1Signing in
Once each morning. There is no password.
| Your board | dockblocks-distributor.pivotplanit.com/distributor/admin/ |
|---|---|
| How | Enter your Dock Blocks address. Cloudflare emails you a code. Paste it. |
| How long | A day. It asks again the next morning. |
If the code does not arrive: check junk first, because it comes from Cloudflare rather than from Dock Blocks. If it is not there either, the address you typed is probably not on the list. Alecia can add it; nobody else can.
Distributors never sign in. Their link identifies them, so one being asked to log in means they are using yours: see section 9.
2Adding a distributor
Five steps. Nothing is written until step 3, and you can leave at any point before that without leaving a mess.
| Step | You do | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Who | Type part of the company name, press search, and PICK from the results. | It matches letters inside a word: "LFS" also returns Gulfstream Marine, and picking that would attach every LFS order to the wrong company. |
| Not in Zoho yet? | Press "Add a new company", type their name and city, and it creates the Zoho Account then carries on to step 2. | It searches again as you press Create, so a company that already exists cannot be duplicated. On a near match it stops and shows you what it found; creating anyway takes a second, deliberate press. |
| 2. Check | Read the company name, open the Zoho record if in doubt, and fill in the receipt address and rep group. | The only step that catches a wrong pick. Use "Search again", not the browser back button. |
| 3. Create | Press the button. The link is minted and shown once. | Copy it now if you need it outside step 5. It is stored as a one-way fingerprint, so nobody, us included, can read it back. |
| 4. Verify | Press Test the link. It answers in one line: either the link works, or what is still missing. | Anything missing stops the hand-off. Do not send the link anyway. |
| 5. Hand over | Copy the email and send it yourself. | Nothing is sent automatically, ever. If you do not send it, they do not have a link. |
Every field on those screens has a ? beside its label. Hover it, or tab to it, and it says what that field is for. LFS's receipts go to Barbara Zinkil and their rep group is Merrifield Group.
3Finishing one you started earlier
A half-finished setup is not lost and does not need starting again.
The board shows it as incomplete and says which half is missing. Press Resume on that row and it opens at the part that is not done.
Do not press "Add a distributor" for a company already on the board. That starts a second, separate setup for the same company, and then two links exist where one should. If you see the company listed, Resume is the button.
4When an order arrives
Nothing is required of you for the order to exist. This is what to expect.
- You, Matt and the distributor all get the same confirmation: who sent it, which purchase order, how many lines.
- In Zoho it is a Sales Order carrying their purchase order number, priced as submitted. Work it exactly as you work a Shopify order.
- A dock kit arrives broken into the parts the warehouse ships, not as one line.
5When an order is refused
Usually nothing for you to do.
The distributor is told exactly what to fix and can upload again straight away. A refusal creates no Zoho order, so there is nothing to tidy up.
You are emailed, naming the distributor, the file and what was wrong. Usually they have already fixed it, so do not chase. The mail exists so that somebody stuck twice on the same thing is visible to you. Matt is deliberately not copied.
When it IS yours: the same distributor refused repeatedly on the same thing. That is a document or price-list problem, not a user mistake. Order history keeps every attempt and the exact file they sent.
6Replacing someone's link
When a link has gone somewhere it should not have, or the person who had it has left.
Regenerate on their row. The old link dies immediately and a new one is shown once. No overlap period, deliberately: an old link that still works for a week has not been replaced.
Send the new link the same day you regenerate. Between regenerating and sending, that distributor cannot order at all.
7Switching a link off
When someone should stop ordering entirely.
Revoke on their row. It stops NEW uploads. An upload already in flight finishes, because a half-written order in Zoho is worse than one more order.
A revoked link and one that never existed show a visitor the same message, so the page never confirms to an outsider that a link existed. The board and history still tell you which it was, and when.
8When a price changes
Four things, in order, and the fourth one is yours.
- The approved price list is updated.
- The new version is stamped, and python3 scripts/google/distributor_price_library.py bump rebuilds every existing document, so a version and its documents cannot drift apart. ... status shows who is current and changes nothing.
- Orders still arriving on the old version are refused automatically, which is what stops a price sheet from six months ago being ordered from.
- You send out the new document. Until you do, that distributor cannot order.
9When something looks wrong
What to check, in order, before asking anyone.
| What you see | What it usually is |
|---|---|
| A distributor says their link does not work | It was regenerated or revoked. The board says which, and when. If it says active, ask them to send you the link they are using: an old one looks identical. |
| A distributor is asked to sign in | They are using YOUR address instead of theirs. Send them their own link again. |
| An order did not arrive in Zoho | Check order history first. A refused upload never creates an order and would otherwise be invisible. |
| The board will not load for you | Your sign-in expired. It lasts a day. |
| A row says incomplete and you thought it was done | It is telling the truth. Press Resume and it says which half is missing. |
If none of that explains it, ask Alecia, with the distributor and roughly when. Everything that happens to a link is dated, so "LFS, sometime Tuesday" is enough.
10Things to never do
- Never send a link by any route you would not send a password. The link IS the authentication. Anyone holding it can order as that distributor.
- Never forward one distributor's link to another. Their orders would arrive under the first company's name.
- Never press Add for a company already on the board. Use Resume.
- Never send a link when the step 4 check said no. It is the only thing between a link that looks fine and one that does not open.