Categories AND SUBCATEGORIES as a Dropdown

[MillenniumJim]

Running v1.3.9.
I incorporated a mod that changed the Category Box from a list type to a drop down box. Works great, thanks to the contributor for that mod :)

Now, what I want to know is this: Is there a mod that will create a dropdown for all subsequest subcategories?

In other words, when someone selects a main (upper) category from the new dropdown category box, it takes people to the page where all of that upper category's subcategories are displayed.

Unfortunately, the subcategories are displayed (as they usually are) in rows and columns. The main problem with this layout is that I have tons of subcategories for each upper category. So when someone gets to the page where the subs are shown, they have to search through over 100 subcategories.

What I would like to know is if there is a mod that will take the subcategories and generate a drop down box showing the subcategories, rather than having them all displayed as text/image links on a page that seems endless when scrolling?

Thanks in advance for any help with this.

[MillenniumJim]

I found a mod written by Ryan Garlick called 'Select Product via Drop-Down'. This does exactly what I want it to do.

However, I followed the very easy instructions for this mod and it did not work. I see that the mod was written for v1.3.8, so maybe it won't work on 1.3.9, which is what I use. I am a veteran Zenner, so I am unsure why it won't work (it's so simple to install).

Is anyone able to use this mod on v1.3.9? If so, can you give me an idea of how to make this mod work?

Thank you in advance for your help.

[gjh42]

There is no such mod available now, but if you are willing to have a dropdown to display the subcats (with presumably just their names), why not display them on the page as just names? A hundred in three columns or so could fit neatly on a page if they don't have images displayed. If there are any subgroups that they could be organized under on that page, there is a "category list section headers" mod I posted a couple of years ago, and just revisited and improved. If you want to try the new version, ask in that thread and I'll post it there.


OK, I guess there is such a mod (There are too many to keep up with them all:)

[gjh42]

Check the list of mod files against the changelists for v1.3.9x and see if there are any conflicts.

[MillenniumJim]

Thanks a lot for the help. I will check the change files and go from there.....it really was the easiest install I have ever had to do, so I am a little stunned that this simple mod is having an issue. It was written for v1.3.8...

[gjh42]

A small change in one file could possibly make it incompatible with v1.3.9x. It probably won't be a big job to merge changes if necessary.

[MillenniumJim]

Well, unfortunately I researched that and discovered that there are no updates to that mod.

I did find out that the single file (named product_listing.php) is to be placed in the '/includes/modules/YOUR-CUSTOM-OVERRIDE/' directory, where 'YOUR-CUSTOM-OVERRIDE' is supposed to equal your template name (as per Ryan). There are no database mods that have to be done. Simple upload to a created directory.

No go. When I select the main category from the dropdown, it still takes me to a page where all the subcategories are in rows and columns. No apparent updates can be seen from the admin side as far as additional user controls to change from column/row to dropdown select.

Any suggestions? Obviously, I am missing something.....

[gjh42]

/includes/modules/product_listing.php was updated in v1.3.9x, but the update is just housekeeping and would not affect its function or interaction with other files. It was also updated between v1.3.7 and 1.3.8, and that was a structural change that would be incompatible across versions.

[gjh42]

You could try a debug to see if the new file is being read. The file structure is probably different from other versions, but there should be a line somewhere like

'params' => 'class="productListing-data"', 

Add -test to the classname like this

'params' => 'class="productListing-data-test"', 

then see if the rendered page has productListing-data or productListing-data-test classnames. You can modify this procedure for any classname mentioned in the file and actually used on your output page.