Time release or calendar/scheduling of a product? Possible?

[mickyhulse]

Hi,

We're using ZenCart to do weekly coupon sales. Each week, we show one product and wait for it to be sold out.

When a product is sold out, we wait a couple of days to start a new product sale.

We'd like to have the ability to schedule the release of the new product (and also set the old product to expire when the new one is released).

Is there an official ZenCart way of scheduling products like this?

If not built-in, can anyone recommend a plugin?

Thanks!
M

[stevesh]

You could use a banner, with the banner image linked to the product. Banners have the option of start and stop dates.

Admin - Tools - Banner Manager

http://www.zen-cart.com/content.php?...-up-banner-ads

[mickyhulse]

You could use a banner, with the banner image linked to the product. Banners have the option of start and stop dates.

Admin - Tools - Banner Manager

http://www.zen-cart.com/content.php?...-up-banner-ads

Interesting idea! I'll have to explore that.

In this case, we're using ZenCart as a one-product shopping cart, so I've setup the homepage to the products detail page; this page has all of the "buy now" buttons and such … So, I'm not sure if a simple image would work.

With that said, I'll have to explore the banner code in more detail. If I can plug into just the scheduling bits/functions, then maybe I could use that along with some custom PHP to show/hide the product HTML?

On the other hand, I'd like to avoid a ton of custom code for long-term maintenance's sake.

Thanks again stevesh! I'll let you know if the banner idea works.

[stevesh]

I moved all the banners around so that 2-6 appear in the center main page section. Might be something you could look at, especially if you might ever have more than one product:

http://www.zen-cart.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=1817

[mickyhulse]

I moved all the banners around so that 2-6 appear in the center main page section. Might be something you could look at, especially if you might ever have more than one product:

http://www.zen-cart.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=1817

Awesome! Thanks SO MUCH for the code! I'll play with it and let you know how it goes.

I'm hoping this works as I don't think I've seen calendar functionality anywhere else in the ZC admin.

Thanks again stevesh!!!! I owe you one.

[stevesh]

I should also have mentioned that the start/stop date function is available in the Featured Products and Specials options in Admin - Catalog.

[mickyhulse]

I should also have mentioned that the start/stop date function is available in the Featured Products and Specials options in Admin - Catalog.

Ah, interesting. I'll check those out too. Thanks so much for the help, I really do appreciate it.

[mickyhulse]

Ah, interesting. I'll check those out too. Thanks so much for the help, I really do appreciate it.

Sooo, after a bit of playing around, my co-workers and I have decided to use MYSQL to update the database. We have yet to write the code, but here's our plan:

1. Someone will create a new product under our main category.
2. New product ID is noted.
3. Old product ID is noted.
4. During the week, we add IDs to script in preparation for …
5. … end of week, cron job fires of script that alters the database:

Turn off last product using old product ID:
mysql> update products set products_status=0 where products_id=224;

Turn on new product using new product ID:
mysql> update products set products_status=1 where products_id=225;

Not as elegant as a plugin, but it's hopefully going to fit into our existing workflow easily enough.

We're happy that changing the on/off switch is as simple as one database query. :)

Thanks again for all of your help stevesh!!!! I greatly appreciate you taking the time to share code and shed some light on the situation.