SoftwareCentral · Custom shop items

Order Hardware in the Shop

A custom shop item can be a piece of hardware, such as a laptop, as well as a piece of software. This page shows how a hardware item is added to the shop, and which choices the shopper gets.

Hardware items Software Variables Price

1 The hardware item

We can use the custom shop items to add hardware items to the shop. Here we have added a Lenovo T440s item, created in Custom Shop Items.

The Edit window of a custom shop item named Lenovo T440s, with a laptop picture, a description, the price DKK 8999, Approval, the Hardware product category and the Security setting.
Earlier version: the Edit window of the item. The current window has the tabs Properties, Icon, Additional Languages, Action, Approval Flow and Additional Information. Set the item's Price, Product Categories and Security on the Properties tab.

2 Choices for the shopper

We could use Software Variables to add drop-down boxes with different configurations such as memory, operating system and so on.

SettingWhat it does
Price Price (default) writes the price as a number. If the price is 0, the price is hidden in the shop. Free, Unknown, Per year, Per month and One time cost write the price in that way.
Show Software Variables Asks the shopper the questions you choose before the item goes into the basket. Use Select visible variables to pick the questions.
Security Allow all users to order this item, or limit the item to the following Package Security Groups. See Package Security Groups.

3 In the shop

In the shop it will look like this:

The shop with the Lenovo T440s item in the Hardware category: the picture, a short description, Price DKK 8999 and an Order button.
Earlier version of the shop. The current shop uses a new layout; the shopper finds the item by category or search and clicks Order. See Ordering software.

4 Best practice

  • Choose the price type on purpose. With Price (default), a price of 0 is hidden in the shop; Free or Unknown tells the shopper what to expect instead.
  • Use Show Software Variables for the choices that differ, such as memory or operating system, rather than making one item for each configuration.
  • Use Security to limit a hardware item to the people who may order it when not everyone should see it.
  • If an order must be approved, set an approver on the Approval Flow tab. See Approval Flow.