Catalog Overview Pages vs. Inventory / Product Pages

Catalog Overview Pages vs. Inventory / Product Pages

Effective Date: February 7, 2026   Last Updated: February 7, 2026

Usage, Limits, and When to Use Each

Catalog Overview Pages and Inventory / Product Pages serve different but complementary purposes within Hibu One Smart Sites. While both page types use the Photo Gallery widget and share the same site-wide limits, they are designed to solve very different content and presentation needs.

This page explains:

• The functional differences between Inventory and Catalog pages
• When to use one over the other
• How to combine both without violating limits
• The critical 50-card rule that applies across both page types
  

Catalog Overview vs. Inventory / Product Pages: At-a-Glance

Combined Usage & Card Limits (Critical Rule)

A site may contain up to 50 total gallery cards, combined.

Gallery cards may represent:

• Individual inventory items or
• Product categories (Catalog Overview)

Inventory items and catalog categories share the same site-wide limit.

A site may not include 50 inventory items and 50 catalog categories.

Allowed combinations include:

• 50 inventory items, 0 catalog categories
• 30 inventory items, 20 catalog categories
• 10 inventory items, 40 catalog categories

Any combination exceeding 50 total cards is not permitted.

This limit applies across all Inventory Pages and Catalog Overview Pages on the site.

When to Use a Catalog Overview Page

Use a Catalog Overview Page when:

• Listing individual products would require more than 50 gallery cards
• The offering is better represented by categories, not individual items
• Products rely on technical specifications, variations, or extended descriptions that cannot be reasonably summarized at the item level
• Full product detail lives in external catalogs, PDFs, or third-party websites
• Listing items individually would exceed Inventory Fair Use limits

Catalog Overview Pages display product categories only — not individual products.

Each card acts as a gateway, routing users to:

• Manufacturer catalogs
• Supplier product listings
• Downloadable PDFs or spec sheets
• External inventory systems
• Contact or inquiry next steps
  

When to Use an Inventory / Product Listing Page

Use an Inventory / Product Page when:

• The client has 50 or fewer individual items to display
• Each item can be represented with a short, non-technical description
• The goal is to showcase specific products or services, not broad groupings
• Item-level clarity matters (e.g., availability, variants, rental options)

Inventory / Product Pages display individual items, each represented by a single gallery card.

Inventory cards are designed to:

• Present concise item summaries
• Support contact-driven or inquiry-based CTAs
• Avoid long-form descriptions, specs, or ecommerce behavior
  

Using Inventory and Catalog Together

In some cases, a client’s offering benefits from both page types.

A common pattern:

• A Catalog Overview Page serves as the high-level entry point
• One or more Inventory Pages highlight select or high-interest items
• All cards across both page types remain within the 50-card combined limit

Examples:

• A flooring company uses a Catalog Overview Page for carpet, tile, and hardwood categories, plus an Inventory Page for featured in-stock products
• An equipment rental business uses category-level catalogs alongside a small inventory of popular rental items

When combining both:

• Categories and inventory items must be intentionally allocated
• Duplicate cards should be avoided unless there is a clear purpose
• Inventory Pages should not attempt to “recreate” a catalog experience