HomeBase 3 Help

WELCOME TO HOMEBASE™ 3.0 BETA 2

HomeBase™ is the AbeBooks free inventory management software. This easy-to-use program streamlines managing your inventory and bookselling online with AbeBooks. HomeBase™ 3.0 helps take care of everything from maintaining your inventory, to keeping track of your regular buyers and issuing receipts, to uploading your active Listings to AbeBooks.

Some Key Features

1. Streamlined inventory management:  If you're an AbeBooks bookseller, then any time you make a change or an addition to your Listings or Wants, HomeBase™ 3.0 automatically sends these to AbeBooks. If you prefer not to work online, you may use your own email or FTP program to send us your files.

2. Multi-select: You can select multiple Listings or Wants to be edited or deleted all at once. (Please note that the higher the number of listings selected at once, performance may slow down.)

3. Mapping of attributes: You may continue to use your own terminology to describe buyer search refinements. HomeBase™ 3.0 provides the tools to map your custom text to our standardized lists, so that searches by interchangeable terms will bring up your books. Mapping only needs to be done once.

4. Categories: You can use HomeBase™ 3.0 to link your Listings to up to 10 AbeBooks Categories. Additionally, you can link your Listings to up to 3 of your own catalogs.

5. PricePartner:  Built into HomeBase™ 3.0, PricePartner is a powerful application that lets you quickly and easily adjust the prices of selected or all books listed in HomeBase™ 3.0. You may select a sub-set of your Listings and increase or decrease prices by a fixed amount or by a percentage on only the selected Listings. Also, you can update all the selected Listings to the same price.

6. ISBN Lookup: ISBN Lookup may now return more than one result if we have several matches to the ISBN in our database. You're able to choose the best match from the list. In addition, many more fields may be returned by ISBN lookup and you can customize the tool to only return the information fields you want.

NOTE: When you click on the ISBN Lookup, HomeBase 3 allows you to choose which fields you would like returned for that listing.  If you would like to set default fields for every time you do an ISBN lookup:
    1) Select Tools from the Menu bar and then uncheck Options > ISBN Lookup
    2) Check the fields you want.  Uncheck the fields you don’t.  Click [Close]

7. Enhanced support for File Import: HomeBase™ 3.0 recognizes the most common standard file formats and allows you to import custom delimited file formats.

Important Points to Remember:

If you are using HomeBase 3.0 to manage your inventory, there are some important differences between it and HomeBase 2.3 that you should be aware of. Please take careful note of the following:

1. HomeBase 3.0 must be used exclusively for managing your inventory on AbeBooks. Please do not add, delete, or edit listing by any other method; doing so will result in you inventory becoming out of synch. For example, a listing added via the Online Listings Manager cannot subsequently be edited or deleted (marked as 'Sold') through HomeBase 3.0. Any attempt to do so may appear to be successful but will ultimately fail.

2. Purge and reload is neither necessary nor possible when using HomeBase 3.0. If you call and ask Customer Support to perform a forced purge, they will be unable to comply with your request. The alternative to a traditional purge and reload is to download and import your inventory from AbeBooks, make any necessary changes, and then upload your complete inventory.

3. If you reject an order but need to relist the book, or if you acquire a second copy of a previously sold book, the original listing cannot be restored through HomeBase 3.0. Instead, use the 'Clone' function to re-create the listing with a new Book ID and upload to AbeBooks.  

FILE IMPORTS

HomeBase™ 3.0 can import most common standard file formats, as well as custom delimited file formats.

HomeBase™ 3.0 will recognize and import the following formats:

•  HomeBase 2 and 3
•  Alibris
•  Amazon
•  Book Router
•  BookTrakker
•  Record Manager
•  Seller Engine
•  UIEE
•  ZVAB

Importing Your Inventory:

To begin the import process, select ‘Import’ from the File menu in the menu bar. The Import Wizard will open.

 

Step 1 - Selecting the File Type:

• Select the type of file you are importing:

• Import from HomeBase 2 
• Import from a different file type
• I don't have a file to import

• Click the ‘Next’ button.

If you chose the ‘Import from HomeBase 2’ option:

• HomeBase 3 will search the default location for your hbdata.hbd file. 
• If it does not find it, you will receive a message stating that a valid Homebase 2 file could not be found. Click [OK] to browse for your hbdata.hbd file.

• Use the [Browse] button to select the file you would like to import.

• Click the [Next] button.

Step 2 - Selecting the File Format:

NOTE: If you chose the ‘Import from HomeBase 2’ option in step 1, you will be taken directly to Step 3.

• Select the format of your file:

• AbeBooks file formats: (HB 2 or 3)
• Other file formats: (Alibris, Amazon, Book Router, etc.)
• File format not listed.

• If you are importing either of the first two options, the import will proceed automatically.

• If you are importing a format not listed, you will be asked:

• If the first row of data includes field headers.
• How your fields are separated (delimited): (Tab, comma, tilde, or pipe.)

• You will then be asked to map your file’s fields to the Related HomeBase Fields.

• For example:

 

Note: if you cannot find a HomeBase field that matches one in your inventory, simply leave it as ‘Select One’ - that field will be ignored.

Note: you can map multiple fields from your file to a single Related HomeBase Field (eg. If you had a description and a comments field, you can map them both to the HomeBase Description field).

Step 3 - Choosing Your Import Options:

• You will be asked whether you want to use the existing Book IDs in your inventory, or if you want HomeBase to renumber your books: 

   

• Click [Next].

• You will be asked whether you want to merge your listings with the existing listings or whether you want to delete any listings already in HomeBase and replace them with the contents of the file you are importing:

• You will be asked to Map any of the terms that HomeBase does not recognise in your fields to corresponding Search Attributes on Abebooks - for example, if you have included ‘hb’ as one of your binding descriptions, HomeBase will ask you to confirm what 'hb' means.

 

• Click [Next]. Continue mapping your unique terms to equivalent terms in HomeBase.

Step 4 - Confirmation:

• A confirmation window will open, confirming whether book IDs are being overwritten and whether existing inventory is being purged.

• To change these actions, use the [Back] button.
• To continue, click [Next].

• An ‘Importing Listings’ progress bar will appear, followed by a ‘Success! Your data has been imported' message.

Click [Finish].

Step 5 - Viewing Your Imported Listings:

You can now view your Listings by clicking on the ‘Listings’ tab at the top of the screen.

• Check the ‘AbeBooks Valid’ column at the far right of your listings. Any books that say ‘Invalid’ will NOT be uploaded to Abebooks when you send your lsitings.
• If a listing says ‘Invalid’, double-click on the listing to open it. An 
  will indicate the fields that are preventing the listing from being Valid.
• Update the listing and click [Save].

SENDING TO ABEBOOKS

Sending inventory files to AbeBooks from HomeBase™ 3.0 is done through our Web Service. The first time you attempt to send an update to AbeBooks, you will be prompted to log in with the email address and password associated with your AbeBooks bookseller account. Doing so will set a security token on your computer that will make logging in unnecessary for future uploads, unless:

• Your bookseller account has been closed or suspended.
• You have installed HomeBase™ 3.0 on a second or new computer.
• You have removed and re-installed HomeBase™ 3.0.

There are 2 ways that you can send your adds, deletes, or updates to AbeBooks:

1. When you close HomeBase™ 3.0, you’ll be prompted to ‘Send listing updates to AbeBooks?’ As long as you're connected to the Internet, clicking ‘Yes’ will automatically send all updates, adds, and sold books to AbeBooks via our Web Service.

This automatic prompting can be disabled by selecting Tools from the Menu bar and then choosing Options > Disable send updates prompt.

2. You can also send updates to AbeBooks at any time during a session by selecting
the Tools menu from the menu bar, and then choosing either of:

• Upload Listing Changes
• Upload Want Changes

 

 

When sending data for the first time, if you are unable to obtain the upload token, please note:

·         Ensure your email address and password have been entered correctly - verify spelling and remember that both are case sensitive.

·         If you have a buyer account on any of our European websites under the same email address and password as your bookseller account, you will need to change one of the passwords. 

 

Once your changes have been uploaded, you will receive a confirmation message letting you know what action has been completed:

 
If the message above says that you have a number of listings that failed, please contact Abebooks Customer Support.

If you made changes to your inventory and get a message that ‘No Listings needed to be sent to the server’, it may be that the listing or listings are invalid.

There are a number of reasons why a listing might not be sent to AbeBooks, even though the listing has been updated:

1) The Listing is Invalid:

Please note that there are mandatory attributes for each listing in HomeBase 3.0. Any listing for which mandatory attributes have not been populated will not be included in your uploads.  You can easily see which listings these are by looking at the AbeBooks Valid’ column for your listings.  If the listing is missing mandatory attributes, the cell will say ‘Invalid’.

 
If a listing says ‘Invalid’, double-click on the listing to open it.  An   will indicate the fields that are preventing the listing from being Valid.

In addition, custom text can be used in the mandatory attributes fields but must first be mapped to AbeBooks standardized lists.

2) The ‘Send to AbeBooks’ check box is not checked,

In the Edit and Add Listing or Want screens, there is a Send to AbeBooks check box located at the bottom right. As long as this box is checked, your changes will automatically be included in your next upload.

 
If this box is not checked, the listing will not be sent to AbeBooks.

 

Important Note: 

HomeBase 3.0 should not be used in conjunction with any other inventory management system. For example, if you make some updates via HomeBase 3.0, others via HomeBase 2.3, and still others via our Online Inventory Management System, it is extremely likely that the changes made in one will overwrite those made in another, resulting in missing listings, sold books appearing online, etc.

LISTINGS OVERVIEW

From the Listings screen you can:

• Add new Listings
• Delete Listings
• Edit Listings
• View existing inventory
• Search your inventory

 

When you select the Listings tab, you are shown a list view of your inventory saved in HomeBase™ 3.0. New to HomeBase™ 3.0 is the ability to filter by price range and quantity.

The default columns displayed in list view are:

• Item ID (Bookseller Listing ID)
• Author
• Title
• Publisher
• ISBN
• Price
• Keywords
• Status
• Condition
• AbeBooks Valid

Columns can be adjusted to meet your needs:

• Columns can be added to your list view by right-clicking a column header and selecting "Column Chooser". To place the new column where you'd like it do go, simply drag it to the desired position on the headers.
• By right-clicking a column header and then dragging the column onto the Column Chooser, you can choose to remove that column from, with the exception of columns that can be filtered - these columns cannot be removed to ensure results make sense if the filter is used. (Note: Removing a column in this way will only remove it from your list view display. The field represented by that column will still be present within each listing.)
• Dragging the edge of the column headers allows you to adjust the size of the columns - larger or smaller.
• All columns can be sorted in ascending or descending order simply by clicking the column header. Click again to reverse the order.
• The ‘Status’ field cannot be removed and is based on Quantity. E.g. a book that has a status of ‘For Sale’ might have several copies in the sold and on hold Quantity fields, but as long as at least one copy is for sale, the status is For Sale. 

Filter/Search Conditions can be used to display only the items that meet the criteria specified by you. For instance, if you only wanted to see books written by Agatha Christie you'd set the author filter to "Agatha Christie".

• Filters can be cleared within the Filter Grid, by clicking the [Clear] button.
• You can filter by a price range as well as by a specific price.
• You may hide the Filter/Search Conditions without having to clear them to allow more space for your results.

ADDING A LISTING

The Listings screen is where you'll manage your inventory. Your existing inventory is displayed and you can add new Listings.

Adding a Listing

1. Click on the Listings tab in HomeBase.
2. On the toolbar, click the "New Listing" icon.

  ~Or~

With your mouse pointer on your Listings, right-click and select "Add".

  ~Or~

Select the "File" menu and click "New Listing".

After any one of the above options, the "Add Listing" window will appear:

 
Item ID:

When you add a listing, you can create your own BookIDs or have HomeBase create them for you.  If you would like to create your own BookIDs, you must set this option in HomeBase before you open a new listing:

1. Select Tools from the Menu bar and then Options
2. On the "General" tab, uncheck Generate Listing IDs.
3. Click [Close].  The next listing you create will allow you to generate your own BookID.

ISBN Lookup:

When you choose to add a listing, an ISBN Lookup button appears to the right of the ISBN field. ISBN Lookup allows you to automatically enter bibliographical details by simply entering the ISBN corresponding to your Listing.

1. Enter an ISBN number (10 or 13 digits) and click the [ISBN Lookup] button to automatically retrieve bibliographical details.
2. If there is more than one match in the AbeBooks database, up to 25 matching Listings will be displayed. After locating the best match for the book being added, click on [OK] to retrieve the item details.
3. The ISBN Lookup will return some or all of the following fields:

• ISBN
• Author
• Title
• Publisher Name
• Publisher Year
• Publisher City
• Publisher Prov/State
• Publisher Country
• Editor
• Illustrator
• Edition
• Binding
• Volume
• Page Count
• Language
• Keywords

4.  NOTE: When you click on the ISBN lookup HomeBase 3 allows you to choose which fields you would like returned.  If you would like to set default fields every time it does an ISBN lookup:

    1) Select Tools from the Menu bar and then Options. 
    2) On the "ISBN Lookup" tab, check the fields you want, uncheck those you don’t.  
    3) Click [Close]. 

Quantity

If you have more than one copy of a book (with identical bibliographic details), these books should be listed using the Quantity ("Qty") option, located in the bottom right section of the screen.

1. Under the "Inventory Details" heading, type in the number of copies you have available for sale in the "Qty" field.
2. As you sell or place copies on hold, please adjust the "Qty Held" and "Qty Sold" fields to the corresponding numbers. HomeBase™ 3.0 will keep a running total based on the "Qty", "Qty Held" and "Qty Sold" numbers. The “Total Quantity” field is read-only, and can be used to reconcile item quantity.

 

Under the "Inventory Details" heading, type in the number of copies you have available for sale in the "Qty" field.   

As you add or remove copies, simply click on the up or down arrow directly to the right of the number.  Alternatively, you can click on the [Sold] button to remove copies one by one.

Completing the Addition

Whether you manually enter an item or you use the ISBN Lookup, there are certain fields that are required before the new Listing can be saved:

• Item ID - if you choose to enter your own inventory numbers into HomeBase, each entry must include a unique ID number.
• Title - type in the item title.
• Condition – select the Item Condition from the standardized condition drop-down list.
• Binding – select the Binding from the standardized condition drop-down list.
• Language – If you have not chosen a language, the default language will be the language of your HomeBase program.
• Price - enter the amount you are charging for the item.

Note: You can add your own terms to the drop-down lists for the above fields, either during the import process or by following the steps below:

1. Select Tools from the Menu bar and then Manage Lookup Lists.
2. Choose the Book Attribute to which you wish to add a term. Click [Add].
3. In the "Label" box on the right, type the term you wish to add.
4. In the "Mapping" box directly below, choose the equivalent HomeBase term. Click [Close].
5. Your term will be viewable in the drop-down list for future books. It will also be viewable in your description on AbeBooks, and the listing will be searchable by the attribute to which you have mapped your term.

The more information you can provide about the item you're selling, the better - try filling out as many fields as possible on the "General” tab within "Add a Listing." The Listing details, including the description, will be shown to potential buyers viewing your inventory on the AbeBooks site.

Click on the appropriate tabs to add Synopsis, Catalog information, and to attach the listing to Categories.

By default, the “Send to AbeBooks" option is checked. By un-checking this option, you are effectively excluding the listing from your next upload. To upload the listing at a future date, you must re-open the listing and re-check the "Send to AbeBooks" option.

Saving the Listing

There are three options when saving a Listing:

1. Save
2. New
3. Clone

"Save” saves the current new Listing and does not close the current window.

• Click the Save button at the bottom right of the ‘Add Listing’ window. 

   ~Or~

• From the "File" menu, select "Save."

   ~Or~

• Click the Save icon in the toolbar.   

“New" saves the current listing and opens a new "Add Listing" window ready for another new entry.

• Click the New icon in the toolbar. 

   ~Or~

• From the "File" menu, select "New."

“Clone” saves the current listing, and opens a new “Add Listing” window with all of the information except Item ID pre-populated on this new listing.

• Click the Clone icon in the toolbar. 

   ~Or~

• From the "File" menu, select "Clone."

Statistics

Statistical information for a listing can be found by selecting Statistics from the Tools menu in the menu bar. This information is valuable when troubleshooting HomeBase inventory issues.

Sending to AbeBooks

When you close HomeBase 3.0, you’ll be prompted to ‘Send listing updates to AbeBooks?’ As long as you're connected to the Internet, clicking ‘Yes’ will automatically send all updates, adds, and deletes to AbeBooks via our Web Service - (as long as the "Send to AbeBooks" option has not been unchecked).

You can also send updates to AbeBooks at any time during a session by selecting the Tools menu from the menu bar, and then choosing either of:

• Upload Want Changes
• Upload Listing Changes

EDITING AND DELETING LISTINGS

The editing of Listings is done through the Listings screen by choosing the Listing (or Listings) you want to update.

Opening a Listing for Editing

There are 3 different ways to open a Listing for editing:

1. Double-click the Listing you want to edit.
2. With your mouse pointer on the record you want to edit, right-click and select "Edit".
3. Select the Listing you'd like to update by clicking on it. (It will show as highlighted in blue.)  From the toolbar, choose the "Edit Listing" icon.

Making Changes

After opening the Listing, the "Edit Listing" window appears.

1. Make the changes to the fields you want to edit in any of the 5 available Tabs.
2. Click [Save] in the bottom right corner to save your changes.  Click [Close].
 ~Or~
3. Click the Save, New, or Clone Icon in the toolbar at the top of the window. 

Deleting Listings

Deleting Listings follows the same process as editing:

1. Double-click the Listing you want to delete. Click the "Delete" icon in the toolbar in the “Edit Listing” window.
2. With your mouse pointer on the record you want to delete, right-click and select "Delete".
3. Select the Listing you want to delete by clicking on it so that it's highlighted in blue. Click the "Delete Listing" icon in the toolbar. 

Editing or Deleting Multiple Listings

Multiple Listing updates or deletions are done the same way as single Listing edits and deletions, with the exception of selecting more than one Listing.

You can select a consecutive list or a random group of Listings.

To select consecutive Listings:

1. Click on the first Listing.
2. While holding down the [Shift] key, click on the last Listing you'd like included in the group. The consecutive range will be highlighted in blue.

To select nonconsecutive Listings:

1. Click on the first Listing you'd like included.
2. Hold down the [Ctrl] key.
3. Click on the next Listing you'd like included.
4. Keep holding down the [Ctrl] key until you have selected all the Listings you'd like to edit or delete. Selected items are highlighted in blue.

Once selected, the multiple Listings can then be edited or deleted.

• Right-clicking and choosing "Edit X Items" will bring the Listings up in edit mode. Keep in mind that system performance may begin to degrade as you increase the number of Listings to multi-edit.
• All fields will be displayed.
• Any field that contains different data across Listings will be indicated by a yellow background.
• Any field that contains the same data across Listings will show no highlighting or background color.
• After you change the value of a field, the background color will be highlighted in bright orange to indicate that this value will be applied to all Listings selected.
• Any field except Item ID may be edited. The changes will be applied to all Listings.
• Multi-edit will help you to update your Listings to take advantage of our standardized lists, including Categories.
• Before saving, a confirmation window will open telling you how many Listings are being changed and what fields are being changed.

To Delete multiple listings:

• Right-clicking and choosing "Delete X Items" will bring up a Confirmation window. If you want to delete your items, click [OK]; if not, click [Cancel].

To Edit multiple listings through the Price Partner:

• Right-clicking and choosing "Edit X Items via Price Partner" will bring up the Price Partner window.
• You can increase or decrease your prices by either an exact amount or a percentage.
• Click [OK] to save your changes.

WANTS - OVERVIEW

From the Wants screen you can:

• Add new Wants
• Edit existing Wants
• Delete Wants
• Search through existing Wants

The default columns in the Wants List view are:

• Want ID
• Found
• Title
• Author
• Client ID
• Client Name
• Publisher
• Keywords
• AbeBooks Valid

The Wants screen is much like the Listings screen in terms of functionality.

• Columns may be added to the list view by right-clicking on a column header and choosing ‘Column Chooser’ and dragging the new column onto the headers in the desired position.
• Columns are removable from the list view by right-clicking a column header and dragging the column onto the Column Chooser. (Note: Any column that can be filtered on may not be removed.)
• Moving columns to new positions can be done by dragging them. Resizing is accomplished by dragging the edge of any column. Both these changes are saved automatically.
• Default columns/sizes/positions can be restored at any time using the Options menu in the toolbar. Simply go to Tools > Options > Reset Default Columns.
• All columns can be sorted in ascending or descending order simply by clicking the column header. Click again to reverse the order.

Like Listings, Wants can be filtered to display only books that meet specific criteria. Filters can be applied to the following Wants fields:

• Want ID
• Title
• Author
• ISBN
• Keyword
• Publisher
• Client Name
• Found (checkbox)

ADDING A WANT

The Wants screen is where you can add and edit Wants. Any saved Wants are displayed in the same format as your book Listings.

Adding a Want

1. Click on the Wants tab in HomeBase™ 3.0.
2. On the toolbar, click the "New Want" icon.

        ~Or~

With your mouse pointer on your existing Wants, right-click and select "Add".

        ~Or~

Select the "File" menu and click "New Want".

ISBN Lookup

When you choose to add a Want, an ISBN Lookup button appears to the right of the ISBN field. ISBN Lookup allows you to automatically enter bibliographical data by simply entering the ISBN corresponding to your Want.

1. Enter an ISBN number (10 or 13 digits) and click the [ISBN Lookup] button to automatically retrieve bibliographical details.
2. If there is more than one match in the AbeBooks database, up to 25 matching Listings will be displayed. After locating the match for your book, click on [OK] to retrieve the item details.
3. The ISBN Lookup will return some or all of the following fields:

• ISBN
• Author
• Title
• Publisher Name
• Publisher Year
• Publisher City
• Publisher Prov/State
• Publisher Country
• Editor
• Illustrator
• Edition
• Binding
• Volume
• Page Count
• Language
• Keywords

4. NOTE: When you click on the ISBN lookup HomeBase 3 allows you to choose which fields you would like returned.  If you would like to set default fields every time it does an ISBN lookup:
1.) Select Tools from the Menu bar and then Options. 
2.) On the " ISBN Lookup" tab, check the fields you want, uncheck those you don’t.  
3.) Click [Close].

Want ID

The Want ID is a number that's generated by HomeBase™ 3.0 and can't be changed. However, you can add other details about the book wanted. Enter or select the information in as many fields as you'd like to be included in the Want match. In addition to the ISBN field, HomeBase™ 3.0 has the new option to include a publisher date range.

Client Field

If you are searching for a book on behalf of a customer, there's also a "Client" field to record the customer's name. The name can be typed in directly, or if the client has already been saved in the Clients tab, you can simply select the name from the drop-down list. There is also an ‘Add’ button that will allow you to add the client’s information to the Want and the Clients tab at the same time.

Want Status

There are two statuses for Wants:

1. Found box unchecked - You'd like Want matching to be done and to be e-mailed match results.
2. Found box checked - The Want is now inactive and should be removed from Want matching.

Create a Listing from a Want

When creating or editing a Want, there is the option to create a new Listing using the existing Want data by selecting the “Create Listing from Want” button on the upper right hand side of the Want form. By clicking on this button, the “Add Listing” form is activated, and is pre-populated with the current Want data.

Saving the Want

There are three options when saving a Want:

1. Save

2. New

3. Clone

"Save” - saves the current new Want and does not close the current window.

1. Click the Save button at the bottom right of the ‘Add Want’ window. 

   ~Or~

2. From the "File" menu, select "Save."

   ~Or~

3. Click the Save icon in the toolbar. 

“New" - saves the current Want and opens a new "Add Want" window, ready for another new entry.

1. Click the New icon in the toolbar. 

   ~Or~

2. From the "File" menu, select " New."

“Clone” - saves the current Want, and opens a new “Add Want” window, with all of the same information, except Item ID, pre-populated in the new Want.

1. Click the Clone icon in the toolbar. 

   ~Or~

2. From the "File" menu, select "Clone."

Statistics

Statistical information for a Want can be found by selecting Statistics from the Tools menu in the menu bar. This information is valuable when troubleshooting HomeBase Want issues.

Sending to AbeBooks

You can send Wants to AbeBooks at any time during a session by selecting the Tools menu from the menu bar, and then choosing:

• Upload Want Changes

EDITING AND DELETING WANTS

Editing or deleting Wants is done in the same way as updating and deleting Listings.

Opening a Want for Editing

There are 4 different ways to open a Want for editing:

1. Double-click the Want you'd like to edit.

2. With your mouse pointer on the Want you're editing, right-click and select "Edit".

3. Select the Want you're going to update by clicking on it. (It will show as highlighted in blue.)  From the menu bar, choose "Edit" and then select "Edit Want."

4. Select the Want you're going to update by clicking on it. (It will show as highlighted in blue.)  Click the [Edit Want] button in the Toolbar. 

Making Changes

After opening the Want, the "Edit Want" window appears.

1. Edit the details you want to change or add any further information.

2. Click the "Save" icon in the Toolbar. 

      ~Or~

    Select "File" from the menu bar and then click "Save."

      ~Or~

     Click the [Save] button on the lower right to update the Want.

Deleting Wants

Deleting Wants follows the same process as editing:

1. Double-click the Want you wish to delete. From the “File" menu in the Edit Want window, select "Delete".
2. With your mouse pointer on the record you want to edit, right-click and select "Delete".
3. Select the Want you'd like to delete by clicking on it so that it's highlighted in blue.  Choose "Edit" from the menu bar and then select "Delete Want."

      ~Or~

     Select the Want you'd like to delete by clicking on it.

(It will show as highlighted in blue.)  Click the [Delete Want] button in the Toolbar. 

Editing or Deleting Multiple Wants

Multiple Want updates or deletions are done the same way as single Want edits and deletions, with the exception of selecting more than one Want at a time.

You can select a consecutive list or a random group of Wants.

To select consecutive Wants:

1. Click on the first Want.

2. While holding down the [Shift] key, click on the last Want you'd like included in the group. The consecutive range will be highlighted in blue.

   To select nonconsecutive Wants:

1. Click on the first Want you'd like included.

2. Hold down the [Ctrl] key.

3. Click on the next Want you'd like included. 

4. Keep holding down the [Ctrl] key until you have selected all the Wants you'd like to edit or delete. Selected items are highlighted in blue.

Once selected, the multiple Wants can then be edited or deleted as noted above.

• All Wants can be selected at the same time from the list view. Right-clicking and choosing edit will bring the Wants up in edit mode. Keep in mind that system performance may begin to degrade as you increase the number of Wants to Multi-Edit.

• All fields will be displayed.

• Any field that contains different data across Wants will show a yellow background to indicate this.

• Any field that contains the same data across Wants will show no highlighting or background color.

• After you change the value of a field, the background color will be highlighted in bright orange to indicate that this value will be applied to all Wants selected.

• Before saving, a confirmation window will open telling you how many Wants are being changed and what fields are being changed.

CATALOGS OVERVIEW

The Catalogs function allows you to create up to 100 catalogs. You can assign up to 3 catalogs to each book listing.

The catalog screen uses a split form. The left hand side of the screen is where you will see the list of all Catalog names. The right hand side of the screen is where you see the listings contained within the Catalogs. The Catalog screen is where you can:

• Add a catalog.
• Edit a catalog.
• Delete catalogs.
• Add book listings to catalogs.

The Catalog screen inherits its properties from the Listings screen. This includes filter criteria, as well as field size/layout maintained in the Listings grid. Therefore, if you add/delete or resize a column in the Listing grid, these properties will be applied to the Listings grid within the Catalog screen. (Provide link to modifying the Listings Grid)

By default, the Catalog screen shows "All listings" (highlighted in blue in the Catalog list on the left) but you can choose to display just one of your catalogs or just listings currently unassigned to any catalogs.

** HomeBase 3.0 limits the number of Catalogs to 100. If you are a HomeBase 2.3 user and import your data into HomeBase 3.0, only the first 100 catalogs will be imported. To view the list of imported catalogs, be sure to review your import statistics (Tools > Statistics>Import).

ADDING CATALOGS

Organizing your book inventory by using Catalogs makes browsing your listings easy for buyers, particularly when they are looking for books on specific topics. We recommend using no more than 40 Catalogs for ease of browsing for book buyers but HomeBase™ 3.0 will allow you to create up to 100 individual Catalogs.

Catalogs are the subject headings seen by buyers when they browse your book listings.

To Add a Catalog

By default, you'll always have an "All Listings" Catalog in your Catalog list. There are two ways to add your own Catalogs from the HomeBase™ 3.0 Catalogs screen:

1. Click the Manage Catalog button located on the bottom-center of the page.

     ~Or~

2. Select Manage Catalogs from Tools > Manage Catalogs. 

Once the "Manage Catalog" window appears:

• Type a catalog name in the Catalog Name field.
• Enter a description for the Catalog in the Catalog Description Field (optional).
• Click the [Save] button to complete the addition of the Catalog. The new Catalog will appear in the Catalog list.

EDITING AND DELETING CATALOGS

If a Catalog is updated, the changes will automatically be transferred to the assigned Listings. Also, if a Catalog is deleted, the Listings associated with it won't be removed; the association with the deleted Catalog will simply be gone.

To Edit a Catalog

1. In the Catalogs Tab, click on the [Manage Catalogs] button (bottom center of screen).

     ~Or~

   From the menu select Tools > Manage Catalogs

2. In the Catalog window, highlight the Catalog would you like to edit by clicking on it. Enter the relevant information for the catalog in the Catalog Attribute window

3. Click the [Save] button.

Deleting Catalogs

Note: The default catalogs "All Listings" and "Un-Categorized Listings” can't be deleted.

1. In the Catalogs Tab, click on the [Manage Catalogs] Button (bottom center of screen).

     ~Or~

   From the menu select Tools > Manage Catalogs

2. Highlight the Catalog you would like to delete by clicking on it.

3. Click on the [Delete] button (bottom of screen).

CATEGORIES - OVERVIEW

AbeBooks maintains approximately 3,500 categories that are used by buyers browsing our Web site. These categories are shown in a tree structure with 50 top level categories.

The category list is a dynamic one and updates will be made available through our Web Services.

If you choose not to assign your listings to a category, our system will attempt to match them to the appropriate category. If you do assign listings to categories, we won't do any further matching. Each listing may be assigned to up to 10 categories.

Because these categories are defined by AbeBooks, they can't be edited or deleted.

CATEGORIZING LISTINGS

In addition to catalogs, HomeBase™ 3.0™ can be used to link your listings to up to 10 AbeBooks categories. AbeBooks categories are the topic headings buyers see when using the browse feature on the Web site. This feature makes it easy for buyers to find books relating to specific subjects.

AbeBooks maintains a standardized list of approximately 3500 categories and the categories are stored in a tree structure with 50 top level categories.  A plus sign next to a category indicates that there are sub-categories. Listings can't be assigned to top-level category headings, but rather to the lowest level sub-category headings.

If you choose not to categorize a listing yourself, our system will use a matching process to do this for you. If you do categorize your listings, AbeBooks won't do any further matching, we'll use only the categories you assign.

Because the categories list is maintained by AbeBooks, it can't be edited. You can use the "Update Lookup Codes" option from the "Tools" menu to retrieve any updates to the category list.

From the Categories Tab

1. Select the ‘All Listings’ Category – You will see all of your listings in the right-hand window.
2. Highlight the listing(s) you would like to Categorize by clicking on it (you can limit the result set by using the filtering functionality)
3. Go to the ‘Add Selected Listings To’ drop down list (located at the bottom, right hand corner of the window) and select the appropriate categories you would like to attach the selected listings to.
4. Click ‘Go’ to categorize your listing(s)

From the Listings Screen

1. Open a listing or multiple listings for editing.
2. Click on the "Categories" tab.
3. Select the Categories from the ‘Available Items’ list (the left hand window)
4. Click the ‘Add’ button to add to the selected Categories.
5. When you're done categorizing, click the [Save] button to save. (Each listing can be assigned to up to 10 categories.)

Removing Categories

1. From the Listings screen, open a listing or multiple listings for editing.
2. Click on the “Categories" tab.
3. In the ‘Associated Items’ window you will see the currently-attached categories.
4. Highlight the categories you would like to detach from the listing(s) and select either ‘Remove’ or ‘Remove All’
5. When you've completed the removals, click the [Save] button to save.

CREATING A NEW INVOICE

To create an invoice:

1. Click on the [Invoices] tab in the HomeBase.

2. The Invoices screen is displayed.

3. Click the [New Invoice] button.      

4. The “Add Invoice" screen is displayed.

5. Select a client from the Client list to assign the invoice to an existing client.

     ~Or~

   Click the [Add] button beside the list to add a new client.

6. If desired, type the customer's address in the Billing Address and Shipping Address fields. If they are the same, the [Copy From Billing Address] button can be used to populate the Shipping Address fields automatically.

7. In the “Invoice Items” section, click the [Add] button. The "Add Listings to Invoice" screen is displayed.

8. Select the books to be sold and click the [Add to Invoice] button. Click [Close] when done.

9. Select a [Payment Type] option.

10. Select the check boxes for taxes you would like applied to your sale, if applicable.  If you are exempting a tax, type a reason why in the appropriate Exempt text box.

11. Enter any discounts or shipping charges in the appropriate text boxes.  HomeBase automatically calculates the total for you.

12.To save the invoice, click the [Save] button.

Note: Adding a listing to an invoice will mark that listing as ‘Sold’ unless the Quantity is greater than 1.

To delete an invoice:

1. Click on the [Invoices] tab in the HomeBase.

2. Select the invoice you wish to delete so it’s highlighted in blue and click the [Delete Invoice] button.                                                                        

3. A confirmation pop-up will appear, asking you to confirm the deletion and the number of invoices to be deleted.

• Click the [OK] button to delete the invoice
• Click the [Cancel] button to cancel the deletion.

Important Notes:

• Deleting an invoice will not delete any listings associated with it.
• Deleting an invoice will automatically update any listings associated with that invoice to 'For sale.'

EDITING AN INVOICE

To update an invoice:

1. Click the [Invoices] tab in HomeBase. The Invoices screen is displayed.

2. Select the invoice you wish to update and click the [Edit Invoice] button.   

3. Enter the new information in the appropriate fields.

4. Click the [Save] button and then click the [Close] button.

To remove a book from an invoice:

1. Click the [Invoices] tab in HomeBase. The Invoices screen is displayed.

2. Select the invoice you wish to remove books from and click the [Edit Invoice] button.                                                                                    

3. Select the book(s) you wish to remove from the invoice.*

4. Click the [Remove] button.

5. Click the [Save] button.

To add a book to an invoice:

1. Click [Invoices] in the red bar. The "Find Invoices" screen is displayed.

2. Select the invoice you wish to add books to and click the [Edit Invoice] button.                                                                                                  

3. In the “Invoice Items” section, select the [Add] button. The "Add Listings to Invoice" screen is displayed.

4. Select the books you wish to add to the invoice.* Click the [Add to Invoice] button and [Close] when you are done.

5. Click the [Save] button to save changes to the invoice.

6. Click [Close].

*Note: To multi-select books to be added or removed, use Ctrl+click to highlight multiple listings.

REPORTS

You are able to generate reports from each of the tabs in HomeBase – Listings, Wants, Clients, Invoices, Categories, and Catalogs. The process is comparable for each type of report. The steps below are specifically for a Listing Report:

To print a Listing Report, select 'Reports' from the menu bar.

There are three options for printing a listing report:

• Listings List View
• Listings Detail View
• Listings Overview

Listings List View

The 'Listings List View' option will generate a report that contains the following fields:

• Inventory ID
• Author
• Title
• Quantity
• Unit Price

From this preview page, you have the option to:
1.) Print the Listings Report.
2.) Export it in one of several different formats.
3.) Email it directly from the Preview page.

Listings Detail View

The 'Listings Detail View' option will generate a report that contains the following fields:

• Inventory ID
• Unit Price
• Title
• Author
• ISBN
• Illustrator
• Publisher
• Item Condition
• Jacket Condition
• Binding
• Edition
• Signature
• Description

Listings Overview

The 'Listings Overview' option will generate a report that contains only your Inventory ID, Author, Title, Quantity, Unit Cost, and Unit Price.

It also provides a summary of all your listings – this includes a Count of your Listings, the total Unit Cost, the total Unit Price, the average List Price, and your total Profit Margin.

 

To Print a Listings Report:

Once you have selected one of the Report options above, a Preview window will open. The layout of the report generated will be displayed, as well as the total number of pages in the report.

To print the report, select 'File' in the Preview window, then 'Print.'

To Export a Listings Report:

If you would like to export the report, you can export it in the following  formats:

• PDF
• HTML
• MHT
• RTF
• Excel
• CSV
• Text
• Image (several formats)

To export the report, select 'File' in the Preview window, then 'Export Document', then choose the desired format.

As mentioned, HomeBase 3.0 also provides the options to generate reports and print, export, or email those reports from each of the other tabs in HomeBase – Wants, Clients, Invoices, Categories, and Catalogs.

FILE EXPORTS

HomeBase™ 3.0 can export most common standard file formats, including:

• HomeBase™ 2.3 and 3.0
• Amazon (Book Loader)
• UIEE
• Comma delimited
• Pipe delimited
• Tab delimited
• Tilde delimited

Exporting Your Inventory:

To begin the export process, select ‘Export’ from the File menu in the menu bar.

The Export Wizard will open:

 

Select which data you would like to export:

 

•    Listings

•    Wants

•    Clients

•    Catalog Names

•    Invoices

   

• Click the [Next] button.

 

Select the export format:

 

• Click the [Next] button.

 

Select where you would like to save the export file:

 

• Click the [Save] button.

 

 

• Click the [Finish] button.

HOMEBASE™ 3.0 BETA 2 - INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

1. Click the [Download] button.

2. Choose [Run] or [Save]

If you choose save, once the download is complete, click on the HomeBase3Setup.exe file in the location you saved it to and select [Run].

3. Select your language from the drop-down menu.

The HomeBase 3 Setup Wizard will launch automatically. Simply follow the prompts to complete the installation.

1. Read and accept the End-User License Agreement.

2. Select Installation Folder.

3. Select the Start Menu Shorcuts Folder.

If the default is NOT selected for either of the above, make a note of the folders selected to make them easy to find later on.

4. Configure Shortcuts.

5. Click [Install].

The installation may take a few minutes.

Once completed, to launch HomeBase 3 and begin the Import process, leave the 'Launch HomeBase 3' checked and click [Finish]. To import your inventory later, uncheck 'Launch HomeBase 3' and click [Finish].

Import Instructions 

SPELL CHECK

HomeBase 3.0 Beta 2 can be run in English, French, German, Italian, or Spanish. Language is selected during installation, but can also be changed later throught the Tools > Options menu.

Spell check for English is built in to HomeBase 3.0. Spell check for other languages is available as a free, downloadable zip file.

To install spell check on a non-English version of HomeBase 3.0, simply follow the instructions below.

Note: HomeBase 3.0 Beta 2 must be installed on your computer, and not running, before proceeding.

1.    Download the HomeBase 3.0 Dictionaries zip file.

2.    Extract the zip file and copy the contents of the file to: 

C:\Program Files\AbeBooks\HomeBase 3\dictionaries.

Note: This location will be valid as long as you accepted the default path during installation of HomeBase 3.0. If you did not accept the default, please adjust the above path accordingly.

3.    Restart HomeBase 3.0.