Configure a product

For each product, you need to configure the fields that a customer must complete when placing an order on the New Order form. These fields will differ between products. For example, for documents, a customer might need to specify the paper size, color, and weight. For a 3D print job, they might need to select the material and color. For a booklet, they might need to specify the type of binding as well as the paper size, color, and weight.

The fields on a New Order form are defined as attributes in a JSON script. For more information about JSON, see:

• Using JSON

To configure the product attributes

1. In the Operator interface, in the bottom left corner of the screen, click Settings.

2. Click the Products tab.

3. Click Create product.

   The Create product popup is displayed. You can either create a product based on a template, or create a product from scratch. It’s a good idea to create products from a template because you can always customize the configuration as needed.

4. Do one of the following:
   Create a product from a template

   1. Click Next next to Import from template.

      The Select Product template popup is displayed. Some product templates have a US and metric version to cater for different page sizes and options.

      NOTE

      You can customize the attributes of the selected product after it has been added.

   2. Select a product template to use.

      The Products page is displayed. Products are listed in alphabetical order.

      NOTE

      A cost script is automatically assigned to a product created from a template. You can however customize the cost script as needed. For more information, see Configure costs.

   3. To customize the product you have just created, click the product.

      The Edit product page is displayed.

   Create a product from scratch

   1. Click OK next to Empty product.

      The Create product page is displayed.

5. In Name, enter a name that will help you identify the product. For example, if you want a product for A4 bound booklets, you might call the file A4 Bound Booklet. The order in which products are displayed in the User web interfaceThe User web interface provide a range of services for users, including a summary of usage and balance history, a list of the shared accounts that the user can use for printing, the current costs for printing usage, ability to add balance by using a TopUp/Pre-Paid Card or an external payment system (when using the payment gateway module), transfer funds to other users, view a history of balance transactions, view a list of the user's recent printing, and view print jobs pending release (when using a Release Station). is determined by the product name. Products are listed in alphabetical order.

   EXAMPLE

   Westface University has a print room that offers the following products:

   • Standard Document
   • Spiral Bound Booklet
   • Laminated Documents
   • Flyers
   • Posters

   They would like the products to be displayed in that order, with the most popular products first. To display the files in that order, they could change the file names as follows:

   • 01_Standard Document
   • 02_Spiral Bound Booklet
   • 03_Laminated Document
   • 04_Flyer
   • 05_Poster

6. In Description, enter a product description using markdown. The product description is displayed on the Product Selection page in the Customer interface.

   

   For more information about markdown, see Using markdown.

7. In Definition, configure the attributes as required. For more information about the attributes, see Product attribute reference.

   NOTE

   • The order in which the attributes are defined does NOT determine the order the fields are displayed on the New Order form. The order of fields on the page is predefined and cannot be changed.
   • If an attribute has only one option, then the option is auto-selected and cannot be changed in the Order form.
   • If the attribute has multiple options, the first option is the default.
   • If you configure an attribute, the associated field must be completed when an order is placed. If you want a field to be optional, you can configure this by making the first option in a drop-down list a “None” value. For example, in the Binding field, you could make the first option “No binding”.

8. Click Save (if you created the product from a template) or Create (if you created the product from scratch).

   If there are any syntax errors, an error message with details of the problem will be displayed when you click Save. The right hand side bar in the Definition field will display a small red bar indicating where the problem is located.

   NOTE

   To delete a product, open it in the editor; then click Delete.

9. Check that the fields are correctly displayed on the New Order form:

   1. In the Operator interface, click the arrow next to your user name in the top right of the screen; then select Switch to customer view.

      To switch back to the Operator interface, click the arrow next to your user name in the top right of the screen; then select Switch to operator view.

   2. Select the product; then click Start Order.

   3. Check that the New Order form is correctly configured.
   NOTE

   By default, products are not displayed in the Customer interface until you change productVisibility to published. Operators can, however, see the products in the Customer view. We recommend that you leave your products in draft mode until you are ready to go live.

Next Step: Configure costs