Catalogue visibility, status and deleting products
Decide which customers see a base product, what Active, Draft and Inactive mean, and how to remove a product safely.
Three controls decide whether a product shows up for a customer: its catalogue visibility (base products), its status, and whether it has been deleted. This article covers all three.
#Catalogue visibility (base products)
Base products appear in customers' Base Products catalogue in their portal. You choose who sees each one under Details → General → Catalogue visibility.
- Public (the default) — every customer sees it.
- Private — untick Public, press Add a customer…, choose a customer and press Allow. Only allowed customers see it.
Customer products are always visible to their own customer only.
#Base product ranges
Settings → Product attributes → Base product ranges groups the customer catalogue by product code prefix. Press + Add range to add one. Visible to limits a range to particular customers.
Good to know
A range never opens up a Private product. If a product is Private, the customer must be allowed on the product itself.
#Status
| Status | Who sees it | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| Active | Everyone it is visible to. | The product is ready. |
| Draft | Admins only. | You are still setting it up. |
| Inactive (customer products) | Hidden from the customer's catalogue; the factory still sees it. | The customer no longer orders it but you want to keep its history. |
Customers can set their own customer products to Inactive from their portal, and you can override that.
Change status from the badge in the product workspace header, from the ⋯ menu, or in bulk by ticking products and choosing Set to draft or Set inactive.
#Deleting a product
- Choose Delete from the ⋯ menu or Actions → Delete product.
- Confirm Move to graveyard.
Deleted products go to the Graveyard, where they can be restored any time. See The Graveyard.
You are asked to confirm when:
- the product has been ordered before. Consider setting it Inactive instead, which keeps its order history tidy.
- a base product has customer products. They leave the catalogue too. Restoring the base brings them back.
Tip
Prefer Inactive for anything a customer has ordered. It hides the product from their catalogue without removing it from your records.
#If a customer cannot see a product
Work through this list:
- Is it Draft or Inactive?
- Is it a Private base product the customer has not been allowed on?
- Is it in a range limited to other customers?
- Is it a customer product in a sub group the person is not assigned to?
Use View as customer on the customer to see exactly what they see.
#Common questions
I deleted a product by mistake. Open Graveyard, find it under Base products or Customer products, and press Restore.
Can customers delete their products? They can set their own products Inactive. You can override that.
Does the factory still see Inactive products? Yes.