Product Catalogs give Organization Admins more control over how products and subscriptions are distributed across accounts. A catalog can automatically synchronize its items or make them available for account users to add when needed.
Before You Begin
Catalog Management must be enabled in the organization settings.
Only users with the appropriate organization-level access can enable Catalog Management or manage organization catalogs.
Enabling Catalog Management
To enable Catalog Management:
Sign in to the Vanilla Dashboard as an Organization Admin.
Open the organization-level dashboard.
Navigate to Settings.
Enable Catalog Management.
Click Save.
After Catalog Management is enabled, a Catalogs option appears in the organization navigation.
Please Note: When Catalog Management is disabled, products created at the organization level automatically propagate to accounts belonging to the organization.
Creating a Catalog
To create a catalog:
Open Catalogs from the organization navigation.
Click the option to create a new catalog.
Enter a catalog name.
Add an optional description.
Select the catalog’s distribution behavior.
Save the catalog.
You can create multiple catalogs to support different product groups, brands, programs, or account requirements.
Choosing a Catalog Distribution Method
Catalogs support two distribution methods:
Automatically Synchronize Products
Use automatic synchronization when every applicable account should receive the products in the catalog.
Products placed in this type of catalog are distributed automatically without requiring an account user to add them manually.
Allow Accounts to Add Products Manually
Use manual selection when products should be available as approved templates.
Account users can open the Products tab, select Add Product from Catalog, and choose the products they need.
This option provides flexibility while keeping the available products controlled by the organization.
Managing Product Fields
Organization Admins can determine which product fields are controlled centrally.
Lock a field when accounts should not be able to change it.
Leave a field unlocked when accounts should be able to customize it.
For example, an organization could lock the product name and price while allowing an account to update another field.
Changes to field locks affect what account users can edit when they open the product.
Catalogs and Account Restrictions
Catalogs can be combined with Account Restrictions to require accounts to use organization-approved products.
For example, an Organization Admin can:
Disable product creation
Disable subscription creation
Disable product duplication
Provide approved items through a catalog
This configuration prevents accounts from creating unsupported items while still allowing them to select approved products and subscriptions.