Item categories are optional, however if you have many inventory items, your customers will find it easier to locate products that are grouped by category.  Inventory Items not assigned to a category within MYOB will not be uploaded to your website.

 

• Define a custom list within MYOB for use with categories
• Add category entries to you custom list
• Link MYOB inventory items to your website categories

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MYOB Accounting incorporates a user-definable Custom List feature.  Using custom lists you can create your own lists for practically any purpose within MYOB.  Virtual Merchant uses one of these lists to implement item categories.

1. From the MYOB Lists menu, select Custom List & Field Names/Items to open the Custom Lists and Field Names window.
   
   
    
2. Click the Item tab to define one of the lists for use with inventory items and enter an appropriate name for your category list.  Any one of the 3 Custom Lists can be used to define your list of categories.
   
   
    
3. Click into one of the Custom List name fields and enter a relevant label such as “Item Category”. 
4. When you're done, click OK.

Now that you have labelled a Custom List for use with inventory items, the next step is to add category entries to your list.  Well chosen categories will help your customers easily locate items on your website.

About Sub-Categories:

If you have many categories you may choose to implement subcategories by inserting a hyphen in the category name.
In the following example; Books are expanded when clicked, when a different category is clicked Books are collapsed.  It is recommended that you enter your categories using a hyphen as you can easily enable or disable the subcategories feature within Virtual Merchant.
Note: there is a space either side if the hyphen.
 

 

To add category entries to your list:

1. From the MYOB Lists menu, select Custom List/Items to open the Custom Lists window.
   
   
    
2. Click the Item tab.
3. From the drop down menu select your previously defined Custom List - in our example “Item Category”.
   
   
    
4. Click the New button to display the Edit Custom List window.
   
   
    
5. Enter the name of the list entry (your category name).
6. Click OK.

Repeat steps 4 through 6.

Inventory Items not assigned to a category within MYOB will not be uploaded to your website. You may however choose to implement certain category names to "hide" categories from selected customers.  See our advance features for information on hiding products.

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Linking MYOB Inventory Items with Categories

Each inventory item you want displayed on your website should be linked to a Category, and there is no limit to the number of items linked with a particular category.

Only items in MYOB that are marked “I Sell This Item” will be visible on your website even if you have already linked the item to a category - refer to your MYOB documentation for further explanation regarding creating items.

To Link an Item to a Category:

1. In the MYOB Inventory Command Centre, click Items List to open the Items List window.
2. In the list in the middle of the window, click the zoom arrow next to the item whose information you want to change.  The Item information window appears, displaying the basic information assigned to the item.
3. Click the Item Details tab to display the items Detail view.
   
   
    
4. From the drop down menu labeled for use with Item Categories, select the appropriate category entry.
5. When you're done, click OK.

Repeat steps 2 through 5 for each item you wish to link to a category.