Logging On

Where can I find the Syndeca publishing console?

You can log into the console here.

Where can I find my login credentials?

You should have received your [credentials/login ID] from Client Services. If you cannot locate this information, please contact your representative directly or via email at support@syndeca.com.

Mine isn’t working and am locked out of my account. Who do I contact to unlock my account?

If you are unable to access your account for any reason, please email support@syndeca.com.

Scheduling

How do I reschedule a publication with a new go-live date?

It’s easy to adjust an already-scheduled publication. Learn how here.

Can I delete a publication that will never be scheduled to go live?

Yes! Learn how here.

How do I take-down a publication so it is no longer live (on my website or in my apps)?

There are two ways to take down a publication: 1) Set the ‘end date’ to the desired take down time, or 2) you can remove the publication entirely from the guide. Learn more here.

Creating Publications

Can I duplicate an existing publication that I have uploaded to the platform?

Unfortunately, duplicating an existing publication is currently not supported. You can work around this issue by either creating a new publication using the same creative assets or contacting support@syndeca.com for assistance.

Can I change the publication URL or slug name after it has been created?

Once a slug is created, it cannot be edited or modified. To learn more, contact support@syndeca.com for assistance.

Creative Assets

How can I make changes to my creative assets (PDF) after I’ve completed the product mapping?

To replace existing creative assets, contact your Account Representative for assistance.

Can the size of pages or spreads vary within one publication?

Our platform requires size consistency within a single publication, although any aspect ratio is acceptable. Prior to uploading your pages or spreads, reformat them so they are all the same size.

How do I improve the quality of my PDF for better resolution in the viewer?

It’s easy to optimize your PDF for the best possible resolution. Learn how here.

Can I add GIFs to my publication?

Unfortunately, our platform does not currently support GIFs. However, you can convert your GIFs to Video files online or in Aftereffects, Photoshop or Quicktime. Video files ensure rapid playback, and allow our platform to optimize the resolution and loading speed by device and connection, ensuring the best possible user experience, particularly on mobile.

Why are the colors of my publication not matching the colors of the PDF I uploaded?

This may happen if you did not save your PDF with the correct color profile. Save out your PDF in a sRBG format to achieve the best color quality.

What is the difference between a lookbook and landing page, as per Syndeca terms.

Nothing, these are simply business terms. There are no technical differences between a “lookbook” and a “landing page” in the Syndeca platform. Retailers may call their multi-page publications catalogs, lookbooks or style guides, which can all be supported with a horizontal “book” layout (like a traditional catalog) or a vertically scrolling one. Landing pages are typically setup vertically, which some brands may refer to as a lookbook or style guide.

QA / UAT

How can I QA/preview my work before I push it live?

To preview all work before it goes live, use the ‘Preview’ link under the settings tab. You must save all changes in order to QA them.

How do I handle mapping products that are not yet available in my data feed?

You can map products in an image at anytime, but the corresponding product data must be available in the data feed in order to link it to the image. (If a product is unavailable in a data feed, it will not appear in the publisher or mapped in the live view. Note that you can, however, map partial or incomplete product data if available).

Product Mapping

How do I map more than one product in a small area?

You can map multiple overlapping products using the ‘Zoom’ toggle in the publisher. Learn how here.

What is a ‘manual’ tag?

A manual tag is one that has its information entered manually during the production process (rather than pulling its information from the data feed). Manual tag content can include title, description, and link (URL or page number).

Do I need to outline every product exactly?

The amount of products outlined depends upon the density of any given page: if products overlap or are tightly presented, we recommend outlining or tagging each product to avoid conflicting with other tagged areas. If there are only a few products on a page and they don’t overlap, then it’s preferable to create larger and more general outlines and tags. Learn more here.

How do I tag products in a video?

Tagging products in a video is similar to tagging products on a page. First, place the video in the publisher, then add product tags as you would on a standard image. Remember: only one product can be tagged per video. Learn more here.

Can I add more than one product to a mapping?

At this time, the publisher will only allow one product to be mapped to a given area.

Why does saving my progress take longer for some pages than others?

Saving pages with large product densities will take longer to save than those with less. For example, a page with 20 mappings will take longer to save than a page with only 4. Please allow for additional processing time for densely mapped pages.

For a product that is available in multiple colors, can I determine the color to be displayed first in the Quick View so that it matches the page creative?

This is not the default behavior in the viewer, but can be supported and implemented as an Advanced Option. Please consult your Account Representative.

What happens to items that are Out of Stock/Unavailable?

By default, these products will be filtered or untagged from the live viewer so they no longer launch a Quick View or are clickable. However, custom behavior can be implemented for Out of Stock products, such as launching a Quick View with “This item is currently unavailable” messaging.

Within a publication, is it possible to link a title or text (such as “Shop Women” or “Classic Hoodie”) directly to a category or product landing page?

Yes, you can simply create a ‘manual tool tip’ with a call to action such as “Shop Women” (or leave blank by adding a #) — and link to the desired URL. See Adding Manual Tooltip Data for more information.

Viewer

What is the experience on the home page or “guide screen” when multiple publications are live simultaneously?

When multiple publications are live simultaneously, thumbnail images of all will display in an index/gallery on the home (or “guide”) screen. This is the same behavior for a collection of catalogs, such as https://shop.nordstrom.com/catalog. You can select a particular lookbook as the “hero” on the page and use custom thumbnails if desired. For more information on setting up this page, see “Home Screen Setup“.

How can I get the number of pages in the publication to display in the viewer’s navigation, along with a field where users can directly enter a specific page number (also called “page indicator”)?

By default, the pagination is set to ‘Off’ in the platform. To turn it ‘On’, go to the Setting page of your publication and scroll down to ‘Customizations’.

  1. Select ‘Page Indicator’.
  2. Click the ‘Save Catalog Settings’ button after changing customizations.
  3. Publish a new ‘Build’.
  4. Wait ~15 minutes to allow for the CDN cache time to clear.
  5. Check to see the pagination feature in the top nav.

Are there performance limits for catalogs, lookbooks etc…? How many concurrent users can view a publication without affecting performance?

There are virtually no performance limitations with the Syndeca platform. All content and API requests are served directly from Amazon’s AWS CloudFront CDN which is setup to serve over 40GB/second (100,000 requests per second). To request a rate limit increase, please inform you Syndeca contact at least 10 days in advance. Additional information about CloudFront/max hosting limitations is available here.

How often does the publisher update and refresh with new product data?

This will depend on how often your website’s data is updated. Typically, Syndeca apps are updated daily. During the on-boarding process, the business rules will be determined for refreshing the product data every 6, 12 or 24 hours.

Are any brand elements stored in the publisher?

The publishing console will only store publicly available marketing content, such as uploaded publication files (catalogs, lookbooks, etc.) as well as any links or tags that are added. Additionally, if any social content is entered into the platform (such as Instagram), copies will also be stored in the platform.

Does my brand network need to integrate with the publisher?

No, the publishing tool is a hosted SaaS console which is accessed over the internet, so no integration is necessary.

Can I block company internal IP addresses so that internal testing activity is excluded from the analytics console data total?

At this time our analytics system does not support blocking IP addresses. However, you can filter the date range for publications in the console from go-live forward, thereby excluding all pre-launch internal QA data.

Customizations

Why are the icons still appearing in the top nav of the viewer after removing the customization flags (such as TOC, Shop Now, Sharing)?

To remove the icons from the nav after deselecting the customization flags, follow these steps:

  1. Make sure you have selected the ‘Save Catalog Settings’ button after changing customizations.
  2. Publish a new ‘Build’.
  3. Wait 15 minutes to check review the update to allow for the CDN cache time to clear.