How-To: Add new Properties to your Products

[crazy_chris]

hi folks,

this is a little howto add new properties to general products
(like guarantee time, color, oem-number, compatible models, whatsoever)

1. think
   decide which new properties you want to add to your products
   (in this example we take guarantee-time (in months) and color)
   .
2. db manipulation
   open the table "products" in your zencart-database and insert new rows at the end of the table called "products_guarantee" and "products_color"
   ALTER TABLE `zencart_products` ADD `products_guarantee` INT NOT NULL , ADD `products_color` VARCHAR( 32 ) NOT NULL;
   .
   
3. edit 'collect_info.php' (in /admin/includes/modules/product/)
   1. at the very beginning there is the variable $parameters set. add your row-names to the end:
      'products_guarantee' => '0', 'products_color' => '' );
      .
   2. just below there is the db-query set [$product = $db->Execute("...]
      add your rows with a 'p.' in front (before the "from ..." part)
      select ......., p.products_guarantee, p.products_color from ....
      .
   3. now you can add the input fields in the product-mask (lets say somewhere around line 450 or so):
      <tr>
      <td class="main">Guarantee Time (in months)</td>
      <td class="main"><?php echo zen_draw_separator('pixel_trans.gif', '24', '15') . '&nbsp;' . zen_draw_input_field('products_guarantee', $pInfo->products_guarantee, zen_set_field_length(TABLE_PRODUCTS, 'products_guarantee')); ?></td>
      </tr><tr>
      <td class="main">Color</td>
      <td class="main"><?php echo zen_draw_separator('pixel_trans.gif', '24', '15') . '&nbsp;' . zen_draw_input_field('products_color', $pInfo->products_color, zen_set_field_length(TABLE_PRODUCTS, 'products_color')); ?></td>
      </tr>
      .
4. edit 'preview_info.php' (in /admin/includes/modules/product/)
   somewhere around line 10 is the variable $product set. like in step 3.2 add the new rows with a 'p.' in front just before the 'from'
   select ......., p.products_guarantee, p.products_color from ....
   .
5. finally, edit 'update_product.php' (in /admin/includes/modules/)
   around line 20 is the $sql_data_array set. add to the last lines before ');' the new rownames.
   $sql_data_array = .......... 'products_guarantee' => zen_db_prepare_input($_POST['products_guarantee']), 'products_color' => zen_db_prepare_input($_POST['products_color']) );
   .
6. Setup All Done!
   .
   .
   .
   .Of course, now we want to display our cool new properties .
   .
   
7. edit 'main_template_vars.php' (in /includes/modules/pages/product_info/)
   around line 46 you find the variable $sql set. like in step 3.2 add the new rows with a 'p.' in front just before the 'from'
   select ......., p.products_guarantee, p.products_color from ....
   .
8. last step: display the new infos
   edit 'tpl_product_info_display.php' (in /includes/templates/template_default/templates/)
   now, wherever you want, you can add to the html:
   <?php echo $product_info->fields['products_guarantee']; ?> and <?php echo $product_info->fields['products_color']; ?>

enjoy!


ps: now i'm feeling really ############ up : P




written by chris at linuxuser.at

[bunyip]

Personally, I prefer to put new product properties into a separate table rather than the products table - you never know when the core code is going to change and perhaps encounter problems if you've added extra fields to a table (ever have a mysql error telling you the column count doesn't match?). It's a little more work to achieve the same result, but could save lots of time bug-hunting in the future.

[earmsby]

That's a really good point. I added a new field as described above but may go back at some point (in my copious free time - ha!) and change it to a separate table.

[roblaw]

I would like to make the output conditional upon a value being present in the DB. Could you expand on your PHP a little bit. I am having a little trouble with the logic.

Guarantee: <?php echo $product_info->fields['products_guarantee']; ?>
Color: <?php echo $product_info->fields['products_color']; ?>

I would only like this to display if a value is present. I can't seem to come up with a conditional statement that works properly.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[crazy_chris]

Guarantee:

<?php if (!empty($product_info->fields['products_guarantee'])) echo $product_info->fields['products_guarantee']; ?>

[roblaw]

Crazy Chris,

Thanks for the help.

roblaw

[SirBuck]

Guarantee:

<?php if (!empty($product_info->fields['products_guarantee'])) echo $product_info->fields['products_guarantee']; ?>

Very useful! Thanks guys

[magneteye]

Guarantee:

<?php if (!empty($product_info->fields['products_guarantee'])) echo $product_info->fields['products_guarantee']; ?>

This is supposedly only going to output if something exists, but it am placing my items in a list and can't seem to figure out how to make it NOT show the list bullets (and list title) when it is empty. Can anyone help?

EDIT:

I figured it out on my own:

<?php if (!empty($product_info->fields['products_guarantee'])) echo '<li>' . $product_info->fields['products_guarantee'] . '</li>'; ?>

BUT, I can't figure out how to hide the list title if nothing exists in any of my 4 new fields that create the list.


Here's the code as is, and obviously the "Product Features" is always there at this point:

<p><strong>Product Features:</strong></p>

<ul>
<?php if (!empty($product_info->fields['products_feature1'])) echo '<li>' . $product_info->fields['products_feature1'] . '</li>'; ?>
<?php if (!empty($product_info->fields['products_feature2'])) echo '<li>' . $product_info->fields['products_feature2'] . '</li>'; ?>
<?php if (!empty($product_info->fields['products_feature3'])) echo '<li>' . $product_info->fields['products_feature3'] . '</li>'; ?>
<?php if (!empty($product_info->fields['products_feature4'])) echo '<li>' . $product_info->fields['products_feature4'] . '</li>'; ?>
</ul>

[lindasdd]

Guarantee:

<?php if (!empty($product_info->fields['products_guarantee'])) echo $product_info->fields['products_guarantee']; ?>

I personally had to change !empty to !is_null since I sometimes want "0" values to display and the new PHP considers "0" to be the same as empty.

-lindasdd

[johnlewisdesign]

That's a really good point. I added a new field as described above but may go back at some point (in my copious free time - ha!) and change it to a separate table.

There's a long thread here so apologies if its been said - but here's a thing - if its in a separate table then it is inaccessible using Apsona ShopAdmin as an import column. Therefore it should really be personal preference, as I now HAVE to add to the main db to get my clients old shop migrated (some fields are missing).

Great work - it saved my bacon!