Can ZenCart Do This?

Out of the box, without any custom programming required, is it possible for ZenCart to:

Allow a customer to build a custom product by making choices through a sequence of selections. For example, build your own cowboy hat - choose a fabric ==> choose a shape ==> choose a band ==> choose a band clip, etc. Can you tell me if this is possible and, if so, give me a brief explanation of how? Thanks so much!

Unfortunately, no.

You can set up all the choices in a product, with images of what each choice looks like, but you can't make one dependent on another.

Some people have done this for building PCs, but the companies that paid for it to be done have not been willing to allow the code to be released to the public.

While there is no "series" of steps, building a hat would be possible with an attribute for each change.

Thanks for the feedback.

I'm not sure that I need to make any choices dependent on any others - I just need the customer to be able to make a series of selections to build a custom 'hat' in a sequence.

Glenn, do you have a ballpark range for what companies have paid to have this customization done?

pac001:

Thanks for the feedback.

I'm not sure that I need to make any choices dependent on any others - I just need the customer to be able to make a series of selections to build a custom 'hat' in a sequence.

Glenn, do you have a ballpark range for what companies have paid to have this customization done?

I'd look into Kim's suggestion of using the built-in attributes function before looking into paying someone for custom work.

I have no clue what a professional programmer would charge for building such a system, except that it would be numerous hundreds of dollars.

Definitely study the product attribute system and see how you can have choices for all the elements that make up a hat. As long as you start from a specific enough base product, e.g. cowboy hats, you can show swatches of the different fabrics/leathers etc. with the base cost for a hat in the material, then samples of hatbands with the extra cost for each variety, and so on.

Look in the Setting Up Your Zen Cart Products > Attributes - Product Options forum for stickies and questions answered about using attributes.