The Department Manager shows your top level departments in a table with six columns.
You can click + Add Department to create a new Department or click on the Department Name to edit an existing department.
A [ + ] in the Expand column indicates that there are sub departments in that branch. If there is no [ + ] then there are no sub-departments.
You can click the [ + ] button in the Expand column to expand a single branch, or select All at the top of the column to expand the entire tree. When a branch has been expanded the [ + ] turns into a [ - ] as shown in the detail below.
Rank is used to control the order that your departments show in the menus. Most menus are built either top down or left to right. The lowest number appears first and the higher numbers build from there. In the image above, on the left we are showing the first two sub-departments of the department Products. Cardio Equipment is ranked 20 and shows above Strength Equipment which has a rank of 30. When we expand Cardio Equipment in the example on the right, the first department we see has a rank of 10. The departments position of Treadmills on the tree is clearly indicated by the cumulative rank shown at the start of the row: 1-20-10.
HINT: Use increments of 10 when assigning Rank to make it easier to rearrange your departments in the future.
This shows up in the dynamic menus on your site and is used by your customers to navigate your site. While the name can be quite long, your design will create an effective limit on what you can use for the names of the departments. Generally it is a good idea to keep them short. At the end of this column is a garbage can that you can use to delete your department. You can click on the Department name to go through to edit the department settings .
Departments are either Active or Hidden
A = Active: This is a Department that will show up on your site navigation and be accessible by your visitors.
H = Hidden: This Department will not be visible in the navigation but can be accessed by the system in other ways. For example, products can be grouped in a hidden department and linked through cross promotions. Or a hidden department can be created for subscribers to a newsletter. Hidden departments can also be used when launching new products.
Blank: If no status is assigned the department does not show up in the navigation.
Shows the number of items that are in each department. You can click on this number to view the list of products in the Product Manager .
The preview icon allows you to view your Departments and their products as you create them. It opens a pop up window in a frame.
This uses a similar process to the function in Brands and Products. See the SEO Download help