How to Add a Brands Page [DESIGN]

By default, BigCommerce brand pages simply list the name of the brand at the top and all of the products underneath that brand name. Customers sometimes want a little more information about the brand and it certainly would be nice to have a well recognized brand logo appear on a brands page, wouldn't it?

In BigCommerce, it is definitely possible to add a logo, text and even tables to a brands page - just like you can with any other product or category page. In fact, it is very easy to do! Here's how it's done:

1. Login to your BigCommerce Control Panel, click the Marketing tab and then select View Banners
2. Click Create a Banner
3. Name your banner anything you want (it is for your own use and is not viewable by customers)
4. Add pictures, text or tables to the editor window
5. Scroll down to the "Show on Page" section and click the For a Specific Brand radio button
6. Select the brand the page is for from the new drop-down menu that appears
7. In the "Location" section, select Top of Page or Bottom of Page from the drop-down menu
8. Click the Save button

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Ref: storecoach.com

What Each BigCommerce Panel Does [DESIGN]

As I stated in my previous post about 3 important elements about BigCommerce design.

One of the big important tip is to get to know about what each of the BigCommerce panel does exactly so that you can use it in the right way for your design.

Of course, as StoreCoach.com said nowhere in BigCommerce states well about each panel did and it's hard to find exactly place to understand it but here, thanks to StoreCoach to experiment it and share it to us.

As my mission for Cambodia is to introduce BigCommerce, I copy fully here of his explanation for each panel as following:

Panel File	Panel Description	Where it Can be Used
SideAccountMenu	Displays a “Manage Your Account” sidebar panel where customers can do things like view messages sent to and received from your store, check their order status, view past orders, and see their wish lists.	Although it can technically be placed in the main page layout area of any page, it displays better when placed in a sidebar.
SideAccountStoreCredit	If a customer is logged in and has store credit available to be used, they can see how much credit they have available in this panel. This panel DOES NOT display at all if there is no store credit available to the customer.	Although it can technically be placed in the main page layout area of any page, it displays better when placed in a sidebar.
SideBrandTagCloud	Shows a tag cloud based upon the number of products available for each manufacturer. The more products, the larger the brand name appears. If customers click on a brand name in the tag cloud, it takes them to that brand's page, where all of the products are displayed.	This panel displays well in the main page layout area or in a sidebar on any page.
SideCartContents	This panel shows the contents of a customer's shopping cart. It DOES NOT display at all if there are no items in the customer's cart.	This panel should only be used in a sidebar on any page. It DOES NOT display correctly in the center page layout.
SideCategoryList	This panel provides links to your categories and subcategories (if your store is configured to show subcategories), displaying them vertically.	Although it can technically be placed in the main page layout area on any page, it displays better when placed in a sidebar.
SideCategoryNewProducts	This panel displays the five most recently added items to the category a customer is viewing.	This panel should only be used in a sidebar and MUST be used in the category layout only. Using it anywhere else breaks your website!!! It DOES NOT display correctly in the center page layout.
SideCategoryPopularProducts	This shows a list of popular products within a category based on customer ratings. If there are no ratings for products in the category a customer is viewing, this panel will not appear at all.	This panel MUST be used in the category layout only. Using it anywhere else breaks your website!!! It displays well in the sidebar or the main page layout.
SideCategoryShopByPrice	This panel displays product price ranges and allows customers to narrow their search within the category they are viewing, based upon those price ranges. You cannot specify your own price ranges; they are automatically assigned by Big Commerce.	This panel MUST be used in the category layout only. Using it anywhere else breaks your website!!! Although it can technically be placed in the main page layout area, it displays better when placed in a sidebar.
SideCategoryTopSellers	This panel shows the top sellers within the category the customer is viewing. If there have been no sales from that category, the panel will not display at all.	This panel MUST be used in the category layout only. Using it anywhere else breaks your website!!! This panel should only be used in a sidebar. It DOES NOT display correctly in the center page layout.
SideCouponCodeBox	This panel inserts a coupon box so that customers can enter a coupon code you have set up.	Although it displays properly on any page whether it is in a sidebar or the main page layout, it is generally only used on checkout pages.
SideCurrencySelector	This panel allows a customer to click a link that will convert the default currency to any currency you have set up in the Settings > Currencies section of your BigCommerce Control Panel. It WILL NOT display if you do not have more than one currency set up.	You can place it in either a sidebar or the main layout of any page.
SideCustomCategoryList	This panel creates a vertical list of links to the categories or subcategories that a product is contained within.	It will only appear on subcategory or on product pages. Although it displays properly in a sidebar or the main page layout, for the purpose of website consistency, it should really used in the sidebar only..
SideGiftCertificateCodeBox	This panel creates a box for customers to enter a gift certificate code into.	It can be placed on any page but a checkout page is the most appropriate place for it. Although it can be placed in the main page layout area, it displays better in a sidebar.
SideLiveChatServices	This panel creates a “Click to Chat” button on your website if you have signed up for and configured Live chat in the Store Settings > Live Chat section of your BigCommerce Control Panel.	Although it can technically be placed in the main page layout area, it displays better when placed in a sidebar and can be used on any page.
SideNewProducts	This panel lists the products most recently added to your website. You can control the number of products it shows in the Settings > Store > Display section of your BigCommerce Control Panel. You cannot specify the products that display nor their order without deleting a product and adding it again (the system simply displays the products most recently added).	This panel displays well in the main page layout area or in a sidebar on any page.
SideNewsletterBox	This panel places a newsletter sign up box on your page.	This panel should only be used in a sidebar and can be placed on any page. It DOES NOT display correctly in the center page layout.
SidePopularProducts	This panel lists the five top products in terms of customer review ratings. If two products have the same rating, whichever one has more ratings will be placed higher on the list.	This panel displays well in the main page layout area or in a sidebar on any page.
SidePopularVendors	This is a “legacy” panel that does not do anything anymore. It has been replaced by the ShopByBrand panels.	n/a
SideProductAddToWishList	This panel adds a button so that customers can add a product to their “wish list.” Customers must have an account in order to save and view their wish list. In order for this panel to work, you must have wish lists enabled in the Settings > Store > Display section of your BigCommerce Control Panel.	This panel MUST be used in the product layout only. Using it anywhere else breaks your website!!! It displays well in the sidebar or main layout but, because your main layout and sidebar may have contrasting colors, you might need to “tweak” the font colors so that all of the words are legible in either (or both) areas.
SideProductAlsoBought	This panel reviews your store's order history and displays other products that were purchased by customers at the same time that they bought the product that is being displayed.	This panel MUST be used in the product layout only. Using it anywhere else breaks your website!!! It displays well in the sidebar or main layout.
SideProductRecentlyViewed	This panel displays any products the customers has viewed during their session on your website.	This panel can be placed on any page and displays well in both the sidebar and the main page layout area.
SideProductRelated	This panel shows up to 5 products that are related to the product a customer is viewing. In order for it to display related products, you need to set them up in each individual product's “Other Details” tab. You can click the “Find and show related products automatically” and the shopping cart will pick products that it believes are related, based upon previous customer purchases and/or other products in the same category. You can also hand pick up to five related products to show.	The panel works on the product layout only. Placing it on any other page's layout does nothing. It displays well in both the sidebar and the main page layout area.
SideShopByBrand	This panel's vertically lists all of your store's brands that have products and provides links to those brands' pages, where all of the brand's products are listed.	Although it can technically be placed in the main page layout area, it displays better when placed in a sideba and can be placed on any pager.
SideShopByBrandFull	This panel's vertically lists all of your store's brands, whether they have products associated with them or not, and provides links to those brands' pages. and provides links to those brands' pages, where all of the brand's products are listed. If a brand has no products associated with it, a “There are no products listed under this brand” message is displayed.	Although it can technically be placed in the main page layout area, it displays better when placed in a sidebar and can be placed on any page.
SideSubPageList	This is a “legacy” panel that was subsequently replaced by BigCommerce's built-in sub category/page fly-out menus. It does not do anything now and placing it on most pages will break your website!	n/a
SideTopSellers	This panel lists the top five products that have been purchased on your website. You cannot control which products are displayed here – it is totally controlled by the shopping cart.	It can be placed on any page and displays well in both the sidebar and the main page layout area.
SideVendorPageList	This is a “legacy panel” that no longer does anything.	n/a
HomeFeaturedProducts	This panel will show products you have marked as “featured” on any page that you place it on. It is typically only used on the Home page, however. To mark a product as “featured,” simply click the star next to any product's name in your BigCommerce control panel to make it a gold star. You can also configure the number of products that will display as featured products in the Settings > Store > Display section of you Control Panel.	Although it technically can be placed in the sidebar or the main page layout of any page of your website, it displays much better in the main page layout area and is normally only used on the Home page.
HomeNewProducts	This panel is essentially the same as the SideNewProducts panel except that it has been designed specifically to contrast with the default colors of your store's main page layout area. It lists the products most recently added to your website. You can control the number of products that display in the HomeNewProducts panel by going to Settings > Store > Display and changing the number in the “New Products” box. You cannot specify the products that display nor their order without deleting a product and adding it again (the system simply displays the products most recently added).	Although it technically can be placed in the sidebar, it displays much better in the main page layout area (use the SideNewProducts panel for the sidebar) and can be placed on any page.
HomeRecentBlogs	If you are posting blog articles to your News Items section, this panel lists the titles of your most recent blog posts as links to those articles. You can configure the number of posts that it will display by changing the number in the “Recent News Items” line in the Settings > Store > Display section of your BigCommerce Control Panel.	Although it technically can be placed in the sidebar, it displays better in the main page layout area and can be placed on any page.
HomeSaleProducts	This panel lists any products that you have marked as being “On Sale.” To set up a sale price, click the More Price Options link in the “Pricing & Pre-Order Options” section of the main Details tab of your product and enter the special price in the “Sale Price” box. You can control the number of products that display in this panel by going to Settings > Store > Display and changing the number in the “New Products” box (the same box that controls the number of “New Products” that are displayed by the Home and Side NewProducts panel).	Although it technically can be placed in the sidebar, it displays much better in the main page layout area and can be placed on any page.
HomeSlideShow	This panel places a carousel slider on your page if you are using a template that has the carousel functionality (at the time of this writing, only the “Classic White” template has carousel functionality). The carousel slider is configured in the Design > Carousel & Social Media tab.	This panel only displays in the main page layout section.
HomeSlideShowJavaScript	This is really a panel within the HomeSlideShow panel and is NOT an actual independent panel that you can place anywhere on your website. It is best to just ignore this panel and let it do its work in the background!	n/a

BigCommerce design in general and Its guide

BigCommerce shopping cart is not a free e-commerce platform, you need to pay per what you use.
BigCommerce provide many free templates to allow you to use as your store and you can modify the design or hire some designers to do the job for you there.

So you have to aware about how BigCommerce design the template?
First, BigCommerce's template comes with something we call: layout, panel and snippet.

• Layout: how each of the webpage will show. Layout contains many panel code
• Layout file is structured in HTML style, you can include CSS, javascript as you wish.
• Ex: default layout, product display layout, cart layout etc.
• Panel: Each part of the layout you want to manage it such as to list product on sidebar, to display feature product part on home page or to make a panel for slideshow etc.
• To call panel, you need to use: %%panel-name%%
• Panel contains many SNIPPET code
• Snippet: That's a piece of code you want to describe, something like how a category will show etc.

BigCommerce recommended for every designer to read their designing guide that you can download from here: [BigCommerce Customization Guide v1.0].

Beside, all simple guides in the pdf file above, of course, I do not find exactly any advance option on design part of BigCommerce that is easy to read. You need to invest your time to read its support forum or tutorials. Of course, if I found, I'll post here.