Dashboard

When you sign in to Global Commerce, the Home page (Dashboard) appears by default. The Dashboard keeps you informed about events happening in your store. It also helps you optimize your Global Commerce experience.

Primary toolbar

Tool Description
Search Search Allows you to search for an item. See How to use the Search tool for more information.
BookmarksBookmarks Allows you to organize bookmarks for quick access. See How to manage bookmarks for more information.
EventsEvents

Use Events to view today's and tomorrow's events for the currently-selected site. You can click one of today's event or click the link to tomorrow's events to see more details.

Click View Full Calendar to open the calendar. The calendar shows events for the current month. You can navigate the calendar to see past and future events.

See How to manage events information.

This tool only appears when you select a site.
Preview StorePreview Store

Use Preview to view changes you applied to the store. Previewing your store is a very important part of maintaining your store and improving the shopping experience. You can preview your store to see how: 

  • Various objects appear or behave.
  • It looks after you apply a change to the design or layout.
  • Specific products appear
  • Wording or text changes appear.

Tip: When you preview your store, you can place a test order to see how shoppers experience the buying process in your store. See Test orders for more information.

When you preview your store, you can choose to view objects by Design or Live.  See Preview Store attributes for a description of the Design and Live attributes.

If you preview your store (or an object) and you or another user applies changes to the same object, you will see those changes when you update the preview or reload the preview tab.

Example: If another user applies changes to a style and deploys those changes while you are previewing a deployed style, you will see those changes when you update your preview or reload the preview tab.

See the following topics for more information:

This tool only appears when you select a site.

How to use the Search tool

Use the Search tool to locate products (using the product name or product ID), offers, users, orders, tracking programs, and RMAs (if you have the appropriate role required to search for and view those items). Only items available to your roles appear in the list of searchable items.

If you enter search criteria that returns more than one result, the search results show all found items. If you enter search criteria that returns only one result, the search results take you directly to that item.

To use the Search tool:

  1. In the primary toolbar, hover over the Search Search icon. The Search pane appears.

    Search

  2. Complete the following fields.

    Attribute Description
    Search In Select the type of item you want to search from the list.
    Search By Select how you want to search for an item from the list. These options are dependent on the type of item you selected in the Search In list.
    Search For

    Type the search criteria in the field.

    Note: If you are typing an ID number you do not have to type a pound sign (#).
  3. Click Search Search.

How to manage bookmarks

Use the Bookmarks tool to bookmark any page in Global Commerce for quick access. You can access, add, reorder, or delete bookmarks from both the Home page and the primary toolbar.

To add bookmarks:

  1. From the primary toolbar, hover over Bookmarks.

    Bookmarks

  2. Click Organize Bookmarks. The Organize Bookmarks dialog appears.
  3. Locate and click the page you want to bookmark in the Available Links column and drag it to the Bookmarks column.

  4. Repeat step b for each additional page you want to bookmark.

    Tip: To reorganize the bookmarks, click the bookmark you want to move in the Bookmarks column and drag it up or down to the location where you want it to appear. Repeat for each additional bookmark that you want to move.

  5. Click Save.

To delete bookmarks:

  1. From the primary toolbar, hover over Bookmarks.

    Bookmarks

  2. Click Organize Bookmarks. The Organize Bookmarks dialog appears.
  3. Click the Delete Delete icon next to each bookmark in the Bookmarks column that you want to delete.
  4. Click Save.

To access bookmarks:

  1. From the primary toolbar, hover over Bookmarks.

    Bookmarks

  2. Click the bookmark associated with the page you want to access. The bookmarked page appears.

How to manage events

To view events for today or tomorrow:

  1. From the primary toolbar, hover over the Events Events icon.

    Events

  2. Click the event link for today or tomorrow.

    Note: To view events on other days, use the navigation buttons or click the calendar Events icon to locate the date.

To view the event calendar:

  1. From the primary toolbar, hover over the Events Events icon.

    Events

  2. Click Full Event Calendar.

  3. Use the control buttons on the primary toolbar to:

    • Change the timeframe (by week or month)
    • Change how events appear
    • Scroll through months
    • Jump to today's date.

  4. Choose one of the following options:

    • To open an event, click the link. This opens the item that triggered the specific event (for example, the offer, link, or product).
    • To open an event link with multiple events, click the link with multiple events. A window opens and shows a summary of the events. Click an event link to open that item.
    • To download an event after you open an event link, click the Download Event (ICS) link and follow the prompts. Once you download an event, you can set up reminders in these programs to notify you before these events occur.

Preview Store attributes

Attribute Description
Preview
Locale Select a locale from the list. The locale determines the country and language. A locale represents a language, country, and currency. A code identifies the locale. For example, the United States English is en_US. Locales are not limited to a single country or language. A country can have more than one locale, and some countries share locales. For example, Canada has two locales because it has two official languages: English and French.

When you preview your store:

  • You can select from all the enabled locales for your store.

  • If you are previewing a specific locale and an object (such as a product) is not localized for that locale (but still available in that locale), the product will use the setup (such as the long description) for the default locale.
  • If you preview a specific object (such as a product) with an unsupported locale, you will receive an error. You cannot preview objects in restricted locales.
Preview State

Choose one of the following preview options:

  • Set Status Controls Individually—Allows you to select the status for each control element individually.

  • Set Status Controls Together—Allows you to specify the status for all control elements, except Site Template, Offers, and Preview Tests. When you choose this option, use the toggle to select one of the following options:

    • Design—Shows the objects in your store that are in the Design state. This includes any items that have a future start date (like an offer or a product) in your store. The Design state applies to any object that you did not deploy to the store. If an object does not include a version in the Design state, you will see the version in the Deployed state.

      A product can have one version in the Design state and another version in the Deployed state. The Design state indicates you or another person never deployed this version of the product.

      Note: If you choose to view styles, themes, content layouts or offers in the Design state, you will see products with either a Design state or Deployed state. This includes any offers with a future start date (except expired offers).

      If you choose to view Site Optimizer tests with the Design state, you will see any test in the following state: Draft, Pending Start, and In Progress. If you choose to view Site Optimizer tests with the Deployed state, you will see any test in the In Progress state.

    • Live—The live version of your store shows objects in the Deployed state. The Deployed state applies to the last version of the product deployed to the store.

      Note: If you cannot toggle from Design to Live, that means there is no deployed/live version of the object to preview.

Look & Feel
Theme

This toggle allows you to use the Live or Design mode for your theme. Select the theme you want to use from the list.

The selected theme determines how pages appear when you preview your store. If you are previewing a theme that uses a retired or expired style, the preview uses the last deployed version of that style.

Note: When you preview themes, the status you select to preview the theme will be the same status used to display the style or content layout associated with that theme.

Example: If you choose to view the live (deployed) version of the theme, you will also see the live (deployed) version of any style or content layout associated with that theme.
Style

This toggle allows you to use the Live or Design mode for your style. Select the theme you want to use from the list.

The selected style determines how pages appear when you preview your store.
Layout

This toggle allows you to use the Live or Design mode for your layout. Select the layout you want to use from the list.

The selected layout determines how pages appear when you preview your store.
Custom Pages

This toggle allows you to use the Live or Design mode for your custom pages.

The toggle determines how customized pages appear when you preview your store. When you click Launch Preview, you must navigate to the custom page.

Requirement: Make sure you linked a custom page to something in your store before so you can navigate to a custom page and preview it.
Text String

This toggle allows you to use the Live or Design mode for your text string.

The toggle determines how text strings appear when you preview your store.
Site Setting Attribute

This toggle allows you to use the Live or Design mode for your site setting attribute.

This toggle determines how site setting attributes appear when you preview your store.
Products
Products

This toggle allows you to use the Live or Design mode for your products.

This toggle determines how the products appear when you preview your store.
Available Variations

This option determines how variations appear when you preview your store.

Note: The system disables the Available Variations list if your product does not have variations or you are viewing a product from the Product Details page in your store.
Offers
Revert to Default Arbitration Click this link when you want to revert to the default arbitration.
Offers

This toggle allows you to use the Live or Design mode for your offers.

This toggle determines how the offers appear when you preview your store.
Offer Name (ID) This field shows the offer's name and ID.
Status

This field shows the current state of the offer. The possible states are as follows:

  • Draft—A draft of the offer exists. This is the default state for a new offer if you do not deploy it when you complete the wizard. Shoppers cannot see or redeem offers in the Draft state.
  • Design—The deployed offer in your store has undeployed changes. Shoppers cannot see or redeem the undeployed changes when the offer is in the Design state.
  • Deployed—The offer is currently active in your store. Shoppers can see and redeem the offer.
  • Retired—You manually retired the offer. The offer is no longer available in your store. Once you retire an offer, you cannot reactivate it. However, you can copy this offer, and then create a new offer based on the copy. Shoppers cannot see or redeem offers in the Retired state.
  • Expired—The system retired the offer when it reached the end date. Shoppers can no longer see or redeem the offer in your store.
Product ID

This field shows the product's ID used internally by the Digital River system.

Offer Type

This field shows the type of offer.
Override

Allows you to override an offer.

  • Force win—Overrides all other offers (if it meets the offer condition) associated with the offer you want to trigger.
  • Remove override—Removes the override on the offer (reset arbitration).
Site Tests
Preview Tests

This toggle allows you to enable or disable preview tests for your site tests.

When you set this toggle to On, you can preview all Site Optimizer tests that match the status (Live or Design) in your store.

Note: If you disable the Preview Tests toggle, either one of the following issues is true:

  • No Site Optimizer tests exist for the site
  • You cannot preview tests because of the status associated with the tests

When you select the Design state, you can view any Site Optimizer test with a status of Design, Pending Start, or In Progress. When you select the Live state, you can view any Site Optimizer test with a status of In Progress.

Note: You cannot change the Available Tests option if you do not have a Site Optimizer test that uses any of the following options: Design, Pending Start, or In Progress.

You cannot preview a Site Optimizer test that uses one of the following statuses: New, Pending Final Action, Completed, Completed (Promoted), Completed (Retired), Promoted, Retired, or Completed (Expired).
Available Tests

This toggle allows you to use the Live or Design mode for your available tests.

The available tests determine how available tests appear when you preview your store. Select a site test from the list.

If you do not see the test you want, make sure you selected the right status for the types of tests you want to preview and that the test is not one of the offer types that you cannot preview.

Global Commerce enables Available Tests when you select Set Status Controls Individual for the Preview Status.
View Level Select the test level you want to view.

How to preview a link

After you create a link, you can return to the Links tool in Store Builder and preview the destination for the link and see how it will behave when a shopper clicks the link.

Required Role: Content ManagerClosed This Global Commerce user role allows users to manage themes and styles, use Store Builder files, manage history for storefront links, view compare pages, view the Configure Site Settings page, and preview their store. or Merchandising ManagerClosed This Global Commerce user role allows users to create and manage marketing offers, tracking programs, and storefront links. The role also allows the user to import and export offers and preview the store. or Page DesignerClosed This Global Commerce user role allows users to manage and view history for custom pages, use the Store Builder files, create and manage storefront links, and manage content layouts.

To preview a link:

  1. Select Storefront, select Links and Parameters and then click Manage Links. The Links page appears.
  2. Click the name of the link under the Name column that you want to preview. The Edit Link page appears.
  3. Click Next until you reach the Summary page for the link.
  4. Click Preview on the Summary page. A new window opens where you can see how your link will appear and function.

How to preview your store

To preview your store:

  1. Click Preview.

    Preview

  2. Select the locale you want to preview from the Locale list. See Preview Store attributes for a description of the attributes.
  3. Select the Live or Design option for the Preview State.
  4. Select Off for the Test order.
  5. Select the Live or Design option for the Site Template.
  6. Click Launch Preview.
  7. Select Live or Design for the Site template. The Preview page appears.

How to preview your store's appearance

To preview your store's appearance:

  1. Access the Preview page. See How to preview your store for instructions.
  2. Click the Show Preview Options tab at the top of the Preview page. See Preview Store attributes for a description of the attributes. The Look & Feel tab appears by default.
  3. Optional. Select a locale from the Locale list.

  4. Select the Preview Status option you want to use.

    • If you select Set Status Control Together, select Live or Design.
    • If you select Set Status Controls Individually, select Live or Design for each control element in the tabs.

  5. Select one or more of the following options:

    • To preview a theme in your store, select a theme from the Theme list.

    • To preview a style in your store, select the style from the Style list.

    • To preview a site setting attribute in your store:
  6. Select Live or Design for Site Template.
  7. Click Update Preview. The Preview page updates the page based on the attributes you selected.

How to preview the content layouts

You can preview a content layout and see how it appears (or will appear) when you apply it to a page in your store.

Required Role: Site PreviewerClosed This Global Commerce user role allows users to preview their store and the following objects in their store: products, styles, themes, content layouts, custom pages, offers, site templates, and Site Optimizer tests.

To preview the content layouts:

  1. Access the Preview page. See How to preview your store for instructions.

  2. Navigate to the content layout (page) you want to preview. If you want to preview a content layout used in your checkout, add a couple of products to the shopping cart before you preview the content layout to mimic what a shopper may see.

    Note: You can only view content layouts with Design or Deployed status. You cannot view content layouts with the Retired, Test, or Pending status.

How to preview custom pages

You can preview a custom page and see how it appears (or will appear) when viewed on your store.

Prerequisite: Before you preview a custom page, make sure that you link the custom page to a link, banner, or something else on your store so you can navigate to it.

To preview custom pages:

  1. Access the Preview page. See How to preview your store for instructions.
  2. Navigate to the custom page you want to preview.

How to preview your product

You can preview your products to see how they will appear in your store. If you have products with variations, you can choose the variation you want to preview in your store.

See Products for more information.

Prerequisite: You need a product before you can perform this task. See Creating a product for more information on creating a product.

To preview your product:

  1. Select Catalog, select Products, and then click Manage Products. The Products list shows a list of existing products.

  2. Complete the search fields under the Search tab and then click Search Search to locate the specific products. The results appear in the Products list.

  3. Choose one of the following options:

    • To preview a product from the Products page:

      1. In the Products list, select a checkbox next to the product you want to view and click Preview. The Store Preview: Product dialog appears.
      2. Complete the fields and click Launch Preview. The Preview page appears in a new browser tab.

    • To preview a product from the Edit Product page.

      1. Click the internalProductName under the Internal Product Name column. The Details tab on the Edit Product page appears.
      2. Click Preview. The Store Preview: Product dialog appears.
      3. Complete the fields and click Launch Preview. A new tab opens, and the product appears on the Preview page.

      See How to preview your store for information.

How to preview your product's variations

You can preview your product variations to see how they will appear on your store.

Prerequisite: You need a product with variations before you can perform this task. See Product Variations for more information on creating a product with variations.

To preview your product's variations

  1. Click the Show Preview Options tab at the top of the Preview page. See Preview Store attributes for a description of the attributes.
  2. Optional. Select a locale from the Locale list.

  3. If you select Set Status Control Together, select Live or Design. If you select Set Status Controls Individually, select Live or Design for each control element in the tabs.

  4. Click the Products tab.

  5. To view a product variation (if variations are available for this product), click the Products tab and select the variation you want to view from the Available Variations list.

    Note: The system disables the Available Variations list if your product does not have variations and when viewing a product from the Product Details page in your store.

  6. Click Update Preview.

How to preview your offer

You can preview how your offers will appear on your store.

Prerequisite: You need an offer before you can perform this task.

Required Role: Site PreviewerClosed This Global Commerce user role allows users to preview their store and the following objects in their store: products, styles, themes, content layouts, custom pages, offers, site templates, and Site Optimizer tests.

Note: You are about to launch a Store Preview session. To preview a specific offer, you must browse to the page where you applied the offer.

To preview your offer:

  1. From the Preview page, add the products associated with the offer you want to preview to the shopping cart.

  2. If the offer needs additional information, complete the information required to trigger the offer.

    Example: Choose a specific shipping method.

  3. Click the Show Preview Options tab at the top of the Preview page. See Preview Store attributes for a description of the attributes.
  4. Optional. Select a locale from the Locale list.

  5. If you select Set Status Control Together, select Live or Design. If you select Set Status Controls Individually, select Live or Design for each control element in the tabs.

  6. Click the Offers tab and complete the fields. The table shows the current (arbitrated) offers in your store. These offers match the Preview Status you selected.

  7. Optional. Choose one of the following options:

    Warning: If you defined offer behavior such as shopper usage limits or coupon codes, those restrictions also apply to a previewed offer.

    Example: If you enter a coupon code and place a test order in the preview, the system treats it the same as an active customer placing a real order. The system reduces the usage limits for the coupon code and offer.

    • To trigger an offer to override all other offers (if it meets the offer condition), click the Force win link in the Override column associated with the offer you want to trigger.
    • To remove the override on the offer (reset arbitration), click the Remove override link in the Override column associated with the offer you want to override.
    • To revert to the default arbitration, click the Revert to Default Arbitration link.
  8. Click Update Preview. The Preview page updates the store based on the selected options.

How to preview a Site Optimizer test from the Preview Store

You can preview a Site Optimizer test to see how each test cell will appear to a shopper. When you preview a test, you will see a store version that uses the first cell in the test. Click Next or Previous in the preview widget to move through the cells in the test.

Prerequisite: You need offers that have a Site Test trigger and the Site Optimizer text to perform this task.

To preview a Site Optimizer test from the Preview Store:

  1. Click the Show Preview Options tab at the top of the Preview page. See Preview Store attributes for a description of the attributes.
  2. Click the Site Tests tab.
  3. Required. Toggle the Preview Tests to the On state.

  4. From the Available Tests list, choose the Site Optimizer test that you want to view.

  5. Choose a level for the Site Optimizer test from the View Level List.
  6. Click Update Preview.
  7. Navigate to the page in your store where you can view the Site Optimizer test. You will see the test and level you selected in a previous step. When you finish previewing the test, you can close your browser window.

How to preview your site's template

You can preview the site's template to see how it changes the layout, features, and behavior of your store.

Required Role: Site PreviewerClosed This Global Commerce user role allows users to preview their store and the following objects in their store: products, styles, themes, content layouts, custom pages, offers, site templates, and Site Optimizer tests. and Internal UserClosed An internal Digital River user of Global Commerce. Internal users have access to features or settings that clients do not. These features or settings could really affect commerce on the store or is complicated to set up or manage.

To preview your site's template:

  1. Access the Preview page. See How to preview your store for instructions.
  2. Click Launch Preview.
  3. Navigate around your site to see how the site template affects the pages in your store. If there are specific changes you want to preview, make sure you visit the page where you can see those changes.

How to view the product's performance

You can see how your products are performing and determine how to leverage the success of your best performers to build more sales.

Required Role: Catalog ManagerClosed This Global Commerce user role allows users to access the catalog, including product features, categories, subscriptions, and tags. The user can also preview sites.

Requirement: Install the latest version of Adobe Flash Player.

To view the product's performance:

  1. Choose one of the following options:

    • Use the Search tool to find a product by name or ID. See How to use the Search tool for instructions.
    • Select Catalog, select Products, and click Manage Products and then click the product you want to view.

    The Edit Product page appears.

  2. Click the Summary tab. The Performance area shows a graph that shows the sales demand for the product.

    If the product is an individual product, you will see a graph showing the demand sales for the product. If the product has variations, you will see one of the variations plotted in the graph. You can then select up to three additional variations from the list below the graph to view.

Dashboard pods

Pod Description
Filters Complete the fields and click Apply filters in this pod to filter the results in the Site Trends pods.
Site Trends: Demand Sales

Demand Sales occur when the shopper submits an order for a product, but the shopper has not downloaded the product, or the fullfiller has not shipped the product. Includes orders where the shopper used the delayed payment method. It does not include returns, cancellations, suppressions, or fulfilled items.

The Site Trends: Demand Sales pod on the Dashboard shows a site trends summary and shows just demand sales, with the option to change the comparison metric.
Site Trends: Fulfilled Sales

Fulfilled sales occur when the shopper downloads or the fullfiller ships the order the shopper submitted.

The Site Trends: Fulfilled Sales pod on the Dashboard shows a site trends summary and shows just fulfilled sales, with the option to change the comparison metric.
Recent Items

The Recent Items pod shows a list of items that you recently created, edited, or viewed. If you want to clear the list of Recent Items, you must clear your personalized settings. See How to clear your personalized settings for instructions.

The following list shows the items that will appear in the Recent Items pod if you create, edit, or view them:

  • Products
  • Categories
  • Order Summary pages (Customer Service)
  • Marketing Offers
  • Tracking programs
  • Users
  • Purchase Plans (Private Stores)
  • Site Optimizer Tests
  • Volume License Plans (VLP)
Support The Support pod provides links to additional resources and the Digital River contact information.

How to customize the pods

You can customize the pods on the Dashboard specifically for your needs. You can collapse those pods that you do not use frequently and rearrange the pods so that those pods you use most often are at the top of the Home page.

To customize the pods:

  • To collapse a pod, click the - icon.

    Best Practices: We recommend closing pods that process lots of data such as Site Trends if you are not using them. The Home page loads faster if you close pods that you are not using.

  • To expand a pod, click the + icon.

  • To rearrange pods, click the pod title and drag it to the position where you want it to appear. The pod appears in the new position.

    Note: The Home page has two columns of pods: the larger column of pods on the left and the smaller column of pods on the right. You can only arrange pods within their current column.

Site Trends attributes

Attribute Description
Filter

Use the following attributes to filter the Site Trend results.

  • Site
  • Locale
  • Time Frame
  • Currency
Comparison Metric

Choose one of the following comparison metrics:

  • Previous Day—Shows the site trends for the previous day.
  • Same Day Last Year—Shows the site trends for the same day last year.
Key Performance Indicator

This column shows the Site Trends KPIs. Click a sparkline graph to see a detailed representation of the graph.

Requirement: To see the detailed graph, the latest version of Flash must be installed and enabled in your browser.

See Site Trends KPI definitions for a description of the KPIs.

Trend This column shows the trend for the past 7 days. See Sparklines for more information.
Actual This column shows the current results for today.
Same Day Last Year

This column shows the results for the same day last year.

This column appears when you select Same Day Last Year as the Comparison Metric.
Actual vs Same Day last Year

This column shows the overall trend when comparing the actual performance versus the performance on the same day last year. See Trending arrows for more information.

This column appears when you select Same Day Last Year as the Comparison Metric.
Previous Day

This column shows the results for the previous day.

This column appears when you select Previous Day as the Comparison Metric.
Actual vs Previous Day

This column shows the overall trend when comparing the actual performance versus the previous day's performance. See Trending arrows for more information.

This column appears when you select Previous Day as the Comparison Metric.

How to filter the values in the Site Trends pods

The Site Trends pods show the sales and performance data for your currently selected company and site. You can use this information to shape your marketing choices.

See Site Trends KPI definitions for information on how to define Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

You can also view Site Trends from the Site Trends report under Reports. The Site Trends report shows the demand sales and fulfilled sales data. It also displays graphs of the store's top 5 products and top 5 tracking programs.

From the Site Trends page, you can change the time frame used for reporting, the currency used to display the data, and the comparison metric. For more information, see:

Required Role: Reporting ManagerClosed This Global Commerce user role allows users to generate and view online reports for all sites owned by the company or a specific site owned by the company. or Site PulseClosed This Global Commerce user role allows users to view site trends  for any site where you enabled this role.

To filter values in the Site Trends pod:

  1. Select a site from the Site drop-down list. The Site Trends pod appears.

    Note: If you only have oneSite, the system populates these fields with the correct information by default.

    Tip: By default, the Site Trends pods appear at the top of the Dashboard. You can move the pods around as needed, or collapse the pods so that it does not load when you access the Home page (thus allowing the Home page to load faster). The open or closed state of the pods on the Dashboard does not affect the view of Site Trends on the Reports menu.

  2. Complete the fields under Filters and click Apply Filters.