hideCategories

[s_mack]

I don't know how many times and ways I have to say it... yes, it can do that. No, it won't do that unless you make it do that. HideCategories was made for a specific client with specific needs... it hides the categories from displaying in the areas used by that client. If you want to hide it from something else, you need to make the changes (to that something else) yourself. Hints are in the readme file.

[balihr]

Thank you very much for such a kind answer, your highness!

If I knew how to do it myself, i wouldn't ask here, don't you think?

Plus, if you can't answer my question or help me, maybe some other member here can. So, you need to understand that this forum is NOT your private forum and that OTHER people might help! I kindly asked for help - if you can't help me, why do you feel the need to push me down? I respect your programming skills, but you really should work on your social skills...

Anyone else out there willing to HELP me?

[s_mack]

Well, minion, off to the dungeon for you. But you're right, this isn't "my" thread. I started it and I suppose I take posts like yours as a "I don't feel like reading the readme so just fix it for my needs" but you're right that I had no reason to think you were asking me specifically.

If I could un-make this contrib, I would.

So forget my last post and take this advice instead (or don't): If you don't know how to do what you need to do to modify this contrib to meet your needs, and you are unwilling or unable to learn, then don't use it. It really isn't a good idea to go messing around with a contrib like this THAT CHANGES CORE FILES without knowing what you're doing. That's not me being all high on myself (because you may respect my programming skills but everything I know was self taught and could fit on a little fingernail of a real programmer) that's just sound advice.

Of my published contribs, this is one of the most used and also by far the least useful and most problematic. That's not so much because of how I wrote it, but rather because of how the core uses somewhat inconsistent methods relating to category display.

Anyway, carry on peasant. His highness only has so much time alloted for dabbling with the riff raff.

[DivaVocals]

I'm using categories tabs and this mod doesn't hide categories from it. Is there any way to make this mod hide categories in categories tabs?
It works perfectly for everything else and I find it a great mod! Now if only I could make it work in my categories tabs...
Please help.

Gonna make the same suggestion I always make to EVERYONE..

Whenever I install ANY new mod, I make it a habit to read through the ENTIRE support thread before I install it for a few good reasons, but here are few important reasons:

1. I can see where all the "bodies are buried". For example does the module have good author support, does it have good community support.
2. Tips and tricks are often posted throughout a support thread that will be useful.. In the case of this mod many of the "How do I hide my hidden category from..." have already been answered throughout the thread.
3. Is the module even working?? Some modules just simply don't work.. You can get a sense of that by reading through the WHOLE support thread..

Today I happened to be going through THIS support thread. Not to answer your question, but because I'm working on compiling a full list of all the most frequently asked for "how do I hide my hidden category from.." questions and fixes along with the SQL 5.x compatibility fix I posted (http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showpo...&postcount=238) for a personal project I am working on. I MAY compile all those changes and upload a new version of this module with all of those "fixes" in place.

That said, here is the answer to your question.. I found it nestled in THIS support thread.. HTH..

http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showpo...&postcount=195

[cjsmiff]

Gonna make the same suggestion I always make to EVERYONE..

Whenever I install ANY new mod, I make it a habit to read through the ENTIRE support thread before I install it for a few good reasons, but here are few important reasons:

1. I can see where all the "bodies are buried". For example does the module have good author support, does it have good community support.
2. Tips and tricks are often posted throughout a support thread that will be useful.. In the case of this mod many of the "How do I hide my hidden category from..." have already been answered throughout the thread.
3. Is the module even working?? Some modules just simply don't work.. You can get a sense of that by reading through the WHOLE support thread..

Today I happened to be going through THIS support thread. Not to answer your question, but because I'm working on compiling a full list of all the most frequently asked for "how do I hide my hidden category from.." questions and fixes along with the SQL 5.x compatibility fix I posted (http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showpo...&postcount=238) for a personal project I am working on. I MAY compile all those changes and upload a new version of this module with all of those "fixes" in place.

That said, here is the answer to your question.. I found it nestled in THIS support thread.. HTH..

http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showpo...&postcount=195

Hi,

It's a great mod, thank you!

Claire

[DivaVocals]

So I'm setting up a test store with the latest version of Zen. The Whats New sidebox has changed in 1.3.9, and I want to make sure that what I propose to add to the query to make hideCategories work with this sidebox is correct.. Left joins confuse me a tad.. So I am hoping someone could take a peek and "grade my homework" so to speak.. So here's what's going on:

Old What's New query

  $random_whats_new_sidebox_product_query = "select p.products_id, p.products_image, p.products_tax_class_id, p.products_price
                           from " . TABLE_PRODUCTS . " p
                           where p.products_status = 1 " . $display_limit . "
                           limit " . MAX_RANDOM_SELECT_NEW;

Current What's New query

  $random_whats_new_sidebox_product_query = "select p.products_id, p.products_image, p.products_tax_class_id, p.products_price, pd.products_name,
                                              p.master_categories_id
                           from (" . TABLE_PRODUCTS . " p
                           left join " . TABLE_PRODUCTS_DESCRIPTION . " pd on p.products_id = pd.products_id )
                           where p.products_id = pd.products_id
                           and pd.language_id = '" . (int)$_SESSION['languages_id'] . "'
                           and p.products_status = 1 " . $display_limit;

Old What's New query with hideCategories changes

  $random_whats_new_sidebox_product_query = "select p.products_id, p.products_image, p.products_tax_class_id, p.products_price
                           from " . TABLE_PRODUCTS . " p, " . TABLE_HIDE_CATEGORIES . " h
                           where p.products_status = 1 
                           and (p.master_categories_id = h.categories_id and h.visibility_status !=2) 
                           " . $display_limit . "
                           limit " . MAX_RANDOM_SELECT_NEW;

Proposed What's New query with hideCategories changes
(See highlighted in blue below -- is this the correct syntax??)

  $random_whats_new_sidebox_product_query = "select p.products_id, p.products_image, p.products_tax_class_id, p.products_price, pd.products_name,
                                              p.master_categories_id
                           from (" . TABLE_HIDE_CATEGORIES . " h, " . TABLE_PRODUCTS . " p
                           left join " . TABLE_PRODUCTS_DESCRIPTION . " pd on p.products_id = pd.products_id )
                           where p.products_id = pd.products_id
                           and pd.language_id = '" . (int)$_SESSION['languages_id'] . "'
                           and (p.master_categories_id = h.categories_id and h.visibility_status !=2) 
                           and p.products_status = 1 " . $display_limit;

[s_mack]

You certainly have the right idea. I can't 100% confirm you have the correct syntax exactly (I'm not using the latest version)... but yeah, you have the right concept. Give it a test run on your non-live site and see what happens. ALWAYS MAKE BACKUPS WHEN EXPERIMENTING.

- Steven

[DivaVocals]

This was absolutely BRILLIANT!!!! Just to share what I did, I used the Product Type "Document - Product" and to make sure it was CLEAR for the client, I edited the product type name to display "Product - Hidden" and made it a sub type of "Product - General" (Go to Catalog > Product Types to make these changes)

Now I need to edit the product details page for the Document - Product product type and add the appropriate styles to the stylesheet (or perhaps simply edit the buttons out the product details page)

Just a thought... I'm not programmer but maybe this will help.

Instead of using the "Product General" you can use any of the other product types to create your hidden category. This way you could take out those previous, listing, next buttons without compromising the regular products.

Oh! and Trevor... I haven't used your hacks but I will try them, looks like great options.

I also forgot something. After I made the changes I posted above, I still had an issue.

If you have more than one product in a hidden category, visitors who are able to view one of your 'hidden' products will be able to use the previous/next buttons at the top of the product page to browse to your other hidden products w/in that same category. Depending on your situation, this may be undesirable.

Of course, you could edit the listing template, but this might be destructive if you wanted to show the buttons later on down the road. This is a non-destructive alternative using the CSS stylesheet.

Hide the Previous Next Buttons
A simple CSS rule will fix it. This is useful if you have multiple products in a hidden category that you don't want customers to be able to browse to easily.

NOTE: This will also hide those buttons in every category throughout your site (hidden or not), so use wisely. You might be able to narrow it down to only affect certain pages, but not very easily, I don't think.

Go to: stylesheet.css in includes/templates/css/ and add a rule to your css:

.navNextPrevWrapper { display: none; }

The rule will hide the whole section from prying eyes, but still allow you to make it visible later if you so desire.

Hope this isn't too off-topic.

[DivaVocals]

So I've compiled a new version of hideCategories. Here's the changelog:

• updated files to reflect changes in Zen release 1.3.9d.
• Incorporated the following posted modifications in to the codebase:
  
  • Add Hidden Categories code to What's New sidebox
    
    • http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showpo...&postcount=256
    
    
  • Add Hidden Categories code to Site Map & Customers Who Bought center box
    
    • http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showpo...2&postcount=94
    
    
  • Add Hidden Categories code to Categories Tab
    
    • http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showpo...&postcount=195
    
    
  • Included a modified includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/templates/tpl_document_product_info_display.php template specifically for hidden products. This template removes the top and bottom "Next" and "Previous" navigation buttons as well as the category link/image without compromising regular products. Requires using "document-product" product type to create your hidden categories.
    
    • http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showpo...1&postcount=96
    • http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showpo...&postcount=258
    
    
  
  

I've tested it on my own site and it works great, but I'd like other folks to test it before I submit it to the downloads section.. If you are interested in testing, please PM and I'll get you a copy of the new fileset. I may also include files and/or instructions for using hideCategories with the Improved Sitemap module..

[DivaVocals]

I need to make sure that it's clear that I am looking for testers who will provide feedback on the updated module, not just folks who are looking for an advanced copy of the new version..

So as a result I will be scrutinizing folks who are new to this forum a little more than some of the folks who've been around longer..

That said if you are interested in testing, you should be willing/able to provide feedback once you install and test.

Thanks for understanding..

So I've compiled a new version of hideCategories. Here's the changelog:

• updated files to reflect changes in Zen release 1.3.9d.
• Incorporated the following posted modifications in to the codebase:
  
  • Add Hidden Categories code to What's New sidebox
    
    • http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showpo...&postcount=256
    
    
  • Add Hidden Categories code to Site Map & Customers Who Bought center box
    
    • http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showpo...2&postcount=94
    
    
  • Add Hidden Categories code to Categories Tab
    
    • http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showpo...&postcount=195
    
    
  • Included a modified includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/templates/tpl_document_product_info_display.php template specifically for hidden products. This template removes the top and bottom "Next" and "Previous" navigation buttons as well as the category link/image without compromising regular products. Requires using "document-product" product type to create your hidden categories.
    
    • http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showpo...1&postcount=96
    • http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showpo...&postcount=258
    
    
  
  

I've tested it on my own site and it works great, but I'd like other folks to test it before I submit it to the downloads section.. If you are interested in testing, please PM and I'll get you a copy of the new fileset. I may also include files and/or instructions for using hideCategories with the Improved Sitemap module..