Product listing page configuration

Maybe what is throwing me is that in Joomla 1.6, the menu creation looks nothing like the tutorials (or I'm doing something wrong). Anyhow, I tried creating a link to the product listing page in two different ways, and the problem with both of them is that the options I set in the Hikashop Options page (linked from the Joomla menu item creation page) do not show. In the Hikashop options, I have set a different background color, a border, and checked the radio button to show description (I did save in Joomla), but still only a barebones listing with no description, no border, and a gray background shows. I tried added the Product Listing Page (selected from the popup list of menu item types in the Joomla menu manager) as a menu item to an existing menu, and also tried creating a new menu of type HikaShop, then added the Product Listing Page as a menu item to the menu. In both cases the link to the Product Listing Page ends up being the same, vidainstitute.org/index.php?option=com_h...oduct&layout=listing and all I get is the bare bones listing. What might I be doing wrong.


What I am after is a page that lists all products with descriptions, has the same background color as my site, and has a border around each product listed.

An unrelated question - What goes in the URL box above the Meta Description in the Product configuration screen?

Maybe the link doesn't have the itemid parameter because Joomla is set to display SEO-friendly URL's.
I added the new menu that I created to the bottom of all pages. You can see it at the bottom of the page at vidainstitute.org . It is a menu called "Products" with one link, "View Products". This link leads to vidainstitute.org/index.php/view-products
I tried setting display options including the border, background color, and description under Hikashop in both Display/Content Menus and Display/Content Modules. but neither had any effect. All I get is a barebones listing with a gray background. Is there somewhere else I should be setting these options? I cannot find anything called "tab display" in either the Hikashop or Joomla configuration screens.

Could I impose on your patience to just give me some guidance on how to create and link to a page that lists all products with descriptions, has the same background color as my site, and has a border around each product listed? Sorry I'm such a numbskull.

My apologies, I know what you meant by tab display, there is a separate display tab under Configuration/System/Display. I did set the options in this and got the background to change, but even though I set "Type of item layout" to "Image and description", it still does not show the description. How do I get the description to show?

thank you! I hadn't set that option for the new menu under Display/Content Menus

Hi everyone. I had the same problem until I found exactly what you suggested. The problem for me is that if I go from category to subcategory and not directly from the menu I do not get the desciption anymore. If I go through the menu category/subcat/subcat I end on a page which has the category description and the products of that category. If I click on main category and then use the category icons to hop to the next cat until reaching the one I want I get to a page with the content of the products of that category but not the description. It seems like it is calling a different page altough showing the same product contents.

Example www.uteco.eu / from the left menu ... products / Instrumentation / Consumeables& accesories for recorders a page called ..../instrumentation-a-accessories-for-recorders comes up WITH the category description

if, on the otherhand I go by clicking directly on the products menu then click on Instrumentations then on Instrumentation & Accessories for Recorders a page called 39-consumables-a-accessories-for-recorders

It seems to load a listing page where I cant change anything like showing the description etc.

Any help / ideas of solution or workaround ?