Catalog

Catalog Sync
Catalog Sync 
 Spectre maintains a shared bowling catalog (balls, bags, shoes, accessories) and syncs it into your store so you don't have to add those products yourself. The sync runs automatically during your onboarding wizard and produces a stocked, ready-to-sell catalog within minutes. 
 How the sync works 
 The catalog sync pulls products and their variations directly from the Spectre bowling database into your WooCommerce products table. It runs as a background job and writes a progress record so you can see where it is. 
 Each product is imported with: 
 
 Title, description, and images 
 Pricing 
 Barcode in the _global_unique_id and _upc postmeta fields 
 Variations (for variable products like balls available in multiple weights) 
 Category and tag assignments 
 
 After the sync finishes, the WooCommerce product lookup table is rebuilt so search, filtering, and reports are fast on day one. 
 When it runs 
 
 During onboarding. Step 2 of the onboarding wizard kicks the sync off automatically. 
 After onboarding. Spectre re-runs the sync periodically to pick up new products, price changes, and image updates. 
 
 You do not normally have to trigger the sync manually — it's a managed background process. 
 Watching progress 
 Sync progress is stored in the spectrepos_sync_progress site option and updates as the job runs. The progress record includes: 
 
 status — idle , running , finished , or error 
 current / total — items processed so far 
 created / updated / skipped — counters by action 
 step — which phase the job is in 
 message — the most recent status line 
 
 The onboarding wizard reads this same record and shows you a progress bar during step 2. 
 Sync history 
 The last 20 sync runs are recorded in the spectrepos_sync_history site option, with the date and a summary of what changed (created, updated, skipped, reassigned, total). Your administrator can look back through this to see when changes landed and how many products each run touched. 
 What if a product is missing 
 If a product you expected from the bowling catalog is missing, the most likely reasons are: 
 
 The sync hasn't run since the product was added upstream. 
 The product was created or updated in your store with the same barcode and Spectre skipped it to avoid overwriting your edit. 
 
 Wait for the next sync, or contact Spectre support and we'll re-run the import for the specific items you need. 
 What if a sync errors out 
 If the sync status shows error , the message field has the most recent error line. The job is safe to re-run — Spectre's import is idempotent (the same barcode won't be imported twice as a duplicate). Contact support if errors persist across runs. 
 Stock tracking 
 If you opted in to stock tracking during onboarding, the bowling catalog is bulk-enabled for stock management after the first sync. If you opted out, products are still imported but stock is not tracked — you can turn it on later per-product under Products → (edit) → Inventory (see Managing Products ).

Managing Products
Managing Products 
 Spectre POS uses WooCommerce's standard Products screen. You can add a product manually, edit an existing one, set its barcode, and create variations (sizes, weights, colors). The bowling catalog is added for you by Spectre's Catalog Sync — this page covers the products you create or edit by hand. 
 Open Products 
 In the WordPress admin sidebar, go to Products → All Products . You see the catalog list with name, SKU, stock, price, categories, and date. 
 Add a product 
 
 Click Add New at the top of the Products list. 
 Enter the product Name and Description . 
 In the Product data panel, choose the product type:
 
 Simple product for a single SKU. 
 Variable product when the product has variations (e.g. different shoe sizes). 
 
 
 Fill in:
 
 Regular price (and Sale price if applicable) 
 SKU under the Inventory tab 
 Tax class and Tax status as needed 
 Categories and images on the right side 
 
 
 Click Publish . 
 
 Set the barcode 
 Spectre POS scans barcodes against two postmeta fields: 
 
 _global_unique_id — your primary barcode (UPC, EAN, or any unique scan code). 
 _upc — a secondary fallback. 
 
 In the product editor, scroll to the Inventory tab and enter the barcode in the field provided. For variable products , set the barcode on each variation under the Variations tab — each variation has its own barcode metabox. 
 
 Tip: A barcode must be unique. If two products share the same barcode, the scanner can't tell them apart and the cashier will see a search list instead of the product going straight into the cart. 
 
 Variable products 
 For products that come in multiple sizes, weights, or colors: 
 
 Set the product type to Variable product . 
 Open the Attributes tab and add each attribute (e.g. "Size"). For each, tick Used for variations and Visible on the product page . 
 Open the Variations tab. 
 Use Add variation for each combination, or Create variations from all attributes to generate them in bulk. 
 For each variation, set Price , SKU , Barcode , and Stock if you track it. 
 
 Inventory 
 Stock tracking is optional. Open the Inventory tab and tick Manage stock? to enable per-product stock counts. If you opted in during onboarding, the bowling catalog already has stock tracking enabled in bulk. 
 Tips 
 
 For the cashier app to show a product, it must be Published . Drafts and private products don't appear. 
 Image and price changes show in the cashier app after the next sync (usually within a minute). 
 Use Categories liberally — they make the product grid in the POS easier to browse.