How To Create A Variable-Pricing Pageflex Template

A 'Variable-Priced' Pageflex Template is a Customizable Product (a.k.a. 'Web-To-Print') in the Catalogue with automated pricing that varies depending on the selections made by the user in the Pageflex document itself.

An example might be a training pack. The user selects the 'Training Pack' Customizable item from the Catalogue and sees a range of input fields and checkboxes to configure the artwork.
Each of the checkboxes might include additional pages in the final artwork and these pages need to be reflected in the final price. In addition, each section included may also need to include a 'Divider' which also has its own price.

The final result, when ordered, will be a single Project with multiple parts, one for each type of specification drawn in from the pricing tables.

Step 1: Rate Cards

First you should create the Rate Card Items in the catalogue with the appropriate specifications for each of the final document component types and the pricing.

The pricing should be for a quantity of ‘1’ (this will be multiplied-up by the final required quantity).

In our example, we would have 3 rate cards, one for the 'Binder', one for the 'Pages' and one for the 'Divider':

Step 2: Pageflex Template

The template itself should be constructed as a ‘Kit’ of Pageflex document templates. The kit should also hold the form presented to the user for customization.

Step 2a: The Form Fields

Each price-sensitive option on the form must have a value that consists of the Rate Card Product Code that contains the specification and pricing.

In this example, we have a form field that if ticked will include an 8-page questionnaire document in the middle of the generated document.

If the form option needs to combine prices from more than one Catalogue Item then they can be all be listed, separated by commas:

If the pricing for any of the options needs to use different ‘optional’ pricing within the Rate Card then this can be added to the product code by naming the Rate Card Item Option:

This example draws in the base pricing for the ‘DIV1’ catalogue item and the ‘8Pages’ option pricing within the ‘CON1’ rate-card item.

This allows our ‘CON1’ rate-card to have optional prices for 2-pages, 4-pages and 8-pages variants. Each catalogue item option would have its specification defined appropriately.

Step 2b: The ‘claritum_field_names’ field

In order for the Claritum System to know which fields to check for pricing options, there must be a single multi-line textfield on the form containing the names of the rate-card fields.
It should be hidden from the user and it must have a default value containing the names of the ‘option’ fields on the form.

The 'claritum_field_names' field tells the Claritum System which fields to check to see if they need to be included for pricing.

Step 2c: The ‘Claritum_ID’ field

The Claritum System will generate a unique number in this field each time the user begins a customisation. This is very useful if your kit has multiple artwork components and helps the printer combine the final printed components by matching the references.

It's an optional field (you don't need to include it but it may be useful if you do) and its output would usually appear in an unobtrusive but still readable place on the final artwork.

Step 2d: Naming of the Pageflex Kit Component

The title of each pageflex kit document (each ‘part’) must end with a hyphen (‘-’) followed by a space followed by the name of the corresponding Catalogue Item Title.

This ensures that the Claritum System knows which artwork from which kit component should go in which Job Part in the Job Bag.

This example will link the kit component artwork with the ‘Cover’ job part (the ‘BND1’ rate-card item).

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Step 2e: Pageflex Kit Product Options

Once you have created and uploaded the kit product to Pageflex you can begin configuring it so that it runs correctly within the Claritum Customer Catalogue.

Steps Customization

1. Remove all steps other than ‘Form Filling’.

Step 3: Catalogue Product

Finally you can create the product in the Claritum Catalogue that allows the user to choose this 'Training Guide' product, customize it and order it.

1. In the side menu, select the Templates option in the Templates section.
2. Click the New Pageflex Template option at the top of the page.
3. Set the Product Code and the Name of the template item.
4. Click the Details tab.
5. Select the Use Variable Pricing option in the Pricing section.
6. Set any markup as required.
7. Put the Pageflex Template Document's SKU Code in the Document ID field. This tells the Claritum System which Pageflex document to open when the user chooses this item.
8. Click Save.

That's it. Now you should see the product in the Catalogue and should be able to select it, customize and order it and the project should have the appropriate number of parts and artwork assigned correctly to each part.

If not... then perhaps the Troubleshooting section below might have the answer for you.

Troubleshooting

Here are some potential error conditions and some suggestions on how to solve them:

• “An internal error occurred (500, 0)"
  This comes up when you try to open a pageflex template for customisation.

• Check the ‘Document ID’ against the template item in the Claritum Catalogue. It may be using the wrong ‘SKU’ number for the kit document or it may not be set at all.

• “Could not find the specified document: “ followed by the document number.
  When you try to open a pageflex template for customisation.

• Check that the document ID for this Claritum Template Catalogue Item matches the SKU code for the Pageflex document. Easiest way to do this is via the ‘SKU Map’ on the Pageflex server.

• Your Claritum System may be pointing to the wrong Pageflex server instance. Check the ‘Pageflex’ settings in the ‘Configuration’ section on the Claritum System.

• “Site is not available. Sorry, the site is not currently available. (500, 0)”
  When opening a pageflex template for customisation.

• You may be logged into the Pageflex system as an admin in another tab within the browser. Logout of Pageflex and try opening the template again on the Claritum System.