Extensions to the Category Item Descriptor

This section describes additions and modifications to the category item descriptor.

feature and myFeature

The feature and myFeature properties work together to ensure that a promotional image, such as the one below for the Registered Users – Save 15% on Home Accents promotion, is always returned for a category:

This illustration is described in the preceding text.

A category’s myFeature property contains a promotional image, in the form of a promotionalContent item. feature is a derived property that looks at the myFeature property of the current category to find a promotional image. If the current category’s myFeature property is null, feature looks at the feature property of the category’s parent, effectively repeating the process with the parent. That is, it looks at the parent’s myFeature property and, if the property is null, it proceeds to the feature property for the parent’s parent. Using this methodology, a call for a category’s promotional image will move up the category tree until it finds a promotional image. Note that it is the feature property that is used in the Commerce Reference Store JSP code.

The store.war/browse/gadgets/itemHeader.jsp gadget renders the menu bar and header area for categories. As it builds the menu bar and header area, itemHeader.jsp includes the store.war/browse/gadgets/categoryPromotions.jsp gadget, which is responsible for retrieving the category’s promotional image (that is, its feature property). itemHeader.jsp then renders the promotional image so that it overlaps the splash image.

This illustration is described in the preceding text.

Note: promotionalContent is a Commerce Reference Store-specific item type. For detailed information, see Custom Item Descriptors in the Catalog Repository.

heroImage

heroImage stores a splash image for the category in the form of a media item. This property is used by the store.war/browse/gadgets/itemHeader.jsp gadget to display a background image for the category menu bar and header area.

This illustration is described in the preceding text.
relatedProducts

relatedProducts stores a list of items of type product that represent a set of products in a category. The store.war/browse/gadgets/featuredProducts.jsp gadget uses the relatedProducts property to populate the list of featured products on the category page. For example, the illustration below shows the Women category and its featured products: Frilled Skirt, Long Sleeve Soft Touch Hoodie, and Suede Blazer.

This illustration is described in the preceding text.

The store.war/navigation/gadgets/catalog.jsp gadget uses relatedProducts to populate the list of featured products that appear in the menu bar. When you click a category in the menu bar, you see a menu with a list of subcategories down the left and a list of related products down the right.

This illustration is described in the preceding text.