Customizing Product Description Text Formatting on Category Page

[gjh42]

Changing

.productDescNoList, .productDesc1, .productDesc2 { display: none; }

to

.productDescNoList, .productDesc1, .productDesc2 { display: block; }

negates the purpose of this declaration, and does make

#productListing .productDescNoList {
display: none;
}

required. Actually, since in your case .productDescNoList in the listing page is the only item that wants to be turned off, the code can be simplified by just eliminating

.productDescNoList, .productDesc1, .productDesc2 { display: block; }

as it serves no purpose.


And yes, table design is very much deprecated these days. They are still appropriate for displaying tabular data, but for page layout, divs and CSS are more flexible and powerful and assist in making comprehensible code that can be displayed equally well in many different circumstances.

[Andy McG]

That's what I'd been hearing more and more.
My trade is originally photography and image manipulation/retouching.
However, as the market changes so must I and I've found increasing demand for web site design and building.
So, it seems that I must tackle the CSS and divs minefield if I'm to survive!
Cheers.

[Relentless]

Re: Customizing Product Description

Is this new in development mod,
if I understand it, able to, add a long product description,
10 or 15 lines, on Add to Cart page, below add to cart box,
and product(s) in cart display.
---------
Does it have the ability to, work with TinyMCE, (edit) html .
---------
I have seen this in some sites using tables,
I would prefer css, with this product description
---------
Also thank you again for Category Dressing Mod,
it worked with no issues.

[gjh42]

The multiple description code by itself only deals with getting different descriptions in product listing and product info pages, and different pieces of description in different places in the info page. Any styling for the listing page is a separate issue. If I understand your desire, you may want to check out a commented-out section of code in (I think) product_listing.php which gives the full-width description below the rest, like the all listing.

I don't use HTML editors, so can't say anything about this question. Experiment on something unimportant and see.

You can do as much CSS styling of the descriptions as you want, and you can use tables where appropriate.

THis mod deals with individual product descriptions, not a group item placed outside the normal listing.

[what44]

hi Glenn

ive read through this post and am a bit lost. hope u can help me. i just wanna b abe to use html inthe product description field. thats all.

canu help me? i hope so.

cheers

simon

[gjh42]

In /includes/modules/product_listing.php, find this section

        case 'PRODUCT_LIST_NAME':
        $lc_align = '';
        if (isset($_GET['manufacturers_id'])) {
          $lc_text = '<h3 class="itemTitle"><a href="' . zen_href_link(zen_get_info_page($listing->fields['products_id']), 'products_id=' . $listing->fields['products_id']) . '">' . $listing->fields['products_name'] . '</a></h3><div class="listingDescription">' . zen_trunc_string(zen_clean_html(stripslashes(zen_get_products_description($listing->fields['products_id'], $_SESSION['languages_id']))), PRODUCT_LIST_DESCRIPTION) . '</div>' ;
        } else {
          $lc_text = '<h3 class="itemTitle"><a href="' . zen_href_link(zen_get_info_page($listing->fields['products_id']), ($_GET['cPath'] > 0 ? 'cPath=' . $_GET['cPath'] . '&' : '') . 'products_id=' . $listing->fields['products_id']) . '">' . $listing->fields['products_name'] . '</a></h3><div class="listingDescription">' . zen_trunc_string(zen_clean_html(stripslashes(zen_get_products_description($listing->fields['products_id'], $_SESSION['languages_id']))), PRODUCT_LIST_DESCRIPTION) . '</div>';
        }
        break; 

and comment out the
zen_clean_html
like this
/*zen_clean_html*/
in two places to get

        case 'PRODUCT_LIST_NAME':
        $lc_align = '';
        if (isset($_GET['manufacturers_id'])) {
          $lc_text = '<h3 class="itemTitle"><a href="' . zen_href_link(zen_get_info_page($listing->fields['products_id']), 'products_id=' . $listing->fields['products_id']) . '">' . $listing->fields['products_name'] . '</a></h3><div class="listingDescription">' . zen_trunc_string(/*zen_clean_html*/(stripslashes(zen_get_products_description($listing->fields['products_id'], $_SESSION['languages_id']))), PRODUCT_LIST_DESCRIPTION) . '</div>' ;
        } else {
          $lc_text = '<h3 class="itemTitle"><a href="' . zen_href_link(zen_get_info_page($listing->fields['products_id']), ($_GET['cPath'] > 0 ? 'cPath=' . $_GET['cPath'] . '&' : '') . 'products_id=' . $listing->fields['products_id']) . '">' . $listing->fields['products_name'] . '</a></h3><div class="listingDescription">' . zen_trunc_string(/*zen_clean_html*/(stripslashes(zen_get_products_description($listing->fields['products_id'], $_SESSION['languages_id']))), PRODUCT_LIST_DESCRIPTION) . '</div>';
        }
        break; 

Save as /includes/modules/your_template/product_listing.php.

[netiskiv]

Hi,

Your explanation sounds perfect for the CSS approach.

I am working on search engine optimization for a merchant that already has Zen cart installed. I am worried about hiding text, though using a perfectly clean CSS solution. Google in its answer to this question targets as well CSS technics.

As my client has already lost many visitors after adopting zen cart, I don't feel so confident with display none.

I am a Miva and perl developer not so skill in PHP. Buth I would think to modify the PHP template to get the same result: taking or not taking piece A or piece B or Piece A+B from the product description, to feed the listing and the product info page distinctly.

Would this be possible?

[gjh42]

Yes, it would be possible without additional database fields.

The cutting product descriptions manually (for listings) thread describes a way to select a breakpoint in the description text. This could be duplicated as many times as needed with *more1*, *more2*, etc, and the text before and after the desired segment stripped off using the PHP strstr(), strpos() and/or str_replace() functions at each display location.

You say "Google in its answer to this question targets as well CSS technics." Where did you hear this? And what techniques are targeted?

[xshaanx]

how do i add products info like that just like the it is n image

demo:http://www.alamodeonline.com/productinfo_OT704.html

[xshaanx]

anyone knows how to do that at all