Invisible Attributes

[soxophoneplayer]

zc 1.5.5a, SbyA, Responsive Sheffield Blue, many mods

I have a lot of one-off products. As a crude way of sorting, I copy the product listing into other categories where they 'fit'. Example - a pair of artisan knit socks might be in Category Jazzy Socks, sub-category Medium, but may also be copied to Category Merino Socks, or Knee Socks, or both. This was fine until my inventory started growing. Now someone looking for a Medium Merino sock will have to scroll through pages of Medium Socks made from many fibers, or scroll through many pages of Merino socks looking for correct size. Yet because each is a one-off, I can't see how to assign an attribute selection.

I've fiddled a bit with Dynamic Filters and IF I can get that to work properly with my zc 1.5.5a and my template (or another template) I wonder:

Is it possible to assign 'read only' attributes to be somehow invisible on the product page, but still get picked up by the filters mod or similar type mod? In that scenario I wonder if I could drop the extra categories that I copy the listings to and just work with a well filtered master category or possibly the master category plus the 'Size' sub categories (which is where I currently create new product listings).

I hesitated to put this question in SbyA because as one-offs there is no stock control - either is visible and for sale, or sold and no longer visible. I have other product types that I do use SbyA with since my zc 1.3.7 days - which is what got me wondering if I can do as asked above. (Or open to other suggestions for managing one-off products that take to long for visitors to scroll through.

[Design75]

You could make your read only attribute invisible, by adding some css. Set the css to display:none;

[mc12345678]

Further, the current version of SBA (SbyA) supports Read-Only attributes and will allow the use of stock quantity display if the product has only one otherwise selectable attribute. This means that you can use the css hide described by Design75 and still display remaining quantity if so desired. If the product has more than one otherwise selectable attribute where typically Dynamic Dropdowns would be used, unfortunately at this time the features added by Dynamic Dropdowns will be disabled, though the stock quantity tracking will continue to function just not be displayed in line with the last selectable attribute.

[soxophoneplayer]

Further, the current version of SBA (SbyA) supports Read-Only attributes and will allow the use of stock quantity display if the product has only one otherwise selectable attribute. This means that you can use the css hide described by Design75 and still display remaining quantity if so desired. If the product has more than one otherwise selectable attribute where typically Dynamic Dropdowns would be used, unfortunately at this time the features added by Dynamic Dropdowns will be disabled, though the stock quantity tracking will continue to function just not be displayed in line with the last selectable attribute.

This is looking promising.

I have a few products that I use size/colour multiple select in one category. If I turn that category off, and add read only attributes to new products in a test category, (with quantity one or more than one) then run optional SbyA read only sql script, everything works. If I turn multi attribute category back on, both types work on storefront, even when adding product from each type into cart. If, however, I edit a read-only attrib product in admin, the attributes are lost/cannot be regained by Dynamic Filter with or without rerunning the optional read only sql and with or without turning the multi select category off and on. (they still show in admin but not storefront). So its a bit wonky trying to get multi-select and read only to play nice, but this isn't a big deal in the scheme of things. It wouldn't be such a chore to split the multi-select products into several single attribute + read only products.

It seems the 'invisible attribute' aspect may not even be necessary - they appear in the Add to Cart box - the css could be cleaned up a little as option name is padded, and maybe a little space between name and value.

Sample from product test page:



The Dynamic Filter seems to be working fine in these circumstances using SbyA (github vs downloaded June 3 2016) with zc 1.5.5a and with Responsive Sheffield Blue template adapted to zc 1.5.5a.

(This is all still on test site. Live site using SbyA 4.7 and no Dynamic Filters)

[mc12345678]

Sounds like a lot going on in particular where a product already has an SBA variant entry and then a change is made that affects the grouping of attributes to that variant such as using a different option name or option value not just modifying the text of the existing option item.

Haven't yet tried out DF with SBA as still trying to get/keep operation while incorporating some other features. Dynamic Dropdowns needs a relatively major overhaul to play better with the display of attributes and applicable html tags. But it was something that potteryhouse had noted to take a look into and is definitely still on the plate to do. It's good to hear that it does play well, though still trying to figure out which pieces and parts are associated with SBA and which are DF. :)