Stocks by attributes

[the44chris]

Thanks again for the reply limelites,

My main problem with the current setup is that you cannot display the quantity in stock of a particular attribute, rather, it adds up stock from all of the attributes and displays that total, which is almost useless in my opinion.

I thought of creating a table that displays the stock of each individual attribute combination so that a company can login and immediately see if we have available stock of that particular combination without the need of entering it into the cart to see if it's in stock.

The chart could also be used by the company selling the product to a customer to recommend a smaller size or different color if the desired size and color is out of stock with all of the information in front of them.

I think displaying something like this would be easier than figuring out how to update that Qty display you are referring to to show specific stock of a combination of attributes. I was hoping to just create a "select * from... echo...while blah blah" command right after the unordered list that appears on the product page.

Thanks

[DivaVocals]

I am using the "Stock by Attributes v4.7 (MULTIADD)". My client is using the product variant feature to track inventory as she has products with multiple combinations of attributes to track stock for.
For example:
size=S color=Pink -- Qty in stock = 3
size=M color=Pink -- Qty in stock = 5

This mod is is working JUST FINE for her.. However, it would be nice to refine the customer's experience just a little.

I've read through this whole thread and the other "Stock by Attributes" thread as well, and I have ONE question. I have seen several posted solutions to NOT display attributes when there is no available stock for that ONE attribute, and I have seen a few solutions to display the quantities of available stock for individual attribute.

What I do NOT see (and need to confirm that it does not in fact exist) is a way to apply this sort of logic to product variants. I would like for example to not allow the customer to add a particular product variant to the cart at all if it is not in stock.

Currently I have the following settings under Configuration > Stock:

Check stock level = true
Subtract stock = true
Allow Checkout = false
Mark product out of stock = ***
Stock Re-order level = 5
Show available stock level in cart when less than order = true
Products status in Catalog when out of stock should be set to = 0
Show Sold Out Image in place of Add to Cart = 1

Now this works OKAY to notify customers that the product variant they requested is out of stock or let's them know how many are in stock if they selected more than what's available. However, the customer doesn't know this until after they add the product variant to their cart.

It would be nice to notify the customer before they add the product to their cart. Did I miss this?? Has someone already posted a solution that allows me to prevent a variant from being added to the cart or better yet lets the customer know before they click "Add to Cart" that the variant they want is not in stock.

[DivaVocals]

Just another thought.. Is there a way to display on the product details page what the administrator sees in "Stock by Attributes" admin. In other words, is there a way to display the available variants shown in the admin section?? (in a grid or tabular format would be ideal) Then one could choose whether or not to display ALL variants or only the ones in stock currently.

For example: Here's what I see for one particular product.
Length: 16"
Size: 3.5" x 4"
Texture: Kinky Straight
Quantity Available = 0

Length: 18"
Size: 3.5" x 4"
Texture: Kinky Straight
Quantity Available = 0

Length: 16"
Size: 3.5" x 4"
Texture: Fresh Relaxed
Quantity Available = 0

Length: 18"
Size: 3.5" x 4"
Texture: Fresh Relaxed
Quantity Available = 0

Length: 16"
Size: 3.5" x 4"
Texture: Fresh Relaxed X^2
Quantity Available = 0

Length: 18"
Size: 3.5" x 4"
Texture: Fresh Relaxed X^2
Quantity Available = 0

Length: 16"
Size: 3.5" x 4"
Texture: Straight
Quantity Available = 0

[DivaVocals]

My main problem with the current setup is that you cannot display the quantity in stock of a particular attribute, rather, it adds up stock from all of the attributes and displays that total, which is almost useless in my opinion.

I thought of creating a table that displays the stock of each individual attribute combination so that a company can login and immediately see if we have available stock of that particular combination without the need of entering it into the cart to see if it's in stock.

I shoulda read your post a little more carefully.. It looks like you and I are asking for the same thing..

Chris, I'm not sure why you want this, it seems the built in ability to use a drop down menu which lists all the available attributes in the drop down list would be easier for the customer to use and would certainly save space.

That's easy.. When you are tracking your stock by a combination of attributes, the drop down lists displaying the quantity of each attribute won't work as the stock is being tracked by a combination of attributes. (see the example I posted above)

The simplest way to list the attributes would of course be to enter them in the description of the item using an HTML table.

Of course we could create a table for each product, but this is a NIGHTMARE to manage. It is difficult even when you have a few products (let alone the store owners with HUNDREDS or even THOUSANDS of products to manage) all with multiple possible attribute combinations.

How you would get php scripts to generate a list of available attributes and insert them in the description is going to be tricky. Each item would have differently sized lists, different headings too, so where would you put the list exactly?

While I don't know PHP, I don't think that either Chris or I are looking to do anything terribly fancy here.. We can already view what's available for each product variant in the admin, would it really present a technical challenge (for someone who knows how to do this of course..) to include that information on the product details page??

[the44chris]

Diva,

Exactly what I was thinking. An html table in the description would in fact be a nightmare to manage, such is the appeal of a dynamically generated php one.

I think that I could even figure this out with my VERY limited knowledge of php, it would just take me a very long time and I would pretty much be starting only with my knowledge of html.

-Chris

[DivaVocals]

Exactly what I was thinking. An html table in the description would in fact be a nightmare to manage, such is the appeal of a dynamically generated php one.

Absolutely.. While this is not the BEST solution, I do think it's the simplest way to get to what we are seeking.

IMO doing anything else (while desirable) is tantamount to a serious re-write of this add-on. With Zen Cart v2.0 having much more advanced inventory management features, a re-write of this mod would seem to be a bit of a time waster. So for me I'll go for the low hanging fruit.. (especially since it would solve my issue) Exposing the available inventory for products which are tracked by a combo of more than one attribute on the product detail page will solve my problem just fine.. A little CSS magic, and we can make this solution quite nice..

I think that I could even figure this out with my VERY limited knowledge of php, it would just take me a very long time and I would pretty much be starting only with my knowledge of html.

-Chris

I wish I was as confident as you! I know WHAT needs to be done.. I'm just not sure know HOW to do it.. But I'm willing to mess around and see if I get lucky.. If I can't guess at a solution, then I am willing to seek "professional" (AKA paid) assistance..

[the44chris]

Well, what we want to display is basically an exact copy of the sql table "products_with_attributes_stock" with the option name displayed instead of the "stock_attributes" Field. You can see the table through phpMyAdmin.

That info would go into the php file:

tpl_product_info_display.php

located...
/includes/templates/template_default/templates

You can see where the information for the bulleted list after the product description comes from. I would suppose that another php command could just be created right after the closing tag of the "Manufactured By" php command.

Then it is just a matter of getting the syntax correct for displaying mysql information in tabular format using php. Examples can be found everywhere on the internet for this.

That's what I've figured out so far, It's not much. I'll try to do some more work on it later tonight and post any findings I may come across.

-Chris

[DivaVocals]

Dang dude!! You are DEFINITELY braver than me.. I am REALLY thinking that I may need to enlist some PHP help.. to do this.. It would probably take a PHP genius a hot second to do this while I was still futzing around with it..

Well, what we want to display is basically an exact copy of the sql table "products_with_attributes_stock" with the option name displayed instead of the "stock_attributes" Field. You can see the table through phpMyAdmin.

That info would go into the php file:

tpl_product_info_display.php

located...
/includes/templates/template_default/templates

You can see where the information for the bulleted list after the product description comes from. I would suppose that another php command could just be created right after the closing tag of the "Manufactured By" php command.

Then it is just a matter of getting the syntax correct for displaying mysql information in tabular format using php. Examples can be found everywhere on the internet for this.

That's what I've figured out so far, It's not much. I'll try to do some more work on it later tonight and post any findings I may come across.

-Chris

[laurenjj]

Please forgive me if this was answered somewhere in here but more than anything, I just want to know what I'm missing (if anything). I initially installed this mod so that I could make sure that no one added an item that was out of stock, into their shopping cart. The problem (as I believe was noted elsewhere in this thread...or not) is that while a warning comes up when they add the variant to their basket, it still allows the variant to be added...which I don't want...because I don't want to have to send emails to customers explaining why they were allowed to pay for an item that isn't in stock. The only way I have been able to get around this is to not use the mod at all, and rather I just go into the Attribute Controller and set whatever variant it is to 'display only'.

So I assumed the only real reason to use THIS mod was to track inventory for yourself, not really prevent items that are out of stock from being ordered.

The reason why I'm back trying to get it working now is because I'm trying to install the Drop Down Attributes mod and one of the requirements is that the Stock by Attributes mod be installed and working...and that's where I'm stuck.

??
Thanks,
Lauren

[kuroi]

So I assumed the only real reason to use THIS mod was to track inventory for yourself, not really prevent items that are out of stock from being ordered.

If properly installed, then the option to prevent customers from checking out is a key feature of the attribute stock mod. This can be set by tweaking the settings on the Admin > Configuration > Stock page.