Navigating the product builder

Mastering the Product Builder’s navigation helps you build and manage products more efficiently—so you spend less time clicking through menus and more time growing your business.

Learn how to navigate the product builder using the top, actions, and footer menus. These options include copying, deactivating, archiving/unarchiving, previewing, and activating your product.

New to the Product Builder? Read the first article in this series for an introduction to the Product feature.

Accessing the features mentioned in this article

Where can I find this feature using the top menu?

• Inventory > Products > Products > Add Product/Add New Product/Edit Product
   

What more do I need to use this feature?

• Admin permissions to manage inventory or restricted permissions to View products and assets, and Manage products and assets. 
   

Which Checkfront version supports this feature - classic items, classic products, or both?

• Your account must have access to classic products (Inventory > Products), a key feature of our classic products version of Checkfront. This feature is not available for use with classic items (Inventory > Items) in our classic items version. → Learn more about products. 
   

You can navigate through the Product Builder using the menu at the top of the page (Details, Inventory, Availability, Pricing, Advanced) or the options available in the page's footer.

Once you click the Save button to save your product's initial details (Name, SKU, and Category), these steps are unlocked. 

The following options are available from the Actions menu located at the top right of the Product Builder.

Need to copy your product? 

1. Select this option from the Actions menu in the top-right corner of the Product Builder.
2. Click the Copy option to create a duplicate draft copy of the product in focus. Be sure to click the Save button to save your copy via the navigation options in the footer of the Product Builder! 
3. Once saved, you can find the copy within the Products list, prefixed with Copy of in the product's name, for example, Copy of Kayak Rental. 
4. The copied product has a Draft status, so filter the Products list accordingly.
5. The system has automatically generated a new SKU, so you may need to update this value to match your identification system.

How do I copy a product? For step-by-step instructions on copying a product, please see the following article: How do I copy a product?

If your product is active, the system presents the option the option to Deactivate the Product.

No new bookings once deactivated The Deactivate Product option removes the product from your booking page. No new bookings can be accepted, but any future bookings already made for this product remain intact unless manually cancelled or changed.

Need to archive your product? Select this option from the Actions menu in the top-right corner of the Product Builder.

No new bookings once archived Archiving a product removes it from your booking page and prevents you from changing its configuration. No new bookings can be created, but existing bookings for the product remain intact unless manually cancelled or changed.

Once Archived, you can find the product in the Products List with a status of Archived.

You can unarchive the product by editing it and selecting the Unarchive option from the warning at the top of the page or from the Actions menu.

When a product is unarchived, it is assigned the status of Draft. This change allows you to update the product before setting it to Active.

How do I archive a product? For step-by-step instructions on archiving a product, please see the following article: How do I archive a product?

Use the Back navigation option to move back a step in the Product Builder.

The Preview option allows you to view the product from the Customer's perspective on the Customer-facing booking page once the product is Active.

Learn more about previewing your product Learn more about how to use the Preview option to see how your product displays to Customers here: Previewing your product from the Product Builder

The Save & Continue and Save options allow you to save the progress you have made when building a product or any edits to your product.

These options become available once you have added the minimum required product information.

Need to activate your product? Click the Activate Product button in the footer menu. Once your product is Active, the system displays it on the Customer Booking Page.

This button is not visible if your product is already active.

What is the minimum amount of information I need to activate my product? This depends on your business needs, but the most basic product includes a product name, SKU, category with unlimited inventory, availability event, and a base rate. The Activate Product button becomes enabled once you have saved your initial updates. You can click the Activate Product button for additional guidance on what you need to configure before going live. Look for the warning icon (!) beside the guidance button. Once activated, the product is bookable based on your settings, including visibility - visible to everyone, staff only, or as an upsell.

Next Steps

In the next article in the series, we look at setting up your product details.

< Introduction to products and the product builder     |     Step 1: Setting up your product details >