Category with products - Way of adding sub-categories?

I know (I think I have this right :lookaroun )that it isn't possible to include both sub-categories and individual products at the same time on one level. But my client has asked me about something along these lines which I guess there will be no solution for but if there is I would really appreciate any help with it:

He has created a large list of products under a sub-category with all their details included. He has now decided it would be better to divide these products into another group of sub-categories. Is there any way he can do this without having to delete all those he has uploaded so far?

The only way I can see of this being done is if he were to delete every product in that sub-category and then instead put in another batch of 'sub-sub-categories' and then put in all the data again for these products. Is that the case??

He has bought Easy Populate but unfortunately had not started to use it yet as he is waiting on a call from someone for support - I guess with it he could have just uploaded all the info at once to the new right place.

Any way - if there is a way around this, I'd love to find out for him!

Many thanks

Stuart

Easy Populate (EP) is probably the most practical solution here, but he must work very methodically.

Can I first ask, Do the products have lots of ATTRIBUTES associated with them (eg: different size, colours, etc)? If so, what, in your opinion, is the degree of complexity of the attributes?

When this question is answered, I'll give an outline of the procedure.

I wrote a guide for Easy Populate in the WIKI...

http://www.zen-cart.com/wiki/index.php/Easy_Populate

If you need some specific ideas, PM me.

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly guys.

The products don't have a lot in terms of attributes - he is selling plants and bulbs so each one only has the name, price and image (postage is free so there's no mention of P&P or weight or anything like that).

THanks for the link to the Easy Populate guide - I'm nmot sure what the situation is with that - I did recommend to him that he used it as he is talking about putting up around 1500 products which would be a nightmare of a task to do individualy but I think he must have set up to have a kind of phone tuition with someone about using it so has decided not to attempt until that happens in case things go wrong. But I will email him the link to that tutorial which will hopefully help him to get started.

Stuart

skyegospel:

The products don't have a lot in terms of attributes - he is selling plants and bulbs so each one only has the name, price and image (postage is free so there's no mention of P&P or weight or anything like that).

Stuart, what I mean by ATTRIBUTES refers to the Zencart interpretation of attributes.

ATTRIBUTES in zencart are configured when you have a specific product, that has several alternative purchase options.

For example, if I sell T-Shirts, I can have a single style that comes in Small, Medium and Large. I can also have different colours, Green, Red, Yellow, Blue.

So, for a single product "Golf Shirt", a customer can select a SIZE and a COLOUR from the various attributes I create and apply to that product.

From what you say, I assume your client has not got any products that use the attributes system?

If I am right, your task is a hell of a lot easier!

There is a way round this without using easypopulate, but it is a bit tedious and time-consuming.

However, if there are not that many products under consideration, it will probably take as much time to do it this way, than it will with EP.

You can use the MOVE PRODUCT feature in the product management console in ADMIN.

First, create a new category called "Transfer". This will have to be done at a "level" in your category/product tree where only categories exist, so a adding a new category is permitted.

Then, navigate to the products you need to move, and on each one, use the PURPLE "M" button to MOVE that product out of its current category, to the TRANSFER category you just created.

When your sub-category level is clear of all products (because they have all been MOVED to "transfer" category), you will be able to create new sub-sub-categories where the products once existed.

Then, it's a process of using MOVE again, where this time, the products are MOVED from "Transfer" back into their new sub-sub-categories.

When done, delete "transfer" category.

Great - thanks for that. He has done that and it worked perfectly.

:bigups:

Stuart