Problem with Sale Maker not placing all products in category on sale

We are in the process of migrating from 1.5.1 (PROD) to 1.5.6c (TEST). On PROD if we go into Sale Maker and select a category of products, all of them will go on sale at the reduced rate. However, if we do the same thing on TEST, only random products in the category go on sale.

This is very puzzling, and we haven't found anything on the forum to help us resolve the problem.

bowerstech:

We are in the process of migrating from 1.5.1 (PROD) to 1.5.6c (TEST). On PROD if we go into Sale Maker and select a category of products, all of them will go on sale at the reduced rate. However, if we do the same thing on TEST, only random products in the category go on sale.

This is very puzzling, and we haven't found anything on the forum to help us resolve the problem.
Salemaker places product on sale if the master_categories_id of the product is the same or a child of the category. For product that are linked, if their master_categories_id doesn't follow the above, then that product will not be put on sale.

To see the master_categories_id of a product, go into edit the product and look in the upper left corner. For linked product or if the product has "lost" it's master_categories_id assignment, there will be a dropdown allowing modification of the master category.

Of course the cause of this difference between stores is intriguing, but there are a number of possible reasons.

mc12345678:

Salemaker places product on sale if the master_categories_id of the product is the same or a child of the category. For product that are linked, if their master_categories_id doesn't follow the above, then that product will not be put on sale.

To see the master_categories_id of a product, go into edit the product and look in the upper left corner. For linked product or if the product has "lost" it's master_categories_id assignment, there will be a dropdown allowing modification of the master category.

Of course the cause of this difference between stores is intriguing, but there are a number of possible reasons.

Thank you for explaining that. It is actually pulling all products from the master categories id AND one other category id that doesn't match the master categories id...which is so odd. Either way, I don't think the Salemaker will work for me then, because every single product in my catalog is linked to another product...and if it is linked to another product, then it will never have the same master category id. Is there another mod, or way for me to put just a category on sale, no matter if the category has linked products or not? I need that feature because I like to have seasonal sales, for example...for Valentine's Day, I would like to just put Valentine products on sale...for Christmas, I would like to just put Christmas products on sale, etc. However, all of my products are linked. I have WAY too many products to go in and manipulate each one individually. It would be awesome to just be able to click a category (no matter if it has linked products, or not) and put just that single category on sale. I'm hoping there is a way to do this. :)

bowerstech:

Thank you for explaining that. It is actually pulling all products from the master categories id AND one other category id that doesn't match the master categories id...which is so odd. Either way, I don't think the Salemaker will work for me then, because every single product in my catalog is linked to another product...and if it is linked to another product, then it will never have the same master category id. Is there another mod, or way for me to put just a category on sale, no matter if the category has linked products or not? I need that feature because I like to have seasonal sales, for example...for Valentine's Day, I would like to just put Valentine products on sale...for Christmas, I would like to just put Christmas products on sale, etc. However, all of my products are linked. I have WAY too many products to go in and manipulate each one individually. It would be awesome to just be able to click a category (no matter if it has linked products, or not) and put just that single category on sale. I'm hoping there is a way to do this. :)

So, here is where you have to engage your noodle.

A product can be linked to any, all or no categories. The sale applies to the product that have claimed a category as "home". That category can be changed. Every product must have a master category, although once a category exists, basically no product should have the master category of 0. There are some design considerations for Zen Cart such that no product should exist in a category that has a sub-category. A product that has a master category of 0 is a product in the root of the store and not in a sub-category.

Anyways, if you create your "christmas" category, and then disable the category, you will have a category available to be populated. Then you assign/reassign the necessary product to have a master category of Christmas and you link it to wherever you want it to be shown.

Now, when Christmas comes along you set your sale price/modification to your Christmas category, and every product assigned specifically to Christmas will go on sale no matter where it is placed.

As far as doing so in bulk, there are a few programs that will allow you to modify data within a spreadsheet that can then be uploaded in builk. For modifications of say just a single column or as many as supported in your store, I would suggest EasyPopulate V4.

To accomplish your bulk master category shift/change, I personally would do the following:
Export all product,
For a product that is to be given a new master categories id, i would move the row with that category before any category for that product, assign it a status of 7. This status value will make the category of the current row the master category for that product. Each of the additional rows that follow for that product will be processed as if no previous row was provided. There is some logic that is followed such that if a product is given a category that is not the master category then testing will be done to see if a link should be made for that product and that category. If the content in that row is different than what is in the database, then the modified content will be updated.

The reason to put that row at the "top" is that when assigning the product to that master category it removes the product from its previous master category. Therefore to keep it in that category the product needs to be listed as if it is to be imported. That can be done with as little as the primary key column, the category column and the status column. Otherwise you could arrange to export just the single item export to include the master categories id and on import assign a different master category id provided the product is already in that category.

Wow, thank you so much for helping us with this. We had to read it twice, and now understand.