Maintain product information in Optimizely PIM

Overview

Search for, filter and view products on the Products list page. Edit products within the grid or select an individual product to edit in the product detail view. Archive and delete within the grid or select an individual archived product to reactivate in the product detail view. When your products are 100% complete, you can approve them so they will be published toOptimizely Commerce.

Use the Products section of Optimizely PIM to:

  • Identify and edit products with missing data based on what's required in their assigned product templates
  • Assign products to categories or digital assets to products
  • Approve and publish your products when they are complete
  • Archive, reactivate or delete discontinued products

B2B Commerce Storefront View

See Review How Optimizely PIM Data Appears to Customers for more details.

Best Practices

When you create or import products, you can also assign assets to products. See Import Products into Optimizely PIM for more details on how to import products.

Use Case

Carrie would like to review the products she has imported so far for completeness, so she clicks the Products icon on the taskbar. Carrie then clicks the Filter icon, which adds a row below the column headers with options to filter by one or more properties. She clicks the magnifying glass under Percent Complete and selects Between for the operator. Carrie enters 50 for the Start value and 100 for the End value, which filters the list for any products with a completeness percentage within this range.

There are several products that still show as Incomplete within this range, so Carrie clicks the first one in the list, a kitchen faucet, to edit it. To quickly get to the data that's missing, she selects the Show Required option on the Details tab and sets the Show only fields with missing data toggle to On. Carrie fills-in the required information, then selects Show Recommended to review what else she could add. There are two more fields missing information that appear, so she fills those in, too. Carrie clicks Save, which updates the product's completion percentage to 100% for both the required and recommended rings and sets the status to Ready for Approval.

Next, Carrie selects the Images tab. There are not any images assigned yet! She knows she uploaded some images, but is not sure which ones, so she clicks the Assign icon to open the Asset Drawer. Carrie clicks the folder icon to open the Select Asset Folder panel, then opens the Plumbing folder, the Faucet subfolder and the Kitchen folder to reveal two images. She hovers over each image and selects its radio button to assign it, then clicks Save in the Asset Drawer.

Carrie selects the Documents tab. She knows there is a specification document for this kitchen faucet that she needs to add here. Carrie clicks the Assign icon to open the Asset Drawer again and clicks the folder icon to open the Select Asset Folder panel. She knows it is in a folder called Kitchen, so she enters this in the filter field. Carrie clicks the Kitchen folder and hovers over the specification document in it to select its radio button. She clicks Save in the Asset Drawer.

Carrie already set up her Categories, so she selects the Categories tab and quickly clicks the Assign icon to open the Select Categories panel. She selects Victory from the Category Tree drop-down list, then clicks the Plumbing folder, then Faucet subfolder, so she can select the radio button next to Kitchen. Carrie clicks Save in the Select Categories panel.

To assign several related products to the kitchen faucet, Carrie selects the Related Products tab. She selects the radio button next to Related as the type of products she's assigning. Carrie clicks the Assign icon to open the Assign Products window, then clicks the Filter icon in the window to filter the list to find related products. She filters by pipe, valve and dispenser to get the related products she wants, then hovers over the area to the left of the table to view and select the products' radio buttons. Carrie clicks Assign in the Assign Products window. She then clicks Save on the product record to save all her changes and clicks Submit for Approval for the product.

Product List Page

Use the Product list page to search for, filter and select product records for editing, archiving, or deleting in either a list or grid format.

List Navigation and Editing

You can select the columns to display, sort data by clicking column headers, and filter records by properties. Visual indicators show a product's status as percentage of completeness based on what fields are required for the product based on its template. Edit individual product records from the list, which takes you to the Product details page. If a product belongs to a product template that does not include a property on the list, the cell appears empty.

Access Product Details - Click an individual product number to view and edit its details.

Search by product # - Enter a partial or full product number to narrow the results.

Filter by Category - Click the Filter by Category icon to enable or disable category filters. A window appears on the right with options for selecting a category tree, filtering by category name, and selecting categories. More than one parent or child category can be selected. Applied filters appear above the grid by property name, filter option, and value. You can clear filters individually or all at once.

Filters - Click the Filter icon to enable or disable column filters. This adds a row below the column headers with options for filtering each property. Filtering also updates the count of records and paging options. Applied filters appear above the grid by property name, filter option, and value. You can clear filters individually or all at once. Click a filter to open a window to change the filter option or value. Depending on the column's property data type and control type, you may see the following options:

  • Search operator of Contains, Does not contain, Starts with, Ends with, Equals, Does not equal, or Reset

  • Property value of Yes, No, Is Empty, or Is Not Empty

Columns - Click the Column Selector icon to choose from an alphabetical list of properties to show or hide as columns, with the exception of Image and Product #, which are required. You can also search for a specific property to filter the list. Drag and drop properties from the list into the grid to add them or from the grid back into the list to remove them. When the Column Selector is open, deselect the checkbox beside the column name to remove it from view. Drag and drop column headers to change their order or expand columns as needed.

Pagination - By default, 25 products display in the list, with options to view 50 or 100 per page. Go to other pages using the pagination controls under the list.

In Grid Editing - Click the Edit icon on the Product list page to enter edit mode. You can then make in-line edits directly in the cells. Click Save to save your edits or Cancel to clear them. There are some properties you cannot edit, which display as plain text (status, updated by, updated on, created by, created on).

  • What you can edit in the cells is based on a property's definition. You can view and edit text fields, text areas, drop-downs and decimals in the grid. Boolean toggles appear as check boxes within the grid. When you click cells with radio buttons, multi-select, date and time pickers or date pickers, their respective controls open for editing.

  • Validation - If any edits are invalid, the system highlights these cells in red. Click a highlighted cell to view the validation message. If you go away from a cell or the Products page with unsaved changes, a confirmation message that you want to leave the page with unsaved changes displays. Click Save to save the changes and remain on the page. Click Discard to go away from the page or click Cancel to close the message and stay on the page without saving your changes.

Bulk Edit - Select multiple records to bulk edit. Bulk editing lets you set a single value for one or multiple fields for the selected products. Click the Column icon to locate the field you wish to bulk edit. In the product list, select the product records you wish to edit and click the Bulk Edit button in the footer bar. In the empty row beneath the column headers, select or enter the value you wish to apply to all selected products. Click outside of the list to see the changes reflected, and then click Apply to save the changes.

Multi-Edit - Select all or multiple records to multi-edit. Multi-editing lets you update the records of all selected products in sequentially by navigating between the product detail pages of the selected products.

Export Products - Select all or multiple records and click Export to export the products in your current list view.

Submit for Approval, Approve Products and Reject Products - Select all or multiple records and click Submit for Approval, Approve Products or Reject Products to manage the approving of products in bulk.

Users with the Administrator role can click the Cog icon in the top right to approve all products that are in Ready for Approval or Submitted for Approval status. For more information on roles, see Understand roles and permissions in Optimizely PIM.

Details Tab

Use the Details tab to view and edit individual product records. This page visually shows the product's completion status, which is calculated based on both required and recommended properties. The product's properties, which are grouped and arranged based on the assigned product template, also show on this tab. Expand and collapse the property groups or use the Show All, Show Required, Show Recommended filters and Show only fields with missing data filters toggle to adjust which properties show.

Edit product data inline without having to enter edit mode. There are also tabs to assign or unassign product assets related data such as images, documents or related products. The Version History captures all changes made to the product record and displays an audit log of what changed, when the change was made and who made the change.

See Configure Property Groups and Properties in Optimizely PIM and Create Product Templates in Optimizely PIM for more details about configuring these items.

Version History

When viewing an individual product's record, you can click Version History to view previous changes to the product as well as restore any historical versions.

Click Previous and Next to navigate between versions. Toggle Highlight Changes to easily view changed data.

Click Restore to reinstate the version you are viewing.

Images Tab

Use the Images tab to assign images to a product record. Click the Assign icon or click Add images to this product to open the Asset Drawer. If there are images already assigned to the product, their thumbnails display in a gallery view with their folder name and file type. The first image has a Primary label before the image name.

You can reorder the images by dragging and dropping them in the gallery view, which updates the sorting value for each image. Click the Download icon to download a copy of an image. Hover over an image to see a larger Preview of it or click the Unassign icon, then the Unassign button, to unassign the image from this product.

See Import and Assign Digital Assets in Optimizely PIM for more details about working with assets.

Documents Tab

Use the Documents tab to assign documents to a product record. Click the Assign icon or click Add documents to this product to open the Asset Drawer. If there are documents already assigned to the product, their thumbnails display in a gallery view with their folder name and file type.

You can reorder the documents by dragging and dropping them in the gallery view, which updates the sorting value for each document. Click the Download icon to download a copy of a document. Hover over a document to click the Unassign icon, then the Unassign button, to unassign the document from this product.

See Import and Assign Digital Assets in Optimizely PIM for more details about working with assets.

Categories Tab

Use the Categories tab to assign categories to a product record. Click the Assign icon or click Assign categories to open the Select Categories panel. If there are categories already assigned to the product, they display in a list view with their Category Tree name, Category name and Parent Category, if applicable. Hover over a category row in the list and click the Unassign icon to unassign the category.

Add Products to Categories by Import

If you do not use dynamic categories, this is the recommended way to bulk assign products to categories.

  1. On the Imports page, click the Products button.
  2. Select Assign Categories.
  3. Download the available template to format your products and categories. Once you have finished, save the document.
  4. Return to the Assign Products to Categories by import window and click Choose File to upload your completed spreadsheet.
  5. The import will begin. If an error appears, it may be for one of the reasons below:
    • The column headers of the spreadsheet do not match the template
    • Any rows are missing a category tree or the category tree does not exist
    • Any rows do not have a category defined, any of the categories do not exist, or the categories defined do not match existing category structure
    • Any rows do not have a product defined or any of the products do not exist
    • Any rows are assigned to a dynamic category

If there are no validation issues, products will be assigned to the lowest level category as defined in the spreadsheet.

See Define Category Trees and Categories in Optimizely PIM for more details about working with categories.

Related Products Tab

Use the Related Products tab to assign products as Cross Sells, Accessories or Related items to the current product record. These options are based on relationship types defined in Optimizely Commerce. They can be updated in Optimizely Commerce and synced to PIM to adjust the options. Click the Assign icon to open the Assign Products window after you select an option. Click the Filter icon in the window to filter the list to find related products. If there are related products already assigned to the product, they display in a list view. Select the checkboxes for the products you want to unassign, then click the Unassign button that appears.

See the Product List Page section in this article for more details on working with the Products list.

Create Products Manually

  1. Click the Add Product icon.
  2. Select a Product Template from the drop-down list in the Create Product window and click Continue.
  3. Enter the Product Number, Product Title, and URL Segment to create the record.
  4. Fill-in the required properties, then the recommended properties, if applicable. Refer to Edit Products Individually for more information on each tab.
  5. Click Save.

Edit Products Individually

  1. Click a product's title in the list to view and edit its record.
  2. Hover over the Template name to clickEdit and select a new template from the drop-down list, if applicable.
  3. Select an option at the top of the Details tab:
    • Show All - Show required, recommended, and optional properties.
    • Show Required - Show only required properties. Required properties without data display with a red warning icon and have their control highlighted in red.
    • Show Recommended - Show required and recommended properties. Recommended properties without data display with a yellow warning icon.
  4. Fill-in the required properties, then the recommended properties, if applicable. 
  5. Click the Images tab:
    1. Click Assign or click Add images to this product to open the Asset Drawer.
    2. Click the folder icon to open the Select Asset Folder panel.
    3. Enter a folder name in the Filter field or open the desired folder or subfolder to reveal assets.
    4. Hover over an asset and select the radio button to assign it.
    5. Click Save in the Asset Drawer.
    6. Click Download to download a copy of an image.
    7. Hover over an image to see a larger Preview of it or click Unassign, then Unassign to unassign the image from this product.
  6. Click the Documents tab:
    1. Click Assign or click Add documents to this product to open the Asset Drawer.
    2. Click the Folder icon to open the Select Asset Folder panel.
    3. Enter a folder name in the Filter field or open the desired folder or subfolder to reveal assets.
    4. Hover over an asset and select the radio button to assign it.
    5. Click Save in the Asset Drawer.
    6. Click Download to download a copy of a document.
    7. Hover over a document to click the Unassign icon, then the Unassign button, to unassign the document from this product.
  7. Click the Categories tab:
    1. Click the Assign icon or click Assign categories to open the Select Categories panel.
    2. Select an option from the Category Tree drop-down list.
    3. Enter a category name in the Filter field to filter the list.
    4. Select the radio button next to a Category or subcategory to assign it.
    5. Click Save in the Select Categories panel.
    6. Hover over a category row in the list and click the Unassign icon to unassign the category.
  8. Click the Related Products tab:
    1. Select the radio button next to they type of product your are assigning, whether Cross Sell, Accessory or Related.
    2. Click the Assign icon to open the Assign Products window.
    3. Click the Filter icon in the window to filter the list to find related products.
    4. Hover over the area to the left of the table to view a product row's radio button.
    5. Select the radio button next to a product to assign it.
    6. Click Assign in the Assign Products window.
    7. Hover over the area to the left of the table to view a product row's radio button. Select the radio buttons for the products you want to unassign, then click the Unassign button that appears.
  9. Click Save. 
  10. Click Submit for Approval if this product is complete and ready for approval.

Archive, Reactivate, or Delete Products

In PIM, archiving is the only method to remove products from PIM and Optimizely Commerce. Deleting a product removes the record permanently, and you cannot delete a product if a product has been published until it is deactivated in Optimizely Commerce. Archived products are automatically removed from your Optimizely Commerce site. Archived products can easily be reactivated as needed. Archived products are read-only and must be reactivated if you wish to edit them.

If your product has been published before its archival or deletion, its new state is reflected on your Optimizely Commerce site after the PublishApprovedProducts job runs. Archived products have their Status automatically set to Approved so that the PublishApprovedProducts job picks up the change. Once the archived products are published, their status will change to Published in PIM, which enables permanent deletion. See Publish Optimizely PIM updates to Optimizely B2B Commerce for more information on the publishing jobs.

Archiving Products

  1. In the top right corner drop-down list, select Show active to ensure you are not viewing archived products.
  2. Choose one or more products using the selector to the left of the product image in the product grid.
  3. In the lower right corner, click Archive.

Delayed Archiving

If you would prefer, you can set a deactivate date and time at which a product is archived.

Note: You can bulk archive products by importing products with the Deactivate On field populated.
  1. In the top right corner drop-down list, select Show active.
  2. Click a product's title in the list to view and edit its record.
  3. In the Base Property Group section Deactivate On field, click the Calendar icon.
  4. Select the date and time at which to deactivate the product.
  5. Click Done.
  6. In the top right corner, click Save.

Reactivate Products

You can choose to reactivate archived products based on their availability. Deleted products cannot be reactivated.

Note: You can bulk reactivate products by importing products with the Deactive On field empty and the Ignore blank cells checkbox deselected during Options step of the import process.
  1. In the top right corner drop-down list, select Show archived.
  2. Click a product's title in the list to view and edit its record.
  3. In the top right corner, click Reactivate.

Delete Products

A product must be archived before you can delete it. If the product has been published to your B2B Commerce site, the archival status (instant or delayed) must be published before you can delete it. Products that have been deleted cannot be reactivated. All product data and assignments pertaining to the deleted product are removed from PIM.

  1. In the top right corner drop-down list, select Show archived.
  2. Choose one or more products using the selector to the left of the product image in the product grid.
  3. In the lower right corner, click Delete.