Amazon controls the horizontal and the vertical. If you don't like the results of a node query, tough stuff - you will have to reformulate your node value query until you get something you can live with. This is experimental and interactive, but you should be able to build a highly customized store in two or three hours, including breaks.
Goal: Setup to find Amazon browse nodes
- open a brower window to your store shop.php
- open a brower window to your store admin.php
- open a brower window to browsenodes.com
So you have three browsers open.
Goal: Navigate BrowseNodes.com
- Click on Stores to see the top-level categories.
- Click on Sub-category Names to traverse the node tree.
- Scroll down to see the specific data record for a sub-category.
- Scroll down some more to see example items.
- Spend a bit of time EXPLORING the categories and subcategories. You might get an idea or two.
- Ignore the Download option - other webstore vendors use this for building databases. AOM handles this in realtime without a database.
- Highlight the data record "Browse Node ID" value (NOT the parent node) and copy it (Ctrl-C).
Goal: Setup AOM for Category testing
- Display the Subcategories box (to help you drill down)
- Create a Test Category in your store
- Paste (Ctrl-V) the node value into the Test category in AOM Admin.
- Ensure that the AOM category from the drop-down list is IN the SAME hierchical path ("breadcrumb" trail) as the sub-category node value you are testing (i.e., select Books if the specific node value is a sub-category of Books. If you (mis)combine, say, an Apparel sub-category value with the BOOK parent category value, results will NOT be returned from Amazon because you have specified an impossible query.
Goal: Test your query
- Save your revised category settings in AOM admin.php
- Keep the AOM Control Panel Open (you'll be going back and forth)
- In your store, click on the Test tab to force a refresh (in IE press F5)
So, did you get any results? Too many? Too few?
Are the AOM sub-category names acceptable?
You can't change them. But you do control where your store enters the browse node hierarchy through your Category definitions. And you can make any sub-category a top-level Category tab in your store using its Browse Node ID. This makes the store easier for your customers to navigate.
Optionally, you can add a "keyword" to further refine your Category - BUT my experience is that this will often result in Categories and/or Sub-Categories that return no items. The same concern applies to creating a site-level keyword. For instance, Apparel->Womens->Handbags is unlikely to return any results if you use "Batman" as a keyword. So the flexibility of keywords has a price - they can filter every result from a Category or Sub-Category.
So this must be "carefully tested" or your customers will go elsewhere. Did I mention that you need to test your store?
If all is good, rename your Test category or create a new category and clone the results from the Test category - now back to BrowseNodes.com to continue building your store.
5) Also, you can click on a sub-category in your store and then copy the Node value from the address line (highlight, Ctrl-C) and jump back to the AOM Control Panel and paste it in. This approach doesn't require going to BrowseNodes.com - but you should check it out anyway.
6) Also, you can also go to Amazon.com and view their database queries and try to snatch a good node value from your browser address line. Many of these values aren't nodes, so trial and error is the key.
Hope this helps the newcomers...
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