Quotes is a module of the PageDNA system that allows you to set up items which offer dynamic pricing for custom print jobs based on productions costs. The variable pricing is based on different options you make available, such as paper stock or finishing. Customers can then buy these items and control the final cost of a product by choosing the options that work for their budget and their needs.

Quotes items use artwork that is uploaded directly from the customer and variable and static items on the PageDNA system.

To see an example of a working Quotes enabled storefront, see our demo site found here: http://www.nationsprint.com/clients/demo-quotes

Figure 2.1. Quotes Example Item

There are a few different ways you can create a PriceConfigItem for your Storefront. The first is to create a new Quotes site from the site starter on the Hub. Select the Quotes option, enter the required information, and click the Create Site button. You'll be presented with a pricing agreement for adding a Quotes enabled storefront to your account. Once you've agreed to the new billing amount your new site will be created.

Figure 2.2. Quotes in the Site Starter

The second way to offer PriceConfigItems to your customers is to enable the Quotes module on one of your existing storefronts. Search for Quotes Config in the Storefront Menu and click on it. Again, you'll be presented with a pricing agreement. After agreeing to it, you'll then have the ability to add PriceConfigItems to that site.

Figure 2.3. Quotes Config

Whether you are using a Quotes Storefront or have enabled the Quotes module on an existing site, you'll need to visit the Quotes Config menu to set up a few basic pieces of information before moving forward. Find and click on the Quotes Config menu item and then select the Setup tab.

Figure 2.4. Quotes Setup Tab

If the details of a Quotes order should go to a specific email address, enter that address in the Quote Email field. Leaving it blank will mean that the PriceConfigItem order emails will go to the Site Provider email address.

Next you need to choose a Quote Type. When a customer changes different options for an item while placing an order in the catalog, you can choose to update the final price displayed in two different ways. The first is instant. This means that when the customer changes an option that changes the price, the total will be updated for them right away. The second is to offer a calculate button. The gives the user a chance to make several changes at once and then hit a calculate button, giving them their updated pricing.

If you want to display additional details about an option, place a check in the box next to Show Option Details.

Selecting the option to Show Upsells will cause the system to not only display the pricing for the item the user has configured, but also display the cost for the same item in the next two larger quantities assuming quantity levels have been assigned when the item was created.

There is no cost for the Quotes module. Although, you will need to agree to "Purchase Quotes Module" when you first select the link to Quotes Config in the site's menu or if you select the Quotes site template in "Start new site" in the Hub.

Planning:

In order to properly set up a Quotes item, you'll need to think about what it costs you to produce any given item and how that cost breaks down in to its individual components. Consider a basic postcard as an example. What does it cost per unit just in terms of using different types of stock? If you charge $0.10 per card for 80# stock, do you then charge $0.15 per card for #100 stock? Being able to understand and articulate that level of detail for all of the options you wish to offer is the key to making the PageDNA Quotes module work for you.

Here is another way to look at it. In the sample item below we are offering this postcard in several different quantities, paper types, ink options, and coatings. In order to make sure that you are charging correctly for the finished item, you need to understand and charge the appropriate cost for each choice of each option.

Figure 2.5. Quotes sample item

The sample postcard has been set up with a base price using #80 paper, 4 over 1 ink, and no coating. During the creation of this item we assigned a price for quantity 250 of these. As the screenshot below shows, we've then added the option to let the customer choose #100 paper and assigned and additional cost of $0.10 per unit to use the heavier stock. For an order of 250 postcards, that will add an additional $25.00 to the cost of this order.

Figure 2.6. Quotes Paper Options

While using the Quotes tool itself is not difficult to configure, the key to making it work is to understand your costs for an item as well as the costs for each option you want to offer. The Quotes tool allows you to offer as many options as you wish to your items.

Here is a list of some different options you may want to think about when setting up an item.

Now that you've considered the fixed costs of an item, you'll want to think about the productions costs; the costs of producing an item that are not directly related to the user selectable options. While these are factors that will affect the final price of an item, they are not the sort of things that would be displayed to the customer. Here is a list of things that you may wish to include while considering the price breakdown for an item. When you add these options to your items, leave the Display Options checkbox unmarked. This will prevent them from being displayed to the customer.

When figuring the cost structure of an item we suggest that you start with pricing for the standard version of the item. Ask yourself what the cost of a given quantity of the item would be with the default paper, ink, and finish options (excluding production costs like makeready). Use this as the basis for your item and then add on the per unit costs for each additional option, like UV coating.

It should be noted here that you can also configure an item option to have a negative price. For example, let's suppose that we wanted to offer the example postcard with #100 stock as the standard choice but allow the customer to choose #80 stock if they wish. Since the #80 stock costs less, you can configure that option to subtract $0.10 per item thereby taking $25 off of the price for an order of 250 postcards.

What Your Customer Needs to Know:

Once you've figured out what the pricing options will be, there's one other thing to consider before you begin building your item; and that is what your requirements are in terms of artwork. All PriceConfigItem items use artwork that is uploaded by the customer so you need to know what the specifications of that artwork should be in order to produce the item.

You'll have an opportunity to communicate these requirements to the customers, but you'll need to know ahead of time what file types, resolutions, and dimensions you will accept. Unlike a traditional PageDNA item, the customer will be uploading the exact artwork for the item you'll be printing. When you receive an order from our system for a Quotes generated item you'll be given the specification details displaying the options that the user selected and a copy of (or a link to) the artwork they have uploaded for the item.

Decide before you start building an item what file types you will accept (EPS, AI, PNG, JPG, etc.), at what resolution, and with what dimensions.

Putting It All Together:

We've found the best practice for setting up a PriceConfigItem is for you to sit down with your current pricing information, a calculator, and a spreadsheet to map out all of the details for an item before you start building it in your storefront. Map out the prices for your base item at each of the quantity levels you plan to offer. Then list out each of the options that you want to offer and each of the choices for those options. Decide on what prices make sense and then do the same for all of your production costs. The more that you define your options, choices, and prices at this point the easier it will be for you to get your Quotes items configured correctly.

The Shared Options (found under the Quotes Config menu item) works in the same manner as the Item Options section discussed in the previous section. You can add, edit, or delete various options using the same type of menu interface. The difference is that you are setting up options that can be used by any of your PriceConfigItems in your Storefront. If you are frequently going to offer the same paper choices for different items, then it makes sense to set this up as a shared option. It saves you from having to enter all of those values all over each time you want to offer the same list of choices for an option. But for this feature to work, the pricing you assign here must work for all of the items that use the shared option.

Once you've added a option to the Shared Option tab, you can access it in any of your PriceConfigItems by opening the item in the Item Editor and selecting the pricing_options link. Then choose the Shared Option selection from the dropdown menu and click the Change Type button.

Figure 2.7. Using Shared Options

You'll be presented with a shorter version of the Add Option menu that looks like this. Fill out the fields as before and then select from the Shared Option dropdown list and select the specific option that you want to add from the options you previously configured. Click the Apply settings button and the Shared Option will be added to your item.

Figure 2.8. Using Shared Options

If you're working in a new Quotes Storefront, then you'll have several preconfigured items already available for use. You can go to the Item Editor and choose to either edit one of the existing items or clone one and then edit the newly created item.

In both a Quotes Storefront and a Standard storefront where you have enabled the Quotes module, you can create new PriceConfigItems from the Item Wizard. During the first step of the wizard you'll be asked to select a template from the drop down list. Choose any of the options here. It doesn't matter which one, since you'll be changing that in the next step.

On the Product Info step, click the link that says Change. This will produce a pop up window where you can select a different item type.

Figure 2.9. Change Type

In that pop up window you'll want to choose the item labeled Cost based on pricing options (PriceConfigItem). You may need to change the Item Type filter to show all item types in order to see the new choice.

Figure 2.10. PriceConfigItem Option

Quotes works with PriceConfigItems and with other items types for which Show Estimate Form Step has been enabled. Variable or merged items can present options to users which affect the price. It also offers an alternative to using SosDualItem or SosMultiSizeItem in cases where those item classes were used only to affect price. You will need to edit the item in the Item Editor and proceed to the Form link as in the screenshot below.

Figure 2.11. Enable Esitmate Form Step

From here you can carry on with the Item Wizard as normal. On the Quantities step you'll have the choice to enter quantities and price or just quantities. If you have determined a base price for your item, enter it during this step of the wizard. On the other hand, if all of your options have a price and there is no set price for a base version of the item, leave the pricing fields empty at this point.

The Item Wizard will skip all of the style and artwork steps since all PriceConfigItems use artwork uploaded from the customer. Once you've finished going through the Item Wizard you're ready to begin adding and editing options for your items.

Adding Options:

Options can be added to an item in two different places. The first is at the item level using the Item Editor. This will make any options you add available for that one item. The second place is to add them is to the Shared Options tab of the Quotes Setup section. Adding options on the Shared Options tab will make your options available to use in all of your Quotes items in that Storefront. This can be useful, for example, if you are offering the same paper options for several different items. Adding the option to the Shared Options tab simplifies the process of adding that option to multiple items, but the pricing on those options need to work for all items in your storefront that use them.

Whether you are adding an option at the item level or at the site level, the process of setting up options is basically the same.

To add options at the site level, go to the Quotes Config section of the Storefront Menu and select the Shared Options tab.

Figure 2.12. Shared Options Tab

To add options at the item level, go to the Item Editor, click the Edit link for the PriceConfigItem that you want to work on and then select the pricing_options link in the menu bar. It will be in the same place you would find the item's style for traditional variable and static items.

Figure 2.13. Item Edit Menu

The graphic below shows the tool you'll use for adding options to your items or site The tool functions in the same manner at both levels. Each part is labeled with a letter in blue and the table below describes the function of each.

Figure 2.14. Add Options

A. Option Type - This dropdown list defines the type of option you are adding. Options with Price allows you to add an option with a cost associated to just this item. The Shared choice allows you to add an option that you've created at the site level. There is more on that process elsewhere in this document.

B. Name - This is the name of the option. Just like tags elsewhere in the system, these can use only letters and numbers. If you need to include a space in the name use an underscore. All other special characters are not allowed.

C. Label - This is how you would like an option to be displayed on the site. Any normal character is allowed in this field. If you choose to leave it blank, then the system will take the name you entered in Field B and try to normalize it (make the first letter a capital, change underscores to spaces, etc.) and display that value as the label.

D. Display Option - Checking this box makes the option visible on the site. Leaving the box unchecked will prevent it from displaying. However any prices you enter below will still be included, but not displayed to the customer. This is a good way to add in production costs such as makeready or setup.

Settings:

With each option you are able to add several choices. This section is where you will add each of those choices.

E. Default - Checking this box will make that choice the default for the option. For example, if you enter three different weights of paper, you can set which choice will be the default by checking this box.

F. Name - This is the name that will display for the choice.

G. Desc - If you wish to provide a simple inline description of the choice, enter that here.

H. Minimum Cost - If you wish to charge a minimum cost for an option, enter that value in this field.

I. Details - If your choice needs further description, you can enter that here. It will be displayed when the user selects the choice.

J. Preview Image - You can add small sample images to your choices. These can be used, for example, to show a diagram of a folding option. Images must be in GIF or JPG format. The recommended size is 200 x 200 pixels. Use the File Uploader (under the Site Content section in the site's menu) to upload your images to the img/costoptions directory (by clicking the link to img/costoptions) to make them available for use in Preview Image drop-down lists. You will see all the images you uploaded in the drop-down list. Choose the image you want displayed when the user selects that option.

K. Setup Cost - If you want to include an additional setup cost for a choice, this is where you will enter it.

L. Unit Cost - Here is where you'll enter the cost per individual unit for this choice. Much of the preparation you did earlier with a spreadsheet and your current prices come in to play here. Consider a 4x6 postcard that you've priced to print on #80 stock but you are now entering an option to have it printed on #100 stock. You may have figured out that the cost to make that upgrade is $0.10 per card so that is the value you should enter in this field.

M. Percent Markup - You can choose to have system apply a percentage markup at this point, and you would enter that value here. When the system calculates the markup, it will do it based on the price so far. This means that it will take into account all of the pricing options selected by the user up to that point. This is a powerful option, but you must consider the order of your options carefully when using this since all of the options above it will be included in this calculation.

N. Options - This tool allows you to change the order of the choices within each option. If you wanted to have the list of paper weights you are offering to display in reverse order, for example, then you could control that here. You can add a choice by clicking the yellow plus or delete any choice in the list by selecting it and clicking the red X.

Clicking the Apply Settings button will add or modify anything you've added in the fields above.

Figure 2.15. Edit Options

Once you've added some options, you'll see the list of them above the Add Option tool. The list will display the option name, type, and provide a series of actions to the right that you can take. The edit action will open the details of the option for editing as mentioned above. The move action allows you to adjust the display order of your options. Not only is that important in shaping how a customer thinks about placing their order, it also affects the Percent Markup calculations as mentioned in section M above. Del allows you to permanently remove that option from the item.

Clicking the move action brings you to a screen that looks like this.

Figure 2.16. Moving Options

From here you can choose the new placement of the option by clicking on any of the choices offered on the other options (above, below, swap). The order of the options will be modified and you'll be returned to the previous screen with the new order displayed.

While a customer will not be entering any information to be part of the imprint, you will still need to add an Item Form to your PriceConfigItem. This will allow customers to upload their artwork to be printed. If you're not already familiar with how to use Item Forms, please review this Help document.

When building the form, you'll need to include one File Upload field for each piece of artwork that is to be part of the item. If it's just a single sided item, then only one field is needed. If it's a two sided item, and you prefer to receive both sides as separate files, then you'll need a second File Upload field. You may choose to have the user upload multiple page pdfs in a single upload field.  The drawback to this, is that the user will only be presented with a single 'proof' image of the first page of the pdf, and not samples of each individual page.  Don't forget to put in the sublabel field of the File Upload any restrictions on the size and type of artwork to be sent to you. For additional information on setting up form fields for upload, please see the following documentation for SpecialRequestItems.

Figure 2.17. Artwork Upload Item Form Example

The rest of the setup for a PriceConfigItem is just like normal. You will want set up the catalog previews and test it from your storefront to be sure that everything is working as you expect. Since the pricing is variable, be sure to test your item will all of the different options and see that the pricing on each one is correct.

While testing your item, PriceConfigItem allows you to see the line item costs when viewing it in the Storefront. Place a test order from your storefront. When you reach the page where you can choose the different options for your items, find and click the Show Line Items button.

Figure 2.18. Show Line Items

This will bring up a full list of line item options for your test item, including any options you included but did not display to the customer (such as makeready or markup). The list will be in the order that the pricing is calculated and will update dynamically as you select different options for the item. This allows you to validate all of your pricing and troubleshoot any problems.

Figure 2.19. Quotes Line Item

Variable or merged items can present options to users which affect the price. It also offers an alternative to using SosDualItem or SosMultiSizeItem in cases where those item classes were used only to affect price.

There are two ways to use this. One is to turn on the estimate step.

Figure 2.20. Show Estimate Form Step

When this option is turned on, the item will show an additional page after being added to the basket. That page will have a form which allows users to select qty, size, paper, and other options and see immediate feedback on pricing.

The other way to use it is to have the user select the pricing option on the item form. This is useful for items that are mostly configured but have one or two additional options or upsells. In this case, the Item Form must be configured with an input that uses the same name and options as is configured on pricing options.

Quotes Plus is a module of the PageDNA system that, like the Quotes module, allows you to offer items to your customers that offer variable pricing. The prices are based on different options you make available, such as paper stock or finishing. Customers can then customize their selections and place orders that work for their needs and their budgets.

Figure 3.1. Quotes Plus Sample Item

What really sets Quotes Plus apart is its ability to act as true estimation tool. With it you can define variables at the sheet level for things like paper size and weight, and use those variables to drive dynamic item pricing that's based on your actual production costs. Coupled with the item level features of Quotes, you now have powerful set of tools that can streamline your item pricing while making sure that your productions costs are covered.

Figure 3.2. Quotes Plus Site Options

Quotes Plus items are designed specifically to serve your customer's custom job requirements by allowing them to directly upload artwork for printing and choose the configuation they want from your list of options. When you receive a Quotes Plus order, you'll be provided with the order details selected be the customer along with their artwork to be printed.

The concepts and mechanics of using Quotes Plus are on based those functions found in the Quotes module. All of the functions of Quotes are availble to you in the Quotes Plus module. So if you've not already used our Quotes module or read the Help documents for it, you'll want to do so before proceeding. You can find those documents here.

How do I build a catalog of "quotable" items and model pricing within Quotes Plus?

Before getting into the details of configuring Quotes Plus, which is covered in the documentation that follows this, it is important that you understand the steps you will need to take. The following is designed to give you an overall view of the thought process and describe some of the options so you can decide on how best to approach the configuration of Quotes Plus. We strongly encourage you to read this before attempting to configure Quotes Plus or create any items.

There are two different ways you can offer up a Quotes Plus item, also called an EstimateItem. The first is to start a new site using our Site Starter and selecting the Quotes Plus option. This gives you a new storefront with several preconfigured EstimateItems already set up using some common options. All you have to do is customize the pricing and some of the site details before taking the Storefront live.

Figure 3.3. Quotes Plus in the Site Starter

The second way to offer EstimateItems to your customers is to add a new item to any of your existing Storefronts after activating the Quotes Plus module. Look for the Quotes Plus Config option in the Storefront menu.

Figure 3.4. Quotes Plus in the Storefront Menu

When you click on it, you'll be asked to agree to the additional pricing (see Cost section). Once you've agreed to it, the new item type will be made available to you. To make a EstimateItem, go to the Item Wizard and select EstimateItem during the item creation process. There is more information later in this section about that process.

Whether you are using a Quotes Plus Storefront or have enabled the Quotes Plus module on an existing site, you'll need to visit the Quotes Plus Config menu to set up a few basic pieces of information before moving forward. Find and click on the Quotes Config menu item and then select the Setup tab. The rest of the tabs are covered elsewhere in this section.

Figure 3.5. Quotes Plus setup

If the details of a Quotes Plus order should go to a specific email address, enter that address in the Quote Email field. Leaving it blank will mean that the EstimateItem order emails will go to the Site Provider email address.

When a customer selects different options for an item while placing an order in the catalog you can choose to update the final price displayed in two different ways. The first is instantly. When the customer changes an option that changes the price, the total will be updated for them right away. The second option is to offer a calculate button. The gives the user a chance to make several changes at once and then hit a calculate button to display their updated pricing.

If you want to display additional details about an option, place a check in the box next to Show Option Details.

Selecting the option to Show Upsells will cause the system to not only display the pricing for the item the user has configured, but also display the cost for the same item in the next two larger quantities assuming quantity levels have been assigned when the item was created.

The cost for the Quotes Plus module is is covered on our plan page found on at www.PageDNA.com/plans.php. Its cost is an "account level" fee. There are no additional per-site charges for its use.The fees begin when you take your first Quotes Plus storefront live, or you when have an EstimateItem on a live site. The Quotes Plus module can be activated from within the site's menu or by selecting the Quotes Plus site template in "Start a new site" in the Hub. The template has several sample items configured to use Quotes Plus.

Site level options:

Quotes Plus operates at three different levels: the site level, the shared options level, and the item level. We suggest that you to sit down with your current pricing information, a calculator, and a spreadsheet to map out the details for a site or item before you start building an EstimateItem of Quotes Plus storefront. Doing some preparation work now will make the rest of the build and test processes much easier later on.

The first level you need to plan for is the site level. At the site level you will be asked to define the different paper sizes and weights that you want to offer in your Storefront. Not all of your items will have to offer all of the different papers, but any paper you plan to offer for an EstimateItem needs to be included in this list. Think of it has building a catalog of inventory and then being able to later define what items can use any given paper from that catalog. Start with some of your most commonly offered paper. You don't have to enter every type of paper you plan to offer at one time. You can always come back to add, delete, or modify your papers at a later time.

At the site level you'll also need to know certain details about each type of paper that you plan to offer. This includes the sheet's size, weight, finish, caliper, and cost per sheet.

In addition you should have information about your cutter. You'll be asked to enter values for the cost per hour, number of cuts per hour, lift height, and a minimum cost per item that you wish to charge for trimming.

Lastly, at the site level you can assign a markup value to your pricing on EstimateItems. This is a markup that will be applied to the final total of the item after all of the customer selections have been made.

The second level that you want to plan for are the shared options. These are the options you intend to offer customers that may be used for many different items. Shrink wrap packaging could be an example of a shared option.

Item level options:

The third level that you should think about are the individual options that will be available for each item.

Both Shared Options and Item Options work in almost the exact same manner as they do in our Quotes (PriceConFigItem) module. For a further discussion of shared items and individual item options, please see the Help document found here.

What Your Customer Needs to Know:

Once you've figured out what the pricing options will be, there's one other thing to consider before you begin building your item; and that's what your requirements are in terms of artwork for your item. All EstimateItem items use artwork that is uploaded by the customer so you need to know what the specifications of that artwork needs to be in order to produce the item.

You'll have an opportunity to communicate these requirements to the customers, but you'll need to know ahead of time what file types, resolutions, and dimensions you will accept. Unlike a traditional PageDNA item, the customer will upload the exact artwork for the item you'll be printing. When you receive an order from our system for a Quotes generated item you'll be given the specification details displaying the options that the user selected and a copy of (or link to) the artwork they have uploaded for the item.

Decide before you start building an item what file types you will accept (EPS, AI, PNG, JPG, etc.), at what resolution, and with what dimensions.

Once you've done all your research and preparation, then it's time to start building your Quotes Plus site or item.

Before building any actual EstimateItems, you will need to establish some site wide options. These are any shared options, paper types, cutter details, and markup you want the system to use.

Shared options work in the basic manner as they do in the Quotes (PriceConfigItem) module. These are options that you want to make available on two or more of your items and will have the same pricing and components for all items.

One difference from the Quotes version of this feature is that you can assign a cost model to determine how the price will be calculated. Your choices are per unit, cost per unit table, per printed area, and per press sheet.

Figure 3.6. Cost Models

The Cost Per Unit Table allows you to set pricing that declines the per unit price based on the quantity ordered. For example, a 4/0 business card might cost 1¢ per unit for the press time @ 250 units, but only 0.9¢ per unit @ 500 units. Each selection can have a different pricing table, so 4/0 and 4/4 could use different unit pricing, but both could have volume discounts.

Figure 3.7. Cost Per Unit Table

The other difference is that you have more option types to choose from when setting up shared items. In addition to the User Defined, you can also choose from Size, Paper, Number of Pages, and a Markup Table.

Figure 3.8. Item Options

Defining Paper Options:

To add different paper stock to at the site level, click on the Paper tab next to the Shared Options tab.

Figure 3.9. Paper Options

Defining Cutter Options:

By defining the cutter options, you are giving the system information that will allow it to automatically calculate the cost to trim any EstimateItem job. It does so based on a combination of variables defined in the paper details, the item's details and in this menu. It is found under the Cutter tab next to Paper.

Figure 3.10. Cutter options

Assigning Markup:

The Markup tab allows you to set a markup value that is calculated after all of the other cost options have been figured in. You can choose to assign a simple factor value and you can also assign a fixed cost per item.

Figure 3.11. Markup options

If you're working in a new Quotes Plus Storefront, then you'll have several preconfigured items already available for use. You can go to the Item Editor and choose to either edit one of the existing items or clone one and then edit the newly created item.

In both a Quotes Plus Storefront and a Standard storefront where you have enabled the Quotes Plus module, you can create new EstimateItems from the Item Wizard. During the first step of the wizard you'll be asked to select a template from the drop down list. Choose any of the options here. It doesn't matter which one, since you'll be changing that in the next step.

On the Product Info step, click the link that says Change. This will produce a pop up window where you can select a different item type.

Figure 3.12. Quotes Plus Change Type

In that pop up window you'll want to choose the item labeled Cost and weight based on pricing options (EstimateItem). You may need to change the Item Type filter to show all item types in order to see the new choice.

Figure 3.13. EstimateItem

With that selected, carry on with the Item Wizard as normal. On the Quantities step you'll have the choice to enter quantities and price or just quantities. If you have determined a base price for your item, enter it during this step of the wizard. On the other hand, if all of your options have a price and there is no set price for a base version of the item, leave the pricing fields empty at this point.

The Item Wizard will skip all of the style and artwork steps since all EstimateItems use artwork uploaded from the customer. Once you've finished going through the Item Wizard you're ready to begin adding and editing options for your items.

To add options at the item level, go to the Item Editor, click the Edit link for the EstimateItem that you want to work on and then select the pricing_options link in the menu bar. It will be in the same place you would find the item's style for traditional variable and static items.

Figure 3.14. Quotes Plus Item Edit Options

On the Item level, there are several different option types you can assign. They are the same choices that are available for you to define at the site level; User Defined, Size, Paper, Number of Pages, and Markup. Select them from the dropdown menu in the pricing_options and click the change type button to access the details of each option.

Figure 3.15. Quotes Plus Change Type

Size:

The Size options allow you to set the specifics dimensions of the item. Here you will not only define what size the item is, but also how many will fit on a parent sheet of paper and how many cuts it takes to trim them out of a parent sheet. You can also assign a name, label, preview image, additional description text, and other options.

You can also create more than one size. This can be useful if you want to offer different versions on an item. For example, imagine you wanted to allow a customer to order a postcard in three different sizes. Enter the information for the first size and click the Apply Settings button, then repeat the process for the other two sizes. Once you have more than on size entered, you can use the box on the left to adjust the order in which they are displayed to the customer.

Figure 3.16. Define Items Size

Paper:

Under the Paper option, you will select the paper types you want to make available for your item. In the Available Items box on the left is the list of papers that you defined at the site level. This is the catalog discussed in the section on preparation. To make a certain paper available as an option for this item, select the paper in the left box and click the Add button. To remove a paper from the list of Included items, select it and click the Remove button. The Up and Down buttons can be used to control the order in which the papers will be displayed.

Notice that there is no cost or pricing on this screen. Since you have defined at the site level the cost for a parent sheet of each type of paper, and you have defined the item's size in the previous step our system is now able to determine the individual paper and trim costs for an item using the variables you've already provided. That is part of the usefulness of the Quotes Plus module.

Figure 3.17. Paper Options

Number of Pages:

If your item has multiple pages, such as in a brochure or a book, you can define the number of pages in this next option. All of the options and tools on this page work in the same manner as those discussed previously.

Figure 3.18. Number of Pages

Markup:

The Markup option allows you to assign different markup amounts to your item based on the price. This is a useful and easy way to provide discounts (i.e. less markup) for larger orders. In the table shown below, you would add the price step in the left column and the markup factor in the right column. The price steps are for all values up to and including the price you enter. For example, if you want a 50% mark up on orders for this item that are $100.00 or less, you would enter 100 in the left column and 1.5 in the right.

Figure 3.19. Markup by Price

User Defined Options:

The User Defined option type can be used for just about any option you want to make available to your customers for this item. Shown below is an example where we've made shrink wrap packaging in different quantities an option for our sample item.

Figure 3.20. Adding Packaging

Adjusting the Order of the Options:

Once you've added some options, you'll see the list of them above the Add Option tool. The list will display the option name, type, and provide a series of actions to the right that you can take. The edit action will open the details of the option for editing as mentioned above. The move action allows you to adjust the display order of your options. Not only is that important in shaping how a customer thinks about placing their order, it also affects the Percent Markup calculations. Del allows you to permanently remove that option from the item.

With Quotes Plus, it's important that you have the Size and Number of Pages selections made prior to the Paper Type. Failing to do so will cause the final item price to be incorrectly calculated.

Figure 3.21. Option Order

Clicking the move action brings you to a screen that looks like this.

Figure 3.22. Changing Options Order

From here you can choose the new placement of the option by clicking on any of the choices offered on the other options (above, below, swap). The order of the options will be modified and you'll be returned to the previous screen with the new order displayed.

While a customer will not be entering any information to be part of the imprint, you will still need to add an Item Form to your EstimateItem. This will allow customers to upload their artwork to be printed. When building the form, you'll need to include one File Upload field for each piece of artwork that is to be part of the item. If it's just a single sided item, then only one field is needed. If it's a two sided item, and you prefer to receive both sides as separate files, then you'll need a second File Upload field. You may choose to have the user upload multiple page pdfs in a single upload field. The drawback to this, is that the user will only be presented with a single 'proof' image of the first page of the pdf, and not samples of each individual page. Don't forget to put in the sublabel field of the File Upload any restrictions on the size and type of artwork to be sent to you.

For additional information on setting up form fields for upload, please see the following documentation for SpecialRequestItems.

Figure 3.23. Artwork Upload Item Form Example

The rest of the setup for a PriceConfigItem is just like normal. You will want set up the catalog previews and test it from your storefront to be sure that everything is working as you expect. Since the pricing is variable, be sure to test your item will all of the different options and see that the pricing on each one is correct.

While testing your item, EstimateItems allow you to see the line item costs when viewing it in the Storefront. Place a test order from your storefront. When you reach the page where you can choose the different options for your items, find and click the Show Line Items button.

Figure 3.24. Show Line Items

This will bring up a full list of line item options for your test item, including and options you included but did not display to the customer (such as makeready or markup). The list will be in the order that the pricing is calculated and will update dynamically as you select different options for the item. This allows you to validate all of your pricing and troubleshoot any problems.

Figure 3.25. Quotes Plus Line Items