Creating Items

From MerchantOS Manual

With MerchantOS, you can create items three different ways. Items can be created using the Quick Add tool from the inventory menu, by using the New Item button from the inventory menu, and by using the New Item button on the register.

Contents 1 Quick Add 2 New Item (Inventory Menu) 3 New Item (Register) 4 Duplicating Items

[edit] Quick Add

Using the Quick Add tool is the most convenient way to quickly add both items and inventory for those items. You can also print out labels for the inventory you've just added directly within this tool.

1. Press the Inventory button to access the inventory menu.
2. Press the Quick Add Items button in the Inventory Maintenance section to enter the tool.
3. Towards the top of the tool is a section called Search For Existing Item. You can search for items in your local data or in the MerchantOS catalogs by entering a Search term in the Search field. To include catalog results, verify that the Show Catalog Matches check-box is checked. It is important to use this field to search for items if you are unsure whether the item is in your data already. This will help avoid creating a duplicate and also benefit from a match in the The Catalog saving you the time of entering all the data for the new item.
   • If there is only one match for the term you searched for, the fields which describe the item below will be populated with the matched items information.
   • If there are multiple matches in either the catalog or local results, you will have to select the best result from either of the lists.
   • If there are no matches, you'll have to fill in all the fields below by hand to create the new item.
     

     The quick add tool with no data entered.
4. If you would like to add inventory for the item, use the Add Qty. field to enter more inventory. If the Total Qty. field is present, you can update the total quantity on hand by changing the number for that field.
5. Fill out the remaining fields appropriately. See the Item Fields section for more information about what each field means.
6. Press the Add Inventory and Continue button.
7. At this point you can print out labels for the item you've just added by pressing the button with the printer icon on it (This button will not be present until your first item is added). Once your labels are printed continue with the next item.

[edit] New Item (Inventory Menu)

Be careful to not accidentally create duplicates when adding items with this method.

1. Press the Inventory button to access the inventory menu.
2. Press the New Item button in the Items & Inventory section.
3. You will be presented with the Details tab of an item with all the fields blank. Fill in the fields appropriately then press save. You can learn more about what each field is used for from the Item Fields section of the manual.
4. After the item is saved, you will be able to access the Inventory and Vendor IDs tabs. Use the Inventory tab to add stock and the Vendor ID's tab to add identification numbers for your vendors.

[edit] New Item (Register)

This allows you to add items to your inventory on the fly during a sale. Again be careful to not create duplicates by searching for the item first. You should already be familiar with Making a Sale.

1. From the register press the New Item Button.
2. Fill in the fields appropriatly. Refer to the Item Fields section of the manual to learn more about what each field means.
3. Press Add Item. This adds the item to the register as a sale line item and adds the item to your inventory with a quantity of zero.

[edit] Duplicating Items

This method of creating items can help when making many similar items with perhaps different sizes or colors.

1. Press the Inventory button.
2. Press the Item Search button in the Items & Inventory section.
3. Search for the item you wish to duplicate and once you've found it, press on the pencil icon for that item to access its details.
4. At the top of the item view is a Duplicate Item button. Press this button to make a duplicate of the current item with all the fields filled in the same way as the current item.
5. Edit the fields appropriately to match the characteristics of the new item then press Save. You can now duplicate the current item once more to make another similar item.