Customizing the Catalog
The next step is to add categories that will contain the product you will be selling through your store. To do that please select the Catalog icon from the administration index page. You will be taken to a page where the three default categories are being displayed. You will be able to edit or delete an existing category, or add a brand new one after clicking the respective button.
After clicking the New button the page will refresh and a box for the new category name will appear in the rightmost column.
Since osCommerce is a multi-language shop, you will be able to add category name for German and Spanish aside from the default English name (however keep in mind that these are only optional and you may leave them blank). You can also select an image to represent the specific category (image is optional and you can ignore warnings for missing image). It can be uploaded from your local computer. The last thing to do before clicking the Save button is to select the order number for the category. The lower the number - the higher in the list will your new category appear (zero will represent the top of the list).
Next thing to do is create a brand new item. To start item creation, please click the New Product.
First off, select whether you have the product in stock or not. Next, select the availability date and the manufacturer. Type in the name of the product on the languages you have installed and decide whether the item is taxable or not, select the net and the gross price.
Enter the product description on the languages you need, the usual quantity the product is purchased in and the model. Images can also be uploaded from your local computer - osCommerce automatically creates a thumbnail. If you are linking to an external product page, please enter the address without the http:// part for the specific languages. Last thing to add is the product weight, since this will help in determining the shipping costs.
When done, hit the Preview button to see the result. Scroll down to the bottom of the previewing page and select one of the three buttons (Back to continue editing, Insert to confirm product creation and Cancel to drop the new entry).
In case you have created the product you will be taken to the category/product list. In order to include the product in a parenting directory, please click the Move button in the rightmost column.
Select the desired category from the dropdown list and click the Move folder.
You will be able to see the new addition at the top of your product list when you visit the store. The new item will also increase the count of items in a category.
