How to set up downloadable products?

[QUOTE=Ajeh]Creating a Product with a Download ...

To prepare to use Downloads ... you must first build some Option Names and Option Values that will be used to make the Attributes for the Download ...

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Hi folks.

I have found this thread to be very useful as I have gone through and set up my downloadable ebooks in my Zen Cart. However, I just noticed in my attributes controller that I have an "invalid filename" icon next to ALL of my files for downloading.

I went back through Ajeh/Linda's post here, and followed it step by step, and I still have "invalid" file name icons.

At first I assumed it may be because I was using .pdf file formats, but I converted them to zip files, and they still are listed as "invalid". I also attempted to purchase the "test.zip" file, and it also didn't work.

What am I missing, wise ones?

Thanks in advance!

What directory are you loading the Download file to?

What is the exact name that you see if you hit edit on the Attribute for the Download?

No spaces ...
No extra periods ...
No special characters ...
No subdirectories ...

Thanks, I think my problem was in how I typed in my file names. I was putting the whole path in there (/bookstore/download/filename.pdf) instead of just the name(filename.pdf).

Thanks for your help! :smile:

Hi there,
I've been able to add downloadable pictures to my Zen Cart, thanks to this thread.
But I'm not able to add a picture with different print sizes and with an option to download. If I try this, one gets to see the different options for print sizes and additionally a radiobutton for download which is always checked. So if someone orders a print he/she orders a download too. This means that for each picture I have to make two items : one item is a print in different sizes, the other is the download version. Or does anyone knows a solution?

Kind regards,
Eric

Can someone tell me what options I should use for the following when I am setting up downloads?

Product is Virtual:

Always Free Shipping:

Product Qty Minimum:
Product Qty Maximum:
Product Qty Units:
Product Qty Min/Unit Mix:

Also, how do I set downloads to pending until payment?

Thanks

I'm having a problem with the product quantities. I've got everything set up right (I think) according to scannermans post (#13) on page 2 of this thread. But when I go to add the product to the cart, it says it's out of stock. I have it set to a quantity of 1 with the
min value of 1
max value of 1
product quantity units of 1

Here is the product I'm talking about: http://store.tangleonline.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4_31&products_id=23

would the product being free have anything to do with this?

Thanks for the help, this is all so foreign to me.

btw: the product is not marked as virtual.

I figured out what my problem was, I have Products with Attributes (That I still can't get to display the quantities on the products page, but that's another issue all together) installed and in that area the quantity was set to 0. When I set it to 1 I was able to complete the checkout.

Now the problem is that it's removing the item from stock. Ideas?

Check your Stock settings ...

If this is a Download make sure that you did not mark the Product as a Virtual Product ...

Downloads are NOT Virtual Products, they are Downloads ... they will not use a Shipping Address by default ... you do not mark them to not use the Shipping ...

Thanks for the quick response Linda.

The settings are:

Product is Virtual: No, Shipping Address Required

Always Free Shipping: No, Normal Shipping Rules

Products Quantity Box Shows: No, Do not show Quantity Box

It's not a huge deal because I just set the quantity to 100 and I'll just keep an eye on it, but it is sort of baffling.

Make sure the download has a green dot next to it on the filename in the attributes ...

And make sure the attribute is selected on the Product ...

yep and yep

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

Downloads are not removed from stock ...

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

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

Ajeh:

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/showpost.php?p=287964&postcount=2

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

Yes, I did search for the answer :yes:

Thx!

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

Ajeh:

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>

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 ...

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>

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

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