Dynamic generation and display of catalogs

摘要

A computerized method for dynamically generating and displaying a catalog including a plurality of items, each item being classified by at least group information and product information is disclosed. The method allows a merchant user to generate a catalog by classifying new items by entering into pre-defined fields at least group and product information text for each item, and by optionally specifying a multimedia object associated with the new item, where each field optionally has an associated link to a linked object. The user selects a display template which defines a pre-designed catalog page layout having generally designated areas for placement of text and multimedia objects relating to an associated item. After the user inputs information regarding an item into the form fields, the field contents are associated with corresponding areas of the selected template. The field contents are then stored as a part of a page of the catalog. Upon receiving a request to display a page, the stored field contents are retrieved and checked as to whether the requested page includes any multimedia objects. If so, the logical framing for each area designated for placement of multimedia objects is adjusted to accommodate all of the multimedia objects. The retrieved field contents, including any associated links to linked objects, of the requested page are then combined with the display template to generate a display page, which is displayed to a consumer.