Ecommerce - Uploading

First, log in to the Portal Site Editor and choose the E-Commerce option from the main menu (see shopping cart image on the left of this section).   If you have not yet started to edit a spreadsheet you can do so by selecting the "Download the example spreadsheet (right-click and choose "Save Target As")" link, which can be found half way down the page.   The E-Commerce page takes you through various steps, which will allow you to display all the product information you have put into the spreadsheet. The display of this page will change once spreadsheets have been uploaded or when you start to receive orders. The two links displayed allow you to download a copy of your spreadsheet or download an example spreadsheet.   If you have previously uploaded a spreadsheet, clicking on "Download a copy of your spreadsheet" will provide you with a copy of the spreadsheet you last uploaded.   If you have not yet created a spreadsheet, download the example spreadsheet and edit that - it contains help, instructions, and examples to help you enter your product information correctly.

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Uploading Product Information

1. To make your products appear on your web site, you should first download the example spreadsheet and load it into your MS Excel compatible spreadsheet program (remembering to save it as an MS Excel spreadsheet afterwards).
     
2. Once you have modified the spreadsheet to contain your products, with the correct shipping tables and so on (if you are unsure, check the help supplied inside the example spreadsheet), save your modified spreadsheet in MS Excel format.
     
3. Finally, click on the Browse button next to the Upload new spreadsheet: box, choose your spreadsheet from your computer files, and click on the Upload button. This should place your products into the E-Commerce system. 

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Uploading Product Images

If you are planning to have an image of the product on view in your shop, first follow these guidelines:

• Product images should be saved in JPEG (.jpg) format.
    
• It is recommended that images are no bigger than 300 pixels wide.
    
• Each image should be named after the product code, e.g. the product ABC's picture will be ABC.jpg.  

At this point you should have already uploaded a product spreadsheet.
 
To upload all the images, they must first be put into a zip file or a compressed folder, so you can upload all of them at once. To do this you will need a program to create the Zip files; many people already have one, such as WinZip, or the free WiZ and MacZip from Info-Zip.
 
Once all your images are in the Zip file or compressed folder you will be able to upload them.

• Upload Zip file of product images (JPEG only): select "Browse" to find the zip file or compressed folder. 

The drop down box then gives you a choice of:
 
Add these to current images
or
Replace current images with these
 
By default, uploading will just add any new images and replace any already existing ones, but will not delete old images that you have not changed. If you want to clear everything out and start again, change the "Add these to current images" option to "Replace current images with these" before uploading; this will delete all existing images and then upload whatever is in your new Zip file.
 
Once you have made your choice, click on the Upload button and the images will be added to the product details from the spreadsheet.
 
The notification email address is very important - it is where messages informing you of new orders are sent.
Enter an email address that you check regularly into this field so that when a new order comes in, you know about it as soon as possible.

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