Viewing as a channel or a language
Your catalog feeds more than one destination and speaks more than one language. Instead of separate screens for each, Catalog pages that can differ per channel or per language have a View as control in the top bar: View as [Global] in [English]. Pick a channel to see and edit what that channel shows; pick a language to see and edit the translation.
View as appears on the product list, on every product, on Categories, on Search > Facets and on the Merchandising pages.
Switch to a channel or a language
Steps
- Open a page that shows View as in the top bar, for example Catalog > Catalog > Products.
- To view a sales channel, click the first chip (Global by default) and select the channel.
- To view a language, click the second chip (your default language) and select the language.
The two choices combine freely: you can view a channel in a language. When you step away from the defaults, the control turns dark and the chip you changed lights up, so you always know you're not looking at the master record.
Go back to Global in your default language
Steps
- In the View as control, click the × on the right.
Both the channel and the language go back to their defaults in one click. You can also pick Global or your default language from the chips.
Learn what each view does
| View | What you see and edit |
|---|---|
| Global in the default language | The master record. Every field is editable here and every channel and language reads from it. |
| A sales channel | Only what differs on that channel. Fields you change become channel overrides; everything else keeps following Global. See Channel overrides. |
| A language | The translation. The title and description of products, and the name, description and SEO of categories, show the default-language text as a placeholder until you translate them. See Languages and translations. |
On the product list, choosing a language shows the product titles in that language where a translation exists. Choosing a channel on the list doesn't filter it: it prepares the view you'll find inside each product you open.
Considerations for View as
- Your choice follows you: every Catalog page you open during the session reopens in the last channel and language you picked, until you go back to the defaults.
- The choice is also part of the page address, so a link you copy and share opens on the same channel and language.
- Some parts of a product are always shared by every channel, such as the SKU, the attribute set, the variants and the categories. They're read-only in a channel view. See Channel overrides.
- The languages in the list are the ones enabled in Catalog > Settings > Catalog data > Localization. The channels are the sales channels created by your connections.
- On a narrow screen the control shows only the eye icon and the chips.