Display two products with attributes on one page

I am using Zen Cart for the first time for a relatively simple conference registration form. I am comfortable customizing php and css. But I am having trouble with zen cart logic regarding display of products.

For the registration "product" there are a few "options" registrants can select which have no addl charge so I have made them "attributes" assigned to the registration "product". For instance member/non-member.

The only other "product" is the option to buy extra meal tickets. So I have only 2 products, one with attributes.

I would like to display both products AND the attributes for the one product on one page to make it easier for the user to pick everything at once. I have spent hours searching for a way to display these products in this way. I have downloaded the column grid layout addon but I don't think it is going to allow me to display the attributes on the same page as the product "list", which is all I want a solution for.

As far as database/form logic, I do not see why a product with attributes could not be displayed (with its attributes) on the same page as another product, with add to cart boxes for each product.

Do I have to make these "options" into "products" with no price and no add to cart, so they can all be displayed on one page?

This is the only hitch keeping me from finishing up this "cart".

Test page, not yet formatted, with only the registration "product" is at:
http://www.westpac-ptg.org/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65_66&products_id=180&zenid=022ovrd4r1e7m3crl1sl3kojt2

This page is not ready to be live yet so excuse the dust.

Barb

the option to buy extra meal tickets. So I have only 2 products
Have you considered adding to the registration - - the option of buying additional meal tickets

Added as attributes to your registration product

kobra:

Have you considered adding to the registration - - the option of buying additional meal tickets

Added as attributes to your registration product

That would solve one problem, but possibly create another. It's possible that a user would register and then later go in to buy an extra banquet ticket. If it's an attribute, it wouldn't be possible to buy the meal separately.

This was a problem for a similar conference last year. However, I think the folks running this conference would probably be OK with the "all or nothing" approach. So maybe I'll try it.

But are you saying that altho it's possible to list multiple products with their "add number of" boxes in a column on the same page, it is not possible in zen cart land to display the attributes in that layout? That seems totally weird to me.

Attributes potentially take a lot of processing, and if a listing page had fifty products each with a dozen attributes, it could easily bog down the system. And, of course, the attribute handling system was written to work in the product info page. Some people have done the recoding to make attributes work in the listing page; search the forum to find discussions.

Having the meal tickets as attributes does not preclude you from also having them as a separate product, useable for those who have particular needs.

But are you saying that altho it's possible to list multiple products with their "add number of" boxes in a column on the same page
I do not recall stating this
it is not possible in zen cart land to display the attributes in that layout?
I also do not recall stating this

kobra:

I do not recall stating this

I also do not recall stating this

Sorry. You are right. You didn't say it. Since I know you're an experienced user, and you didn't offer a WAY to do it, I jumped to the conclusion that it was not do-able without me knowing programming that I don't know. What I meant to say was that I am surprised that this is not a feature that enough other people had requested that there was a ready method for accomplishing it.

What I've found with other open source software is that I am never the first person to have a problem or not understand something - that other people have already asked my question and usually it has been addressed by someone. That's what user forums are all about!

Thanks for the suggestion to make the banquet ticket an attribute. I'll run with that first. If somebody asks for it to also be available separately, I'll add it as a product. The issue then becomes one of user-friendliness. I'm really big on making websites that are very easy to use, and I would want to figure out a way to not confuse people by offering the extra banquet ticket on what will be "page 1" of this reg process (as an attribute), and then also have it show up on some page. Since I am really really new to zen cart, I'm having trouble figuring out how to control various things. But I can probably make it workable.

I'll add it as a product....
I would want to figure out a way to not confuse people by offering the extra banquet ticket
I would also add it as a separate product with an appropriate description

Since you only have one or two products, you have no need for category navigation, so you can hide all of that. You should have your products in a category or two, though, for conformance with the way Zen Cart is designed to work. If the registration is the only product in its category, and you set in admin > Configuration > Layout Settings >
Categories - Always Show on Main Page
Main Page - Opens with Category (set to the registration category)
Skip 1-prod Categories (true)

you will see the registration on the home page. You can then make an ez-page internal link that you can set in header, footer or sidebox to lead to the individual meal tickets. Text can be customized as required.

See my festival site in my sig for an example of extensive ez-page linking to get to products. Most of the main site pages are ez-pages, with a few product/category pages accessible from the appropriate ez-pages.

Thanks for the response. I already did turn off categories and all that. I figured that much out. If you go to the link I put in my first post you'll see where I expect users to start. It is actually NOT the "main page" in zen cart's world because that page has two products on it and forces the user to go thru that extra page to get to where I want them - the page with the registration product. So I plan to just have a link to the registration product page. I assume the session ID will still get set by zen cart, no matter what page the user starts on?

What I see on your site on the Passports page is a list of products. I get that, altho I think I would have to use the grid mod to get that layout. My problem is that I want to display two products on one page, but one of the products has attributes and apparently zen cart will not display the attributes in that "product row" layout. User has to drill down into the product page to fill out attributes.

I do not understand how "ez pages" are different from any other pages so I have not tinkered with them. I'm having enough trouble figuring out what all the toggles and other settings are.

I am thinking now that a simple optional link to the other product page (in other words, user does not have to follow that link) would solve my problem.

Process would be:

user starts on the page with registration product AND attributes
choices are: fill out the registration stuff and go directly to payment or fill out registration, click link to second product and add that, then go to payment.

I just think it's user-unfriendly to make the user go thru an extra page just to buy a second product.

The other option I can think of would be to create some free "products", but that seems convoluted to me. I am already working around zen cart by adding "attributes" like registrant name (because the registrant name could be different from the name on the credit card). It's the only way I can find to have zen cart pass this info thru.

I will keep thinking.

If I misunderstood what you were trying to show me, let me know.

I have other seemingly simple questions that I can't find answers to by searching or googling, but they are not on this specific topic.

You have both products in one category, so you cannot get just the registration product on the home page. Move each product to its own category and make the settings described in post 8 above, and you will get the registration on the home page.

However, I see that you have a home page that does not have space for registration. Do you want to keep that as is, or change it to include the registration?

Your top nav looks customized... how did you add the various links to it? Did it come with your template? There are ways to add a link directly to the registration product, and to get to the extra banquet ticket if needed. I would definitely suggest adding the banquet as an option in the registration, simplifying the add to cart. You can still have the stand-alone banquet ticket too.

Okay, I see that your whole site except the actual registration is not Zen Cart, but apparently flat HTML pages with SSI. I also see that you have used CSS in the Zen Cart portion to hide things like the right sidebar and the ez-pages header menu, which can better be turned off in admin. Or you could have used the menu to replicate the "top nav" from the main site and make the exact links you want without custom coding.