Jon Nuss

iCarpetiles.com Website Product Manager (WPM) Introduction The iCarpetiles Website Product Manager is a custom-built desktop application that streamlines product management for websites powered by NopCommerce (a Dotnet Core web application). This comprehensive tool serves as: An inventory management system A semi-automated product data entry system that generates HTML scaffolding, automated text descriptions, keyword and meta-tag generation, multiple category and property selections, rule-based pricing (including MSRP, sale pricing, and limits), and automatic shipping calculations A product image management system for creating thumbnails, basic design patterns, and image compression A product data uploader and image uploader via FTPS An accounting system for SKU generation and QuickBooks integration A reporting tool that summarizes warehouse inventory Technology The WPM is built on the Microsoft .NET Framework and SQL Server, utilizing both parallel and asynchronous processing for improved performance. It connects to an in-house database, a QuickBooks (Sybase) database via API, and the website’s database through both VPN and API connections. Features The product information entry feature dramatically reduces the time and effort required compared to using the website's administration interface. This automation decreases product entry time by a factor of ten. Products can be swiftly entered with essential details such as photos, manufacturer, product type, properties, categories, and pricing. The system then uses preprogrammed rules to generate complete descriptions, product variants, property tables, and SEO data. Automation rules are configured in the Settings section, taking into account various factors like brand, dimensions, color, style, and category to generate naming conventions, titles, descriptions, and meta-tags. Operations Top Menu - Main Functions: Synchronize Inventory: Manually synchronize inventory. Test: Test all application features for troubleshooting. Application Settings: Configure data connections, default paths, operation modes, and default rule settings and templates. Clear Old Images: Remove old images locally and from the site. Products Main Tab: The main tab features standard navigation controls with Add, Remove, and Save buttons. On the right side, a read-only record information panel displays the current record, with an option to refresh data without saving changes. At the bottom, a navigable data view provides sorting and record selection options. Products Sub-Tab 1: "Product" This tab allows the entry of: Product Type (e.g., Carton Of Tiles, Lot Of Tiles, Single Tile, Rug Kit, etc.) Manufacturer (e.g., Mannington, Shaw, SoftStep, etc.) Main Category (e.g., Rainbow Tile, Mini-Lots, Rug Kits, etc.) Sub Category (e.g., Rugs n' Such > Designer Area Rugs & Runners) The selections made in this tab affect options on other tabs. Products Sub-Tab 2: "Tile/Mat/RugKit Attributes" This tab allows the entry of: Style Name and Style# Color Name and Color# Color Scheme (e.g., Blues, Beiges, etc.) Style/Pattern (e.g., Solid, Patterned, Striped, etc.) Tile Size (e.g., 18in X 18in, 12in X 24in) Tile Backing (e.g., Vinyl, Cushion Back) Spotlight Tile (for "spotlighted" tiles in the Clearance category) Tiles/Carton - Number of tiles in a carton Tiles In Lot - If categorized and sold as a lot (multiple cartons and partial cartons), the total number of tiles in that lot Calculated fields: Sq Ft Per Tile Sq Ft Per Carton Sq Ft Per Lot A "Re-Calc" button allows manual recalculation of these fields. The selections made in this tab affect options on other tabs. Products Sub-Tab 3: "Identification" This tab allows the entry of: SKU - Auto-Fill or manual entry Name - Auto-Fill or manual entry UPC/GTIN - Manually enter a UPC code, or click the "Find" button to select from available pre-purchased codes. Selected codes are marked as unavailable. Description - Auto-Fill, manual entry, or edit via the "Edit HTML" button, which opens an HTML editor. Products Sub-Tab 4: "Pricing & Inventory" This tab allows the entry of: Pricing: Pricing Units - Allows various ways of pricing products internally. The website's price is computed via these values, attribute values, and category-specific settings. Unit Price - The actual sale price for the selected unit Unit Cost - Optional Unit List Price - Optional; a negative value hides it Sample Price - Optional; enables charging for samples if applicable Sample Weight, Length, Width, Height - Determines shipping cost for samples if shipping is enabled Warehouse Inventory: Inventory Stock Location - Warehouse location Samples Cut? - Indicates if samples were cut from a tile Shipping: Weight, Length, Width, Height of the ready-to-ship package "Auto Fill Shipping" button - Uses predefined rules to compute shipping dimensions automatically. If no rules are defined, these can be entered manually. Extra Fee - Handling fee Ship Via Freight Line - For pallet orders, forces the shopping cart to use freight shipping (e.g., Yellow Freight) Free Shipping checkbox - Enables free shipping for this product, overriding the category’s shipping settings. Products Sub-Tab 5: "Images" This tab allows the entry of product images: "Select Image #?" buttons open dialogs for image selection The "build a rug" dropdown allows selection of an image showcasing a complete floor layout for categories with the rug builder feature. "Create QT From Image #1" button - Quickly creates a Quarter-Turn pattern for tile images, displayed in the #2 image spot here and on the website. Thumbnail previews of images 1-5 are displayed below. Products Sub-Tab 6: "Search Terms" This tab allows the entry of search terms/tags for the site and search engines: "Auto Fill Search Terms" button automatically fills the fields below using predefined rules. Site-Wide Search: Key Words - Comma-separated keywords for website search (uses FullTextCatalog in SQL Server) Search Engine META Tags: META Title - HTML header title meta tag META Description - HTML header description meta tag META Keywords - HTML header keywords meta tag Reports Main Tab: The Reports tab allows warehouse staff and management to quickly generate reports on products, attributes, inventory, and locations. The "Load Report" button loads the selected report type on the right. Reports can be printed, saved, or exported to Excel. Inventory Main Tab: The Inventory tab is for quickly adjusting the inventory of a particular product. It’s especially useful when a product is reserved or purchased instore, and inventory needs to be updated immediately. Products are selected via the "Select By SKU" dropdown, with fields for Product ID, Product Type, SKU, Name, and Inventory. All fields except Inventory and the Active checkbox are read-only. Clicking the "Save To Website" button immediately updates both the local and website databases. A product can also be permanently deleted here, with a warning about the consequences. Export Products To Web Main Tab: This tab is responsible for verifying and uploading all product data, except images, to the website. The "Upload To Web" button initiates the process of verifying all records marked as changed, created, or deleted, then inserting, updating, or deleting the relevant records. This operation runs asynchronously, populating the list and resizing columns as it progresses. A message box alerts when the process is complete or if errors occur (with itemized error details). If any part of the upload fails, the transaction for that product is reversed (all queries use transactions). If successful, the next tab automatically opens for uploading images for new products, updating images for existing products, or removing images for deleted products. Upload Images To Web Main Tab: This tab prepares and uploads images from the local server to the web server via FTPS or FTP/VPN, depending on settings. The "Prepare Images" button launches a process that parses all images, creates various-sized images (thumbnail, small, medium, large), and renames them according to website naming conventions. The process determines if images have been changed, added, or are new for upload. If an image already exists on the website and the record isn't marked as changed, it won't be re-uploaded. Only new and changed images are uploaded, while deleted images are removed locally and from the website. Results are displayed in the "Images To Upload" & "Remote Images To Remove" lists. The "Start Upload" button initiates the upload to the website, including deleting images where necessary. Results are displayed in the "Image Processing/Uploading Results" list. Errors are itemized on a per-image basis; text records are unaffected, but corrupted images are ignored and replaced with a default image. This is not a transactional process. Application Settings Window: This window allows administrators (permission-dependent) to make changes to the application, including rules, development/test settings, default paths, and more. A development mode enables realistic testing and troubleshooting scenarios. Testing Window: This window allows connection testing for database and FTP service availability (debugging). It’s available to all users for support purposes. Security: The iCarpetiles Website Manager utilizes Windows Active Directory for authentication and authorization across various sections. It is designed to operate via VPN tunneling for all data transfers. Images can be transferred using FTP via VPN or FTPS directly.