In this Guide: Building Your Storefront - Part 3

Quick Steps to Start Building Your Online Store

Log In

To access the backend administration panel of your storefront, you will need the Username and Password provided in your welcome letter. Access the administration panel from the login link provided from the welcome letter, domainname/admin.

Select Theme

Your storefront design is one of the most important elements of your online business. A professional appearance for your web site will foster consumer trust and make it easier for customers to feel comfortable providing sensitive information when they place their orders.

You have a variety of options when designing your MonsterCommerce store, including:

• Select one of twenty four designs from the “Theme Builder” area within your admin panel, under the Design Manager section
• Design your own site using “HTML” and “Layout” tools within the admin panel
• Enlist the services of Monster Web Design

The Theme Builder consists of twenty four built-in website designs, all design and developed by professional graphic artists, and it allows you to select existing themes, create new themes, modify existing themes, and delete old themes. You can switch from one to another with the click of a button.

To use the Site Theme Builder, follow the instructions below:

Admin Panel >> Layout >> Theme Builder

Add Manufacturer

Each product entered needs to have a manufacturer associated with it, even if the manufacturer information is “sample” or “dummy” info. In order to add a manufacturer to your online store, simply follow the steps below:

Admin Panel >> Inventory >> Manufacturer Manager

Enter the following:

• Mfg Name - Fill in the Mfg Name field with the name of the manufacturer
• Mfg Logo - Use this field to add a manufacturer's logo, where applicable
• Sort Order - Enter order in which manufacturers should be displayed in the frontend of your storefront
• Hide - Use this checkbox hide or unhide a manufacturer
• Email - If you wish to alert a manufacturer when a product has sold, enter their email address here
• Actions - Click the appropriate button to add, edit or delete a manufacturer

Add Category

Admin Panel >> Inventory >> Category Manager

Enter the Following:

• Category Name - Type your Main Category Name in this area
• Hide - Use this checkbox hide or unhide a category
• Sort Order - Enter order in which category links should be displayed in the frontend of your storefront
• Markup - Use this field to add an upcharge to associated products within the category
• Description - Type your category's description
• Keywords - This field is used for the Meta Tag Content for the Category Pages
• HTML - Enter your own HTML that will appear at the top of the Category Page on the storefront
• Action - Click “Save” to update any changes, Click "Delete" to remove a Category
• Displays - Current nubmer of Sub-Categories within a Main Category and link to the storefront view

Add Product

The MonsterCommerce shopping cart software offers hundreds of features within the product editor alone. Most of the fields are not required but they offer countless ways to display products and product information exactly how you want and to track sales the way that you need to.

You must select a Mfg Name and Category in order to enter a new product (see above). Once these items are filled, you may enter the rest as you see fit and click “Save” to update your store.

Admin Panel >> Inventory >> Product Manager

Note: If you have more than one hundred products, it is recommended that you take advantage of the bulk product upload service, MonsterDataPort.