Product Catalog v. Products

[mallie]

This may sound stupid but what's the difference? We can only import to Product Catalog but we can't see it under products. How does the general user, who is not admin, get to choose from the products? Is there anyway to import directly into the "products" instead of "product catalog"?

We are using Sugar Professional, Version 4.5.1f

[jli]

the naming scheme is slightly confusing, so don't feel bad. the product catalog is where you would define your "actual products" (i.e. cost, inventory, description, etc.). the products module is used in conjunction with the quotes module. when you create a quote, and you add line items from the product catalog into the quote, you create a "snapshot" of that particular product catalog. that "snapshot" entry is a record in the products module. the reasoning for this is that your product catalog item can change in the future (i.e. price, description, type). you don't want those changes to be reflected in products that have been quoted in the past, hence the "snapshot" into the products module.

[mallie]

Jli,

Thank you for the clarification. I now understand the difference between the product catalog and the product module.

I still have a question though. Only admin users can search the product catalog, correct? How then are non-admin salespersons to search our products?

Thank you for your help.

[jli]

non-admin users are able to search and select records from the product catalog (i.e. using quotes and adding searching and selecting products). only admin users are able to create/modify records in the product catalog.