Multiple Attrributes per SKU question

[Brian Anderson]

I have a number of items I have listed which all have attributes:

Pen Model A in Blue with Extra Fine nib
Pen Model A in Blue with Fine nib
Pen Model A in Blue with Medium nib
Pen Model A in Blue with Broad nib
Pen Model A in Red with Extra Fine nib
Pen Model A in Red with Fine nib
and so on...

Example: http://andersonpens.net/pens/edison/collier

Right now I have a unique SKU and product listing for each one of these variations, each one with a read only attribute based on nib size (EF, F, M, or B) so the customer can filter based on this. However, it has quickly become apparent to me I need to use attributes in the form of a drop down list and have one main product listing for "pen model A in blue" with a drop down where they can select which nib they want. This will reduce duplication on the site which I believe is partly harming my search engine results (that's another question for a different forum and being addressed already). It was also really clear up many of my pages which have way too many options for customers to wade through (some pages have three different versions with up to 7 nib choices each - Yuck. 21 options could be reduced to 3)

My question then is two fold:

1) If I assign an attribute (drop down list) to the sku "pen model A in blue" for nib size, can I also assign a read only attribute or filter based on this from the subcategory level? Or will lumping all four of these old sku's together eliminate my ability to sort this way?

2) How does the resulting choice of pen A with nib choice Medium show up in the categories/products page? I know I can't (currently) assign inventory to each particular attribute, but still want to be able to keep track of the individual nib choices somehow.

Sorry for the potentially dumb questions, just trying to figure this out!

Thanks!
Brian

[Limitless]

Hoping you get more response than I did....

http://www.zen-cart.com/showthread.p...deal-with-them

[Brian Anderson]

Hoping you get more response than I did....

http://www.zen-cart.com/showthread.p...deal-with-them

I think I'm not going to worry about it. CEON has a mod in the works, but it has not been released yet, and it is apparently the only one compatible with 1.5. I have many products I don't need to track inventory for, so I won't worry about losing a read only attribute for them at this point. Not worth it.

[Limitless]

Yep, I am anxiously awaiting his upcoming module for this.