Product categories and product types group similar products together. By using product categories to group products, organizations are better equipped to create several different detailed reports on their sales of products. Using product categories also aids in streamlining product setup in the Products service. The Product Categories service permits categories to be structured in a hierarchical manner by indicating parent/child relationships between categories.

Product Types group products based on extended characteristics that require that more information be stored in Aptify than a general product, such as Meetings or Expos.

As delivered, Aptify includes the following product types: Expos, Meetings, Housing, Publications, and General. When a user specifies a product type other than General on a Products record, Aptify automatically adds an extended product tab to the Products form. For example, when the Publications product type is selected, a Publications tab appears on the Products record. Additionally, extended order detail forms are defined for products with product types of Expos, Meetings, and Housing.

The Using Product Setup and Maintenance topic and its sub-topics address the General and Publication product types. See the following topics for information on the other standard product types:

• Expo: See Creating a New Expos Product.
• Housing: See Using Housing Management.
• Meeting: See Managing Meeting Products.

Each product in Aptify has a Product Category and a Product Type. In general, any user can add new product categories to Aptify as needed (depending on the security permissions defined at your organization), but only a developer or administrator should add new product types as part of an implementation of a new product format in Aptify.

Related topics

• Managing the Product Categories Service
• Creating New Product Types