Setting prices for backgrounds in IOS
Applies to: IOS
When offering background choices in IOS, it is possible to make some or all of the backgrounds chargeable. This is a two part process.
- Adding one or more price codes, the price and a usage 'rule' to an offer in tsAdmin
- Incorporating the price code into either the background's filename or the name of the folder containing the backgrounds.
Adding the price code to an offer
The price code, together with their price and usage rules are added in tsAdmin to the 'Chargeable Options' section of an offer. (tsAdmin>Offers>Pricing>Chargeable Options>Backgrounds.
The code may be any string of characters permitted in Windows file naming rules, however the dollare symbol ($) and curly brackets ({}) should not be used.
Figure 1: Setting a background price code of 'BkPc2'
Adding the price code to the background's filename or folder name
In order for the system to recognise chargeable backgrounds the price code must be in a certain format and incorporated into either the background's filename or the folder name of the directory containing the backgrounds. The format of the price code is as follows:
${code}
Using the code with background filenames
Consider three backgrounds - red.jpg, green.jpg and blue.jpg. We have added the code BkPc2 to the offer in tsAdmin. The string ${BkPc2} is incorporated into the filename of the backgrounds which will be chargeable.
- ${BkPc2}red.jpg - chargeable
- green${BkPc2}.jpg - chargeable
- blue.jpg - not chargeable
Using the code with the folder name
An alternative to adding the price code to each background's filename is to simply incorporate the code into the name of the folder containing the chargeable backgrounds.
Consider the following file path leading to a folder called 'Chargeable' which contains files to be used as backgrounds.
G:\Timestone\Graphics\Backgrounds\Chargeable
By adding the formatted price code to the folder name, all backgrounds in the folder become chargeable with offers where the code has been added. There is no need to change the name of the background files inside this folder.
G:\Timestone\Graphics\Backgrounds\Chargeable${BkPc2}
The price code rules - summary
Three rules are available that determine when the background's charge will be added to the package price. The screen grab below shows an offer where three different price codes are used, each with a different rule.
Figure 2: Three different background price codes, each with a different rule
| Rule |
Function |
| once per code |
the charge will be added once for any background with this price code |
| once per background |
the charge will be added once for each background with this price code (once per code/background combination) |
| per instance |
the charge will be added each time a background with this code is used |
In all cases, rules apply to the current entity only (subject, family, folder). Switching to a different entity in the same session resets the rules.
The price code rules - examples
Consider the screen grab above where three different price codes (BK1,BK2 and BK3) have been added to an offer, each with a different rule.
Price code BK1 has a rule of 'once per code'. Backgrounds red.jpg and green.jpg both use this code. If the customer adds red.jpg $1 will be added to the package price. If they subsequently add further red.jpg or even if they add green.jpg there will not be additional charges.
Price code BK2 has a rule of once per background. If the customer adds red.jpg, $2 will be added to the package. If they add further red.jpg there will not be any additional charges. However if green.jpg is also added, an additional $2 will be added the first time this background is added.
Price code BK3 has a rule of once per instance. Backgrounds red.jpg and green.jpg both use this code. Every time the customer adds either red or blue backgrounds, $3 will be added to the package price.
End of article