How do I list products in sub category with in the parent category?

[balihr]

No, it hasn't. I've asked for some help and testing it, several people contacted me and got the plugin to test it, but I've never gotten any feedback from anyone... I'm simply not sure if it's all good or it's no good... And I don't want to officially release it before getting confirmation it's all good because I don't really wanna spend hours and hours providing support for it and debugging it on the go...

[kobra]

So, imagine a store selling dresses. If we want to allow narrowing down with multiple factors, we are stuck with a category structure like:

From what you listed - this is what attributes are for and also linking can be used to your advantage

[balihr]

No, Kobra, the formatting on my previous post was totally messed up... Let me try again:

Dresses
- long (sublevel 1)
-- small (sublevel 2)
-- medium (sublevel 2)
-- large (sublevel 2)
-- extra large (sublevel 2)
- knee-length (sublevel 1)
-- small (sublevel 2)
-- medium (sublevel 2)
-- large (sublevel 2)
-- extra large (sublevel 2)
- short
-- small
-- medium
-- large
-- extra large

No imagine a sub-sub-level on each tier:
- long
-- small
--- red (sublevel 3)
--- blue (sublevel 3)
--- green
--medium
--- red
--- green

etc etc. Hopefully, this makes more sense. Look at it like this: when you go to ebay and go to dresses, do you only see subcategories or do you see ALL dresses and have the (added) ability to narrow down using subcategories?

[kobra]

Dresses
- long (sublevel 1)
-- small (sublevel 2)
-- medium (sublevel 2)
-- large (sublevel 2)
-- extra large (sublevel 2)
- knee-length (sublevel 1)
-- small (sublevel 2)
-- medium (sublevel 2)
-- large (sublevel 2)
-- extra large (sublevel 2)
- short
-- small
-- medium
-- large
-- extra large

The sizes should be attributes as should the colors - they should not be additional cats/sub-cats

[balihr]

The sizes should be attributes as should the colors - they should not be additional cats/sub-cats

Wrong way of thinking, if you ask me. Why think of such exact scenarios only? Think wider. Actual example from a site that's using it:
adult toys
- bondage
-- cuffs
--- ankle cuffs
--- handcuffs
--- thigh cuffs

Or, let's say lighting - see an example here: LIB.
EDIT: that's "light in the box DOT com", not sure why it's obfuscated... Link here
How would you do THAT with attributes? Notice how you have subcategories, and then ALL lighting products listed below. Then you choose "LED Lights" and you narrow it down to show all LED Lights subcategories, but at the same time you're seeing all LED lights below.

Besides, it's a matter of allowing choice, it's an added feature. I'm not saying it's a must-have because some sites really wouldn't benefit from it, that's why this is a plugin. Just like Canada Post plugin, for example - almost none of the US stores will ever need it, but for Canadians it's a very welcomed plugin... Same goes for this - SOME people might like it a lot...

[kobra]

From your light example in the lighting cat there are

Ceiling Lights
Chandeliers
Island lights

click Ceiling Lights and you also have from the lighting cat

Chandeliers
Island lights

This is linking

From your first example they are distinct cats under "cuffs"

ankle cuffs
handcuffs
thigh cuffs

I see this as different than a dress in small, med, lrg and also in red, blue, and??

[mc12345678]

To throw something else into the mix about this. I tried the "linking" approach with a product on a default ZC 1.5.5.a store having the demo products. (Haven't gone back to try on older versions). I took both products from the Hardware->Graphic Cards category and linked them to the Hardware category. So the master_categories_id for the two products remained at the Graphic Cards category but now the product also exists in the Hardware category. When I navigated the front end using the categories dropdown I could see all the way to the Graphic Cards category, but if I were to click on the Hardware category, the only thing presented to me was the products.... I couldn't navigate to any of the sub-categories from the center of the screen. (Sure could still navigate using in this case the responsive dropdown menu).

I haven't tried balihr's plugin, but if it does entertain a center area "navigation" while a "product" (linked or not) is active in a category that also contains sub-categories, then that bridges the two issues.

Even if the colors as attributes were the items of categories, there have been plenty that would like to "search" by specific attribute and while database maintenance of such attribute to category relationship could become tedious, if that's how a store owner wishes to operate, then yes having the software that can accommodate is all the more beneficial. Further, if the software allows such "multiplacement" of product to include within a category and the other items of concern (sales discounts, specials, etc...) can still be applied as expected/desired/needed, then it truly does amplify the functionality at little to no cost for those that need or want that option.

[balihr]

From your light example in the lighting cat there are

Ceiling Lights
Chandeliers
Island lights

click Ceiling Lights and you also have from the lighting cat

Chandeliers
Island lights

This is linking

No. Although very close, but it's not. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong and why you can't understand what I'm try to explain... If you look at the parent category (Ceiling Lights), you see there are BOTH subcategories and products listed on that page and you will see all products from all subcategories, including ceiling lights, chandeliers, island lights, LAMPS etc. If you click on Ceiling Lights (subcategory), you will now see only the products that are listed in that category and you will no longer see any lamp items listed on that page because no lamp is in that subcategory.
Think of this is an option to FILTER using subcategories.

From your first example they are distinct cats under "cuffs"

ankle cuffs
handcuffs
thigh cuffs

I see this as different than a dress in small, med, lrg and also in red, blue, and??

Yes, distinct cats. BUT, if you click on Cuffs, you would first see the three subcategories (so you can narrow down your search) and then followed by absolutely all cuffs listed, including ankle cuffs, handcuffs and thigh cuffs. How would you do that with attributes? Or linked products? Or whatever?

but if it does entertain a center area "navigation" while a "product" (linked or not) is active in a category that also contains sub-categories, then that bridges the two issues.

That's EXACTLY what it does. Thank you!
See the screenshot I included in the previous post - it's from a vanilla install... The "New 1.2" category does NOT have any products, it only contains the 6 subcategories. However, if you navigate to the "New 1.2" category, you get to see the list of subcategories, then followed by all items from those subcategories. The first item you see there (the red 0) is actually an item posted in "Discount Qty" subcategory...

[Feznizzle]

I very much like the idea of this mod for the reasons others want it... but also because I think it may help with another problem I desperately want to solve.

Before I volunteer to test, let me see if I understand correctly. Your mod allows the display of all products existing in the subs below. The subs then act as filters, further narrowing product display each time a visitor clicks. If that is correct... AWESOME! I would like to volunteer to test!

Additionally, I have a couple questions...

QUEST #1
Using your mod, is there a way to *NOT* display products from a sub *UNLESS* a visitor clicks on that filter/sub?

Lets say I sell medical equipment and parts for repairing medical equipment (because I do!). Here is a quick for instance:
Surgical Products
-OR Tables
--Steris (a manufacturer)
---3080 Series
----3080 SP
-----Steris 3080SP Replacement Parts

That last category (Parts) may have 5,000 products. When a visitor browses, I'd rather not clutter up the display with parts... unless the customer demonstrates that he wants to see Part by clicking on that filter.

So to refine my question, does your mod provide a way to exempt particular sub categories from displaying with all the rest?

QUEST #2
Can your mod be used to overcome the ZC limitation of not allowing products to exist in a category that has a subcategory?

[balihr]

OK, I just read Chad's post again and although I confirmed it's exactly what it does, I think I misinterpreted what he had said...

@Feznizzle - both answers are NO. This mod does NOT have products and categories on the same level. Instead, what it does is that it will list all products from that level's subcategories on one page (or multiple paginated pages, of course). BTW, your quest #1 seems like standard Zen Cart... Maybe I'm missing something, dunno...

Anyways... I've tried to draw what this mod would do. At the top of the image, you can see the category structure. The middle right section is what this mod is all about. It keeps the category structure intact, you don't need to have products and subcategories on the same level. It will only display all products that exist in the lower hierarchy level(s).



I hope I'm making sense and that I've (finally) managed to explain what it does...