Shop & Blog Management

This page explains the management area used by The Pole Yard’s shop and associated content operations. It is written for a new staff member who needs to understand the system, maintain products safely and handle quote requests without exposing private information.

Live reference: www.poleyard.co.za/manage/help

What the Management area controls

The Management area covers products, variants, images, product specification sheets and the quote request workflow.

Supabase is the live catalogue source.
WordPress remains part of the prepared quote email delivery process.
Public product pages read active catalogue records.
Draft and archived products remain hidden from the public catalogue.
The WordPress content and blog workflow must be managed separately from catalogue data, with the final editorial process recorded in the handover pack.

Management roles

Role	Access
Admin	Full access, including quote email resend tools and system diagnostics.
Shop manager	Products and quotes, with future order access when checkout is enabled.
Product manager	Product catalogue work only. Quotes remain hidden.

Safe editing habits

Change one thing, save it and then check the public page.
Use Draft while preparing content.
Prefer Archive over Delete when old quotes, links or customer records may still refer to a product.
Never paste passwords, private customer notes, API keys or supplier-only files into product fields.

First-day walkthrough

Sign in, open the dashboard and visit Products and Quotes so you understand the daily work areas.
Open an active product and review its basic details, website text, images, variants, specification sheet, categories, advanced settings and danger zone.
Change a draft product first, save it and inspect the matching public product page before editing a live product.
Open a recent quote and review the customer details, requested items, workflow status and delivery log.
Ask an admin to confirm your role if a menu item is missing or Management reports that access is required.

Publishing or updating a product

Open Products and search by product name, SKU, category or visible variant text.
Choose an existing product or create a new product.
Complete the basic details first: name, visibility, base price, stock quantity, short description and full description.
Keep the product in Draft while preparing it. Change it to Active only when the price, stock, image, category and variant labels are ready.
Save the product before adding variants or images. A new product needs an ID before those sections can store files.
Add variants for sizes, finishes, lengths, diameters, SKUs, stock values, price overrides and variant specification sheets.
Upload clear product images, select one primary image and write useful alt text that describes the product or visible detail.
Open the public product page after saving and check the title, price, image, variant labels, specification sheet and enquiry button.

Handling a new quote request

Open Quotes when a new customer request arrives or the dashboard shows a recent request.
Review the customer details, branch, source, POPIA consent, marketing consent, message and requested items.
If sales follow-up is required, contact the customer through the normal branch sales process.
Mark the quote Reviewed, Quoted or Closed so the next person can see its progress.
If delivery shows Email failed, ask an admin to inspect the delivery logs and resend only after checking the customer and team email targets.

Product reference

Active: The product is visible on the website and eligible for public catalogue pages.
Draft or Archived: The product is hidden from the website. Use Draft while preparing content and Archive when a product is discontinued.
Slug: The final part of the product URL. Keep it stable once it has been printed, shared, indexed or used in advertising.
Base price: The fallback product price. A variant price may override it where required.
Attributes: Customer-facing labels such as Size, Length, Diameter, Finish or Treatment.
SKU: The internal stock or sales code. Keep it readable and consistent with branch systems.
Variant status: Controls whether a specific option can be used while the parent product remains active.
Variant specification sheet: A PDF for one option where sizes or treatments have different technical data.
Primary image: The main product image used in listings and product detail pages.
Alt text: A short accessibility and search description. Name the product or visible detail rather than the file metadata.
Product specification sheet: A PDF that applies to the whole product. Upload public technical documents only.

Quote statuses

Status	Meaning
New	The request has arrived and still needs staff review.
Reviewed	A staff member has opened and checked the request.
Quoted	The sales team has responded with pricing or next steps.
Closed	The request is finished or no longer active.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Likely cause	First safe action
Management access required	The signed-in account exists, but no Management role is linked to the profile.	Ask an admin or developer to add `admin`, `shop_manager` or `product_manager` in the Supabase roles.
Product is not visible publicly	The product may be Draft or Archived, missing a category, missing an active variant or waiting for cache revalidation.	Check visibility, category, variants and public URL. Ask a developer to inspect revalidation if the data is correct.
Image looks wrong	The wrong file was uploaded, no primary image was selected or an image was attached to a variant unexpectedly.	Upload the correct image, select it as primary, review alt text and inspect the public page.
Email failed	The quote was saved in Supabase, but the WordPress mail bridge or mail delivery failed.	Do not recreate the quote. Ask an admin to review delivery logs and resend after checking the recipients.
Unsaved changes warning	The product form contains edits that have not been saved.	Save Product to keep the edits, or Discard if the edit was accidental.

Information that must remain private

Customer documents, supplier pricing, passwords, API keys, private customer notes and internal-only files must not be uploaded to product fields or public specification-sheet areas. Store them in the approved secure system and link to the relevant process from the handover pack.