Coupon restrictions not working for subcategories

I have been having a problem with setting up coupons.

First, I have product that is linked to several categories, with my master category being the DESIGNER of the files. I have the category called DESIGNER, and the subcategory is each individual designer. I have two designers that want to issue a coupon on their files and only their files.

so my Categories are something like this:

Designer

Chris D Designs
Beloved Keepsake Designs
etc
etc

Cutter Files

Animals
Vacation
ETC, ETC

Machines and Accessories

Blades
Paper

IN the above categories, I have product that is linked to Designer and to Cutter Files categories, but NONE of these products are linked to the Machines and Accessories Category.

So, I set the coupon up as follows:

Coupon Name: Card Challenge
Coupon Description: Card Challenge
Coupon Amount: 20%
Coupon Minimum: 1.00
Free Shipping: NOT checked
Coupon Code: xxxxxxxx
Uses Per Coupon: 150
Uses Per Customer: 1
Start Date: 10/04/2007
End Date: 10/07/2007
Coupon Zone Restriction: None

then, in the restrictions, i have set:

CATEGORY RESTRICTIONS:
ALL Categories: DENY
Chris D Designs: ALLOW
Beloved Keepsake Designs: ALLOW

PRODUCT RESTRICTIONS: NONE

The coupon doesn't work. Says i don't have a valid product in cart for it, even though I do.

I have also gone in, and DENIED all Categories EXCEPT the two designers(individually denied each category, and set the two designers to ALLOW!) and left the TOP Category with no assignment (no DENY or ALLOW). When I do it this was, it issues the coupon to ALL product from the Designer category and Cutter files category, which is incorrect. (it does however deny coupon discount to the Machine and Accessories category)

the ONLY way I have been able to set up a coupon for them is to go in and DENY ALL categories, then go into Product Restrictions and ALLOW all of Chris D Designs and Beloved Keepsake Desings products individually. They have over 100 EACH in their subcategory, so it takes literally hours to do it this way.

I can set them up as a "sale" of 20% off of their product, but they only want the discount to apply to a specific market group they are advertising and working with, not to all customers.

Can someone please help me figure out a way to get this process simplified, or point me in the direction of what I'm doing wrong.

Also, my site information:
** Zen Cart 1.3.7.1**

 ** Database Patch Level:  1.3.7**

v1.3.7 [2007-02-12 21:43:57] (Version Update 1.3.6->1.3.7)
v1.3.6 [2006-11-25 19:09:38] (Version Update 1.3.5->1.3.6)
v1.3.5 [2006-11-25 19:09:38] (Version Update 1.3.0.2->1.3.5)
v1.3.0.2 [2006-08-02 11:15:04] (Fresh Installation)

My actual site is https://www.paperthreads.com/store if you want to go in and see how categories are set up.

Anyone have any suggestions or clues???

We wanted to activate the coupon for tomorrow, but I will have to do it the hard way without a solution!

If anyone has any suggestions or input on this I would GREATLY appreciate it! At this point, any help I can get!!

I am willing to even pay someone if this requires special coding of some sort, I just need to get it working!

End Date: 10/07/2007

Today is the 17th ... :eek:

Yes, I know today is the 17th. I originally posted this problem on the 4th and got no response.

I wasn't able to do the coupons at all for the World Card Making day, because I couldn't get the problem fixed. I would however like to find a solution, as this type of coupon is one we do often, and it's now too much work to have to go in and INDIVIDUALLY approve products for a specific design, now that they have upwards of 200 product files each.

also, I don't think I noted this, the MASTER Category for the products is the DESIGNER category.

The Designer Category appears to be a Top Level Category with Categories in it ...

Categories hold Products or Categories ... Never both ...

The Designer category cannot be a master_categories_id as it has Categories in it ... and if that is a Top Level Category then this is confusing code such as searches, prices, validations, etc. etc. etc.

Sorry, i stated that wrong.

the Master Category for each product is the corresponding designer category.

so for example, in the first post, i listed some categories,
Chris D Designs is MASTER category for all product in that category
Beloved Keepsakes is MASTER category for all product in that category.

DESIGNER is the top category for them, Chris D and Beloved Keepsakes is the Subcategories.

Okay ... make sure you are not testing with an account that already used the Discount Coupon as you have 1 time for 150 customers configured ...

And make sure you do not have 150 coupons claimed ... :smile:

Not used yet by my "tester" account, and it was a newly created coupon code, never released, so definitely not used 150 times.

Ok...I fixed the problem.

I was setting the top categories to DENY, then the specific subcategories to allow.

It then wasn't applying the coupon correctly, it would add it to all items in the category that I put in the car.

I set up a totally new coupon, but didn't do anything EXCEPT for set the ALLOW on the Subcategory I wanted and ONLY that subcategory. Leaving all others alone, setting to neither deny or allow.

it then allowed me to add various products from various categories/subcategories, but only applied the discount to the one and one subcategory that I set to allow.....

hope that makes sense....

I was under the impression that I had to set the top level category to deny, and then set it to allow only the subcategories I wanted. Guess I was confused.

That is odd ... I think you really want to test that as usually you really need that Top Deny in addition to the other restrictions ...

Try several combos on the order to make sure it is working ...

Thanks for the update! :smile:

OK I am having the same issue - if I deny all cats and then allow the sub cats it doesn't work if I only use the cataogary that I want to allow it works...........all other coupons were working when I denied the top cat and then allowed - is this a new 'glitch' perhaps

OK I htink I have it - the ones I was trying to deny the Weekly Specials were in the same cat. I wanted to allow - so I think I confused the poor program!!
I think I have it set its not perfect as it would have been easier just to deny those Weekly Specials but it just wouldn't let me do it...........

Well, as Ajeh said, she was surprised it worked that way, and she was right, the next time I tried to do it, it didn't work.....

So i'm not sure how to proceed at all with it......

I really need some help on this I am about 10-12 hours into this and I just don' know where to turn./ Is there some kind of easy to follow guide somewhere?
Does anyone know??????

I'm having the same problem as paperthreads (similar set up with the store and coupon). I can only get the coupon to work on the allowed subcats when I set the top to deny and then manually enter each and every product in the allowed subcat.

Ajeh - shouldn't we just be able to set top to deny and then the specific subcat(s) to allow and NOT have to manually enter each of the products? Is this because the products in this subcat (yes, it is the master cat for the products) are linked to other subcats?

I never did get this issue figured out. I tried and tried and it was a nightmare! I am very interested in seeing the replies and seeing if you get it working.
My workaround was just to have the coupon work on all cats. which is a pain as it also includes sale items but I need coupons they are the best thing for following where my traffic comes from.

I too haven't ever gotten it to work properly. Unfortunately, I can't offer the coupon store wide, as my products are on consignment, and the consignor designates their prices and specials.

This is a real limitation for me right now. And I HOPE we can figure out what to do to get it to work!!