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A product can be added in 3 different ways to the store:
- Quick Product Editor
- Advanced Product Editor
- Import products using a .csv file
Quick Product Editor
Browse to Catalog > Quick Product Entry
Quick Product Entry offers a very simple way of adding new products to your store. You input certain minimum details and you are ready to go. If you need to add more details and adjust product attributes or include variants then the Advanced Product editor is best.
On this screen you only need to fill in those fields that are required.
General Information
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Product Name
This is the product name as it will be displayed on the website.
To help with search engine optimization, the product name is also used in the product page URL, and it helps generate default meta tags (keywords and descriptions) if custom data has not been entered.
- SKU/Item Nr
Your internal item number to idenfity this product.
This will be used for inventory control and as the base number from which Variants build their item numbers. A synonym for Item Number is "SKU", which stands for "Stock Keeping Unit."
If you do not have any SKU handy or your product simply does not have any such information then you can generate any unique number on your own.
- Price
This is the price of the product as it will be displayed to your customers.
- Retail Price
If you enter a retail price then both prices will be displayed with the Price striked out and the retail price highlighted.
- Weight
The weight of the product in pounds.
Catalog Options
Select the main category for this product from the drop down menu or enter a new category name in the space provided.
 If you enter a new category name then it will be created at the root level. Alternately, you can create your category/sub-category structure before you start to setup products.
If you want your product to appear in more than one category you can add additional categories with the advanced product editor later. With the Quick Product Editor you can only associate the product with 1 category.
Enter a new manufacturer name or select one from the drop down list. New manufacturers will automatically be added to the existing list.
Product statuses affect if a customer can order a product or not based on if it is available to be shipped. Typically new products are added with the status In Stock.
Unchecking the box will hide the product.
Includes this product in the Featured Products list. When you add the Featured Products Snap-In to your pages this product will be shown there.
Product Photos
This is the full size GIF or JPG thumbnail image for the product detail page. Image names should not contain spaces. Click the Browse icon to upload a new photo or to select a previously uploaded photo.
This is the small GIF or JPG thumbnail image for the product listing pages (category, search, etc). Image names should not contain spaces. Click the Browse icon to upload a new photo or to select a previously uploaded photo.
Product Details
This text is shown in product listings (category and manufacturer pages with product listings) and typically contains a brief description about the product.
You may use simple HTML tags like <b>, <p>. This field has a limit of 100 characters (including spaces).
This is the text that is displayed on the product details page. This text can span several paragraphs and can also contain HTML formatting.
Enter the Meta Keywords for SEO in this field. This field has a limit of 250 characters.
Advanced Product Editor
The Advanced Product Editor has several tabs that cover various aspects of your products.
Below is a brief overview. On the product editor you will find pop-up help for each field.
- General
On this tab you can specify the manufacturer part number (MPN), sort order, basic pricing and tax setup, quantity and inventory related parameters, meta description, custom URLs and other SEO meta tags and content.
- Pricing
Advanced pricing along with discounts can be entered here. You can enable Minimum Advertised Price (MAP), set pricing according to customer type, and so on.
The descriptions tab has 7 more tabs within it:
- Bullets
This is the main content area. What you entered into Long Description in the Quick Product Entry appears in this field.
- Long Descriptions 1 through 5
These descriptions may be used to fill in product specifications of various types, assembly/usage instructions, safety tips, other instructions.
- Settings
Here you can customize the headings for the above 5 long descriptions or go with the defaults that apply for the active theme.
On this tab you can add multiple photos for your product, specify the sort order in which they appear and add alt text for your images. You can also add paths to hi-res images in this section using Zoomify.
There is a checkbox labeled Is Primary on this tab. If you have more than 1 image then this box should be clicked on at least one of those images. Also make sure you do not click it for more than one image.
Here you can specify shipping criteria like weight, size, and other parameters.
If your store utilizes product groups then you can add your product to chosen groups here. Grouping is also useful if you are selling kit based products. You can sell individual items in the kit or complete kits. 
Read more about groups and kits here
Many store owners prefer to show related products on the product details page. You can specify related products on this tab.
Some products have variations that need to be accommodated. For example shoes and apparel have sizes or colors. Similarly, other products may have accessories or addons that need to be added. You can do so using this tab. Variant groups are defined under Catalog > Variant Groups.
Variant inventory allows you to set any special item numbers, weight, pricing, and availability for all possible variant combinations for this product. Check the box beside rows that are available, and any of the settings in that row will override those settings from the base product.
You can use this tab to include your product into multiple categories. Either search for the relevant category or select one from the drop down menu and click on the + icon.
Attributes are used for drill down on the category pages and/or display on the product details page. Defining attribute groups and attributes for a product allow for creating many user friendly navigation paths to the product. Example, drill down to a product by its color, material, price etc.
Electronic products that are available for download may be configured here. You can specify the type of notifications, access types to provide, and specify expiration periods.
Here you can edit the Product's Inactive Stores (in a multi store environment) and also include product specific Snap-Ins.
Import Products using a .csv file
When you have a large number of products you can use the Data Import tools and import your product details. This is done under Global Settings > Data Import Tools > Product Import. Please review the article on 'How Do I Import Products to My Store' for detailed steps on importing product data.
Tip: If you are importing products for the first time, it is helpful to enter a few products using the Product Editor and exporting the data to see how each field in the .csv maps to your storefront. Once you have a few products setup correctly, you can easily use the format to import the rest of your product database.
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