When a Datasite is first set up it will look uninviting and empty so it can be hard to know where to start. On this page we provide an outline of what to do to make the most of this incredibly versatile e-business platform.

First of all start by filling in a brief introductory paragraph or two on the home page under website/front Page. You can upload a logo or top banner here as well. This page will later be styled using CSS but it is important to add some content to enable the designer to create the right image. If your site has already been styled the content you add will be applied to the page using the style sheet guidelines.

At this stage you need to decide what type of site you want to run. The main choices are business to business or consumer focused. A business to business site gives you more options for features such as customer accounts, budget control, order on account and so on.

The next step is to begin adding your content starting with your static pages and category pages.

A category page is created at products/categories and is used to help users review products or sub categories related to a specific product group. You should always set up your categories prior to uploading products. These are known as dynamic pages as the content of the page displayed will change dependant on what is in the database

Next you might add some static pages such as an 'about us' page, a 'contact us' page and so on. A static page is a page that only displays the content you have added and the content is not dynamically changed based on information in the database.

You may also want to add pages like 'Terms and Conditions' or 'Privacy Policy'. When you create pages you may then also want them not to show up in the automatic list of pages that appears for example the 'terms and conditions'. To do this check the 'hidden' box.

Some page you may not want detailed on the main menu but you would like them to be a sub-pages listed under a main menu page. A good example here would be the 'My Account' page. Here you might want to have sub pages for previous orders, my details, marketing preferences etc

Datasite also features a range of pre-coded pages with specific file names that contain certain key functions (these can also be styled in CSS). Detailed below are some examples of pages that can be used with the 'My Account' page as a parent page:

• My Details (my-details.html or user-details.html)
• My Addresses (addresses.html)
• Order History (past-orders.html)
• Order Pad (order-pad.html | business site and customer user only)

For every page or category you can create a separate link using the website/navigation section (discussed later) whether they are hidden or not.

Useful Tip Don't forget to make pages for the shopping basket, checkout, search etc - when creating a new page website/pages/new you can review the list of available pre-coded pages

Don't forget to add every page you will need as this will help your designer understand what navigation is needed. You don't need to write copy for every page at this stage just get your site structure or wireframe in place,

Useful navigation is crucial to create a happy user experience on your website. The website/navigation section will help to create this

Here you can add new links to your site. These can appear in a number of places depending on which link category you add them to. The categories are:

• Product: These links appear on the individual product pages and are know as 'Call to Action' links. They can be added on any position on the product page
• Page: These links appear on individual static pages and are in addition to the sub pages detailed in the pages section above and are also generally used as 'Call to Action' links
• Category: These links appear on individual category pages and are in addition to the sub category pages detailed in the pages section above and are also generally used as 'Call to Action' links
• Top: These links appear right at the top of the site immediately after the title. These should be used for quick links to important areas eg. 'My Account', 'Login/Register', 'Checkout', 'Favourites' and so on. Some links you can create are special links that only display if the user is logged in or vice versa. Links to '/register.html' are only displayed if the user is logged out or has no account. A link to '/?logout=1' will create a log out link only visible when the user is logged in.
• Tabs: Tab link appears just after the top links and are typically used for a horizontal menu of links to the home page, special offers, bestseller categories etc…
• Sidebar1: These links appear in the HTML typically used to create a sidebar. On the default FreeStyle template these are in the left sidebar.
• Sidebar2: These links appear in the HTML typically used to create a sidebar. On the default FreeStyle template these are in the right sidebar.
• Bottom: A menu of links to appear in the footer section of the website. Here you would typically link to terms and conditions, a privacy policy and contact us pages.
• Bestsellers: A list of links that appears in the main content area on the home page. These should be products that you want to highlight either because they are your bestsellers or because you want them to be

Links can either be text or image links - Images can be added in the HTML editor box featured on the website/navigation/new page

So to catch up you should now have a site with the main content+feature pages created and some neat little menus to enable you to find the most useful pages as quickly as possible.

This is usually done by uploading a spreadsheet at data/csv-import or you can enter your products one by one at products/new Before uploading or creating new products you need to consider:

• Product Variations: some products will be variations on a single product for example different colours & sizes of clothing.
• Product Option Costs: some products have additional costs, configuration options or unique features that need adding before ordering
• Related Product: some products have other products that are useful to purchase alongside the main product
• Product Descriptions & Images: when you are selling products on the web you will need good quality descriptions and images to present your product in the best light

Most companies will need some level of support or assistance before uploading their products

Now that you have almost everything in place, you can carry on configuring your site. The basic options are listed below but you will find a comprehensive list on the website menu under settings, theme, style & product detail and under the order menu under setup:

• Private: Make your site private by requiring that users login first before they can use it.
• Require registration: This can be handy if you want to force users to register their details on the site.
• Allow order on account: This is an option for business sites. Y
• Disable basket: If you want to disable the shopping basket and treat the site as an enquiry only or catalogue listing site tick this box.
• Enable enquiry: This enables the enquiry basket feature.
• Enable favourites: This activates the favourites feature of the site. Y
• Allow zero: Whether to allow orders that cost £0 - useful for stock call off where products have been pre-paid for