites to view in the Collapsible skin and all of your clients are marked as Sub Category. When an option is switched on at the Distributor level, it cannot be removed at the client level. Set your default color and font settings in the Distributor default client. When creating new clients, the default settings will be applied. When customizing a specific client, make the settings at the client level. The Collapsible Category Setup screen does not have a save option for the Enable Collapsible Sub Menu. After marking the Enable Collapsible Sub Menu, the option is saved when you leave the screen. Once the option to use the Collapsible Sub Menu has been marked, the site will display in the Collapsible Skin. For detailed instructions on customizing the Collapsible skin, contact lori@e-quantum.com to request the Customizing Qnet and the Customizing Item Detail Popup documents. When you have finished updating your site to Sub Category or Collapsible, contact graphics@e-quantum to have your site reviewed. The graphics department will updated your header graphics buttons. By default, the Shop button will link to the Welcome Page. The Graphics Department will change the function of the Shop button to be linked to Your Catalog. Until this change is made, the users will access the catalogs by clicking on the catalog titles on the Welcome Page.