Working with the PageFab User Interface

This page shows the straightforward character of the PageFab user interface. PageFab is easy to learn and easy to use, while providing a wide range of options for managing and organizing your website content.

If your business needs require modifications to the software these are readily made. Working with PageFab offers you an unequalled level of control over your e-commerce systems.

PageFab Main Menu
PageFab is organized into a group of overlapping menus. The main menu is the starting point for creating and managing your content. These provide access to the principal operations involved in maintaining and changing your e-commerce website.

To give you a sense of how PageFab works in practice, we will show you the main screens used to manage an individual product page. We begin by clicking the button marked "View/Edit Products".

Product Menu
Wherever practical, PageFab provides you with different ways to organize and retrieve your data. Your products may be looked up by:

Product No. - In this particular implementation, product numbers are generated sequentially as new ones are added to the database. Any other product numbering scheme can be supported.
Product Name - Sometimes it's more practical to find products by name.
Product Category - PageFab organizes both your product database and your website product pages by category groupings.
Product Category and Subcategory - PageFab supports a two-level categorization scheme because this permits your website to contain thousands of product pages separated by only a couple of mouse clicks. This scheme makes it easier to manage your product database as well. If you wish to establish an initial set of product pages within a single category you can reorganize later as your product database grows. PageFab lets you reorganize your product pages without leaving the program.

The next two screens show product lookups by number and name.

View Products by No.
This page looks up your products by number. Product name, category, and subcategory are displayed to the right.

Notice the tiny thumbnails next to the product names. These provide visual cues and also confirm that the product image is present and correctly located. Product images are not mandatory, but they are almost always a good idea.

View Products by Name
This screen displays the same information organized by product name. The same product has been selected in both cases.

All of the product lookup screens link to  full screen update and edit programs for creating, managing and changing individual products and product pages.

Product Update Screen
This is the main screen for managing an individual product and its web page. There are too many details and subscreens to go over them all here, but we'll introduce you to the main features.

PageFab manages both product database information and web content from the same screen. Web pages are generated using templates which embody the look and feel of your website. If you already have a website, your e-commerce pages will integrate smoothly. Alternatively, you can use different templates to generate a different appearance for different product categories.

The top area of the screen contains fields that identify the product. These include the product number, category, subcategory, and product name. The product name is used to automatically generate a web page name.

PageFab maintains a local copy of your e-commerce web pages on your hard drive or on your local network server. Changes to web content are generated locally so that you may preview them if you wish before publishing them to your website. The central area of the window maintains fields for managing both your local and remote web content.

The bottom area of the screen is used to manage product descriptive, image, and pricing information, and to generate, preview, and publish product pages.

Your product image can be of any standard type such as .gif or .jpg files. Your descriptive copy can be as long as you wish. You may have an unlimited number of individual style/price records for a particular product.

Changing Product Categories and/or Subcategories
Reorganizing products couldn't be simpler. Move any product between subcategories or between categories. PageFab will automatically reorganize your local web pages, images, and links, and will publish changes to your online website when you update.

This window shows how easy it to make these changes. Both the Category ID and the Subcategory ID input boxes link to full screen lookup tables if you wish to make your selection that way.

Changing Product Page Specifications
PageFab provides intelligent defaulting to reduce the work associated with creating product pages. At the same time, you retain full control over individual specifications if you wish to override the default settings.

Here, PageFab shows the window used to specify product page settings.

Changing Product Image Specifications
The same mixture of defaulting and override control is provided for image management.

Viewing Your Product Image
Image thumbnails are placed throughout your screens for cues and reference. A full size, undistorted view in the original aspect ratio is also provided for convenience and verification.

Full Screen Product Description
Your product descriptions can be as brief or as comprehensive as you like. The input text area in the main product screen is usually adequate but as an added convenience a larger input window is also provided for those who prefer to see more of the descriptive copy as they work with it.

Full Screen Product Table
PageFab supports an unlimited number of line items for each product to support different style and price specifications. These are published as separate line items in your product page for your customers' convenience.

If a product is only offered in a single style and price then the product page table format can be discarded and quantity and price information can be integrated at the bottom of your product copy.

Previewing Your Product Page Locally
The screen above shows a screen capture of the local product page generated using product information from the database and site template information which is also stored in the PageFab database.

You can generate new versions of any product page at any time and preview them with your browser without leaving the product screen. This makes it easy and convenient to refine your product pages. The preview button works with the "Local?" check box to determine which product page your browser will select, the local or the online version.

If you prefer, you can update your product information, generate your page, preview your local page, publish it to your website, and review the online page without leaving your product screen. PageFab makes it exceptionally easy to change your content while maximizing your control at every step.

Viewing Your Product Page Online

The screen above shows a screen capture of the same product page as it appears online. To see the actual page, go to:

http://www.standrewschurchsupply.com/VideoAndAudio/SaintsBiographies/St.PatrickIrishLegend.htm

This will also give you an opportunity to see how PageFab organizes supporting pages and content, such as image tables that link to product pages, navigation links, etc.

The contents of this entire website are contained within a PageFab database, and can be generated and published with a single operation. This feature makes it easy to move your entire website if you should decide to change your web host.

For a recap of PageFab's features and the sequence of steps involved in bringing your e-commerce site online, click here.

For further information, please contact Peter Weicker at peterweicker@shaw.ca,
or phone me at 604-582-6356.
A Note of Appreciation
Many thanks to the fine people at St. Andrew's Church Supply for permitting a sample of product information to be used for this preview.

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