Can this be done with Product Type?

I have a candle site that I am working on that has a large list of scents. I've been looking at approaching this from a couple of different angles without hacking the cart code itself. There are only two actual base types of candles/three sizes. Each candle one can come in over 10 different scents (and she is adding more). I don't want to use attributes - as the store owner wants their customers to easliy mix and match scents so I'm trying to avoid the need of the products_detail page.

So I'm planning on two main categories for candle types, three subcategories for candle size and then under each subcategory list - listing the scent as an individual product. I would use short descriptions so that the customer could easily run down the list - and choose 3 of these 5 of those etc and add to cart.

My question is - since these scents are consistent along with their descriptions and she is now going to be adding other products using the same scents - is it possible to create within the product add area a drop down menu where she could just choose the scent for that product and then have it automatically display that description in lieu of typing in a product description.

I immediately thought of product types, but will that work for that kind of scenario since I'm really trying to avoid the need to go to the product_detail page.

If this is possible I could then respond to a couple of other customizations she would like in this regard.

I'll be looking at the code, but any direction to shorten my task would be really appreciated.

Thanks

How about starting the categories with the scents at the top and working down to the sizes etc?

Hmmmm.... let me think about that. What I'm dealing with is this poor customer had this site built originally in osc. The developer/webmaster disappeared - didn't pay the server bill and he and her site are gone!! Bless her heart.. so I'm trying to recreate some of what he had in Zen-Cart without some of the hacking he did.

He had the admin setup to be able to add scents in a special admin tool -

So you would go into that tool there were 4 categories - food/floral/fun/fruit

then you could create a new scent under the specific category. Then when you went in and added a product, you could choose "each" scent that product was available in.

The products detail page would look like this -
Product Jar Candle
Attribute - S/M/L (priced by Attribute)

Then customer would have listed by category all the scents that product was available in with the quantity box next to the "scent". the idea was a customer could order 25 small candles - mixing and matching the scent - then that total was sent to the cart and the appropirate bulk discounts were applied. (5 vanilla, 5 rose 10 plumeria 5 Honey = total of 25 candles added to cart

Whew!!!

I just haven't been able to get my arms around that -

So I came up with what I mentioned in my post. I thought of your way, but I'm back to attributes again and flipping screens back and forth to get the total of multiple scents in one size.

I thought this way - I could use short descriptions - all would be on one screen- customer could run down the list put in the number next to the scent and click go and they are done.

I was just hoping to lessen her work anytime she added a new product, she could just choose the scent and the description would be there and she could click and go - we could leave the text box for additional info. If nothing is there - nothing printed and would default to the drop down description.

I'm just not sure which files to hit for this to appear in the product "listing' description vs. the details page as it's done for product_type.

You thoughts??

Why don't you have the candle listed by type (pillar, votive, jar,....)
On the product info page you would have attributes for size and scent.....now you ask isn't that the original problem...well yes, But here's the twist have a link next the scent attributes that brings up a popup with a list of the scents and their descriptions...well wadda ya think :yes: or :no:

also the customer could keep the popup window open while they shop through the pages without having to keep opening it up on each page

Should make admin easier just add the description to the html in the popup and add the scent to the attributes list

I'm so happy a discussion is happening on this...I've felt so lonely on this one..lol...

This is the second candle shop I've done and each owner always seem have the same priority so I'm "assuming" it's standard "somewhere"...lol... Simplicity of ordering. My first shop was much easier, however it was before zen-cart was modified to be able to have the quantity box and with the add to cart button on the product listing page so I had to get creative and modifiy the listing page to make that happen. All these shops seem to want to have the customer to go to a primary page where they can just run down the list - type in the quantity for each item again on one page and then click add to cart "once" and go.

this is pretty much what she is wanting except that it is more complex in that she is not requiring a minumim order of each scent like my other shop. So a customer can order a quantity of 25 candles let's say in the votives. Here's the hitch - they can mix and match the scents of those 25 candles within the "one" order. vs going to 4 or 5 different screens to place another order item in a new scent, she wants her customers to be able to go to the votive page - and order 25 votives - let's say 5 in vanilla, 5 in honey, 15 in Plumeria - click add to cart (as they are all the same price) and go. She doesn't mind that they need to go to another page and order another quantity of Large candles or small if that is the case.

In her case She has Jar Candles (s/m/l) we can use an attribute for that - but once they choose the size - she wants them "on the same page" to be able to choose the quantity break out based on what scents they want"

So I was trying to find something she could "live" with in lieu of that, vs. hacking the add to cart code.

Please continue with your ideas everyone jump in here. Many heads are better than just one... : ' )

oh I see one of those clients :cry:
I envision a product info page then that would have a quantity box next to each scent with one add to cart button at the bottom....checkbox so you can select many scents and maybe a text box next to each titled "quantity".....have to play with this one, hmmmm.....

Exactly.... I've strained my brain on this one and just came up with a blank - so I was trying to at least set it all up where it wasn't too big of a pain in the keester when she goes to add a new product since she has a ton of scents - I thought if I could add in the admin similiar to the way product_music is done -A running list of the scents but add to that a static description added also via an insert menu.

Then when she adds a new product (now she's thinking of doing scented bookmarks as she makes her products) then she could go in add the product name choose the scent and voila a standard description would be populated. If she wanted to add an additional text that box would still be there, but if nothing there then the product description would default to the one in the drop down -

Example - Using the same idea as adding Music Gerre - Add Scents - So she could go in "one" time add all her scents - but in that screen have a description box - she adds a pat description - Scent is "Caramel Apple" – A blend of sweet apples and caramel with just enough toasted pecans.

So whenever a product has that scent available pick it from the drop down and this description appears.

I've hacked the add to cart code in the past - but when upgrades come it can be a real pain, so I was trying really hard to stay away from that, but i do want to make her life easier, so I thought the admin setup would be really nice and actually I can think of situations where this might come in handy.

But I'm running short of time... so I need to get on with whatever I'm going to do here, so I have to make up my mind... which can be a challenge in itself..LOL..

Thanks again for your time and brain power!!

Would the Quick Order mod work for this?

See this thread: http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23429

I've never seen this one before... hmmm I wonder if I could adapt this... Another great mind at work...

Thanks!!!!!

This contribution has some possibilities.. but the customer would have to know the whole list of scents to make this work...But I'm going to look at the code logic and the files touched and see if I can possiblly adapt it.

What I truly need (here goes my wish list) is something created called Quantity by Attribute - We have Price by Attribute - If we could add quantity by attribute then that would be it on the nose.

But the attribute system is very complex and I'm not sure I would know where to start pokeing around with that, but I'm going to look at the code logic there also. If anyone has any ideas on that... please jump right in...

I can see sooo many applications for that. I see many stores for wholesale products where that could be really useful. Let's say you carried Polo shirts to have logos applied. Your customer wanted 30 shirts size Large - 10 Blue 10 Red 10 White total of 30 add to cart. It definitely has it's possibilities - now to figure out how to write it and make it work....That is another story

LOL

Ruth-

It is coming, but won't be done for a bit.

Really... wow.. that's down right exciting... When you say "a bit" can you narrow that down for me a little. What I could do is go with my other plan and then promise the customer that as soon is it is available I will modify her site for her.

I was just poking through the code trying to see where I could hook into the logic for that, but nothing jumped right out at me... but it's been a long day...lol

Thanks Kim for that shining light at the end of the tunnel... at least I know it isn't the train...LOL

I think your original plan - rwo type categories, three size subcats, and many scent products - is sound and will be easy for her to maintain.

You can copy a product to another category with the click of a button, so if she creates the description of each scent as a product, she can copy each one to every subcat. Takes a little time but can become automatic with little thought required. Keep the scent descriptions generic with no reference to candle type or size. The product image can be a swatch of the scent color.

You would reverse the ordinary arrangement of small thumbs for categories/listings and large individual product info pages. It would become top cats with large pics of the types and full descriptions, and a spread of the size subcats with nice pics below; clicking on a size would bring the scent listing where you can have the multiple add buttons. You would want to disable the link to product info pages since they are irrelevant.

I have written a code snippet to display an appropriate top cat image above every subcat and product listing page, which you could modify for your situation to keep the customer in mind of what kind of candle they are picking. I'll be happy to help with this, but can't do anything until next week (heading out of town),

I'd love to take a look at what you done regarding your code snippet - If you have that live on a site could you provide a link so I could take a peek. I'm really interested in your code and your assistance.

Thanks a bunch. I will continue with the original plan which is almost identical to your suggestions, except I never even thought about the convenience of copying the product across as the description is standarized.

PM me when you get back next week and thanks again.

My site is currently on a development server on my PC, though I am hoping to get it ftp'd to the live server in the next few days.
This is the custom display code I wrote, in tpl_main_page.php:

    <td valign="top">

<!-- bof  collection title image - gjh42  9/30/06 -->
<?php
if ($current_page_base == ("index" or "product_info"))
{?>
  <div id="collectionTitleImage"> <?php
  if (ereg("(^1$|^1_)",$cPath)) //wedding or sub  ============ adjust file paths for public site =============
  {
    echo "<img src='../fr-135/images/frheadwed.gif' alt='The Wedding and Betrothal Collection'>";
  }
  elseif (ereg("(^2$|^2_)",$cPath)) //celtic or sub
  {
    echo "<img src='../fr-135/images/frheadcel.gif' alt='The Celtic Collection'>";
  }
  elseif (ereg("(^3$|^3_)",$cPath)) //historic or sub
  {
    echo "<img src='../fr-135/images/frheadhis.gif' alt='The Historic Collection'>";
  }
  elseif (ereg("(^21$|^21_)",$cPath)) //spirit or sub
  {
    echo "<img src='../fr-135/images/frheadspi.gif' alt='The Spirit and Symbol Collection'>";
  }
  elseif (ereg("(^22$|^22_)",$cPath)) //eclectic or sub
  {
    echo "<img src='../fr-135/images/frheadecl.gif' alt='The Eclectic and Original Collection'>";
  }
  elseif (ereg("(^58$|^58_)",$cPath)) //artists or sub
  {
    echo "<img src='../fr-135/images/frheadart.gif' alt='Artists Galleries'>";
  } ?>
  </div> <?php 
} ?>
<!-- eof  collection title image -->

<!-- bof  breadcrumb -->

My purpose is to display a calligraphed title image at the top of every page in a top cat, its subcats and product info pages. I wanted it positioned above the breadcrumbs, hence the location of the code in the file.

I expect you would want an image of the candle type at the top of subcat (size) product listing pages only, so for you this would become very simple. The "ereg" is a PHP function that sees if the pattern coded inside "" is found in the variable ($cPath in this case). If your two candle types have category id's 1 and 2, you would write ```php

Of course, there is another option which requires no coding. Since your types and sizes are few, you could have the subcat image for small type 1 candles be a good big picture of small type 1 candles, and so on, collapsing the identification layers. The top cat image could show a group of all the sizes of that style for easy comparison.

Let me know what works out for you.

Thanks, I'm going take a look at that. I have another thread running about this same site... and I'm really stuck here... If you could go take a look at this thread and let me know if you have any ideas, I would be very appreciative. This is continuing with the plan we discussed before you left, but again trying to clean up the layout. If this works your image solution would be really nice.

http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?p=275116#post275116

I'm wanting to have the candles in the "row" layout" in the Product Listings, while leaving the rest of the products in the column layout. When you check the thread you can see the code iterations that I've tried without success... Hopefully you are a much better coder (which I believe you are) and can shed some light on what should be a not so tough solution that I can't figure out.

Thanks so much for taking the time to come back. Hope you had a good trip.

Just a short update here - and I'll post the details of "how" at the original post site - I finally accomplished getting the Candles in rows... Yea!!!. I've also used the method for "non programming" on the sub-cat image as we discussed before. I had just done this on a fragrance site I'm finishing up on where I didn't want to have images in the listing on one image in each fragrance category - so I did hte same thing here. Increased the image icon to 150 wide - that way I didn't have to customize each description with an image. In this instance each of the subs will be using the same candle grouping image so it made it much easier as I will use the copy function on the products so I don't have to continue to retype all those scents.

Thanks for your help. I'm on to my next challange!!