The “Catalog” section (the “Structure” tab) is for managing store sections: their ordering, properties and options, as well as employee access rights to sections. Quick catalog functions are also available in “Prices”, “Descriptions”, and “Layout”, but full management is here.
The window is organized around the “Main Catalog” on the left and a set of tabs on the right: “Settings”, “Alternative Catalogs”, “Access Rights”, and “Additional Options”.
The catalog is edited in lock mode — see “Three Data Management Modes”.
Standard functions: “Add Section” / “Add Subsection”, “Edit Section”, “Delete Section”, moving and dragging. The root section “Root” cannot be deleted.
For the selected section, the following are configured: text fields Introduction and Description (HTML editor), Section Type, Link (URL), Product Sorting and Sort Order (ascending / descending), Style, Pseudo-static Code and Title (SEO), Individual Options, checkboxes “Invisible” and “Visible in XML”, as well as “Associated Files” (see “File Management”).
Many fields have a “Set the same value for subsections” button — it copies the current value to all nested sections.
The value lists for the Section Type, Sorting, and Style fields are extended in the “Settings Registry” (see “Settings Registry”). The basic section types are “Department with Products”, “Link to URL”, and “Text Page” (the first two cannot be deleted); custom types are treated by the system as a variety of text types.
The main catalog often contains service sections (cart, warehouse, etc.) that do not need to be displayed on the storefront in their entirety. “Alternative Catalogs” allow you to assemble separate menus from sections of the main catalog: select a “Catalog Name”, drag the desired section from the main catalog (subsections can be included), and if necessary assign a shorter “Section Name in This Catalog” (a copy is edited, not the section itself). Alternative catalog types are configured in the “Settings Registry”.
For each section, permissions are set for groups and users across three independent dimensions: Descriptions, Prices, and Layout (the latter also includes management of the section itself — editing, moving, adding, and deleting). Users with management rights are granted access to all sections automatically; the “Apply to Subsections” button propagates permissions down the tree.
Global access to the “Prices” / “Descriptions” / “Layout” sections is configured in “Users”, while here it is set granularly per catalog section.