How to set up downloadable products?

[ps*]

yep and yep

It totally works to buy the file and download it, it just removes it from the stock.

[Ajeh]

Downloads are not removed from stock ...

Check to see if you have the Product marked as Product is Virtual YES and change to NO ...

[jensderknipser]

Hi dear zenners, hello Linda,

for a special reason (partnership) I would have to realize an external downloadlink instead of pointing the downloads to the folder 'download'. (so i.e. I have to write 'http://www.xy-domain.com/somewhat/my_download.zip' instead of just 'my_download.zip') As the attribute-manager doesn't support this, does anybody has an idea for a workaround? (actually working on 1.3.5)

Thanks to all,

jens

[andrabr]

Check to see if you have the Product marked as Product is Virtual YES and change to NO ...

NOW I am confused. This seems to contradict what Dr. Byte said here: http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showpo...64&postcount=2

What is the difference between "downloads" and "virtual products"?

Yes, I did search for the answer

Thx!

[Ajeh]

Virtual Product is a loose term ...

While Downloads are "Virtual Products" they should be marked as:

Product is Virtual: NO

Always Free Shipping: No, Normal Shipping Rules

The Downloads already "know" that they are Virtual and do not need additional help ...

The only time a Download needs an extra setting is when it is a Combination Product which means the Product is both a Download and a Product at the same time ... as in, the customer will receive both a Download and recieve something Physical ...

Then you would use the setting:
Always Free Shipping: Special, Product/Download Combo Requires a Shipping Address

[andrabr]

Virtual Product is a loose term ...


The Downloads already "know" that they are Virtual and do not need additional help ...

Thank You!
While we are on the topic, what exactly (in Zen universe) is a "Virtual Product"?

Is it something with endless supply and no shipping charges? Like love?
A service ( like "protection" payment to mafia)?

If you have a definitive answer, this one belongs in the FAQ.

Many many thanks in advance

A>

[Ajeh]

A Virtual Product is a Gift Certificate ... or a Service or something that does not get mailed or downloaded by the customer ...

There is no shipping on a Virtual Product as it is not "real" ... but there is a change of money ...

Gift Certificates use this setting plus one other setting to make them unique which is the products_model where the Model must begin with GIFT in all CAPS ... plus be marked as a Virtual Product ...

Services, while they cost money, do not need to be sent to the customer so they do not need a shipping address, in many cases ...

Many Memberships are another one where you do not need to send a shipment to the customer ...

Downloads while not a physical thing to ship are a physical thing to download ... and they are detected as such by virtue of having the download on the attribute ... so they are magically computed as no shipping required ...

Some Virtual Products do need shipping ... a Memembership with a card to be mailed to the customer ... so that is not really Virtual ... but maybe you do not charge anything for this for shipping ... so it would be an Always Free Shipping product or a 0 weight product where 0 weight means Free shipping ...

Or, if you charge a minimum fee for the shipping that is handled by most of the shipping modules such as UPS and USPS as neither take a 0 lb shipping package ... and the code is set to send at least 0.10 to get a quote ...

[andrabr]

Thank you, Linda!
You are the best!

Some day, when you are re-designing downloadable product modules, you may want to make them Virtual, just to avoid the confusion ;-)

A>

[Ajeh]

Believe me ... the thought has crossed my mind to re-code all of that logic or do something with it to avoid this confusion ...

[dbrewster]

I find options and attributes (including downloadable products) to be the most confusing part of ZC admin. They are very powerful, but for most users, the underlying logic is not obvious, thus these generate lots of questions on the forums. (see book "The Inmates are Running the Asylum" but -- some programmers are offended -- please don't be offended, I'm not at all hostile to programmers and their suffering! I'm married to one! Everyone has used interfaces that are confusing to users and make sense only if you understand the underlying logic.)

The underlying logic may be sound, but the interface is confusing.

There are user-centric ways of redesigning this interface, that might bear exploration, and could greatly reduce support time for you guys. Maybe some ZC users have some ideas about what such an interface might look like, and how the interactions in setting up product attributes might flow.

---Diana