Problem with characteristics/variants

Hi there,

Not sure if this is a bug or something to do with my setup - but can't seem to figure out any way for this to work the way I need it to...

I have setup a product which is a T-Shirt - I have 4 different sizes for the T-Shirt (Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large). I have added these as variations of the T-Shirt.

I see several problems with this setup;

***I have the add to cart button displayed on the product list page - If I click on the button from this page it does not give the opportunity to select a size yet still adds the default product to the cart (i.e. I will get an order for "T-Shirt" as oppose to "T-Shirt Large", "T-Shirt Small" etc). I see two options to get over this - first to set 0 stock for the default item as technically I don't have any of this product in stock so shouldn't be able to order it. If I set this on the product list page it then shows the item as "No Stock" but if I enter the product view page it is in stock (as the variants are used). Second is to add the variants dropdown to the product list page so a variant has to be selected from the list to allow it to be added to cart (a default value will always be selected). I feel this is a bug in the system and could be addressed by a selection of options etc.

*** When on the product view the variant title is appended to the title of the product (which is great, as I want it) - but when the variant is changed in dropdown it doesn't change the title - may confuse people. For example if I enter my T-Shirt product the title by default says "T-Shirt Small" - if I change this option to Large the title still says "T-Shirt Small" but if I click on the add to cart button "T-Shirt Large" gets added to the cart (as it should).


As I began the post, this may be me misunderstanding the configuration but I can't seem to figure anything out from the docs.

I think the variants need a little more work - hopefully you can help me out with my problem here - really what I would like to know for the time being is 1) How can I add the variants dropdown to the product list pages (if a product has variants) and 2)How can I dynamically change the title on the product view page to match the selected variant?

Hope this all makes sense - Found it a little hard to explain!

Thanks
Simon

1/I now understand the method behind the madness! However, may I suggest that you maybe consider making this a little easier for the site admins to get their head around. In an ideal world I would like to keep the add to cart buttons on the product list page - therefore would be nice to see some code in the template to detect if variants are required and if so perhaps have a button displayed saying "choose options" or similar to take the user to the product view page to keep the same look and feel on the page (if I have no button on that product customers may assume that it is not in stock, without even looking at the product view page). Most of my products are simple and therefore I would like the customers buying experience to be quick - if they want to order directly from the list page they should be able to and if they choose to see the full description they should be able to, again with the add to cart option.

2/I have made some changes to this template to get the title to display how I wanted it to so it is likely that I have caused this problem here from the sounds of it - I will revert back to the original file in the morning and check - only getting 1 JS error at the moment and that's from a google adsense module as it's being used on localhost.


While this one doesn't actually cause me any problems, it may do for other so I will introduce point 3.

3/As far as I can see, if you have variations it is required to choose one of these variations and the "standard" product cannot be ordered - perhaps in the variations configuration have an option to decide whether the variation is required or optional and if optional ensure that no variation is selected by default (ie a blank row in the dropdown). An example of this would be if I was selling a pc in my shop - by itself would be £100 but if I wanted to add the variation of PC with monitor it would be £150 or PC with monitor and printer for £200. Do you see what I mean?

Think I need to go to bed!
Simon

PS - Is there an easy method for me to change the template for 1/ so if the product has variations that require the full product view I can replace the ADD TO CART button with another button that just takes the user to the product view page (would prefer not to just hide the button).

Thanks

Hi Nicolas,

It would be good if a variant or product option could have a $ value that adds or subtracts from the base product if chosen.

In Zen Cart for example, using product attributes you can have something like this:

Base product = dress $60

Options =
Choose size (dropdown box - selection required)
Size 10 +/- $0
Size 12 +/- $0

Choose fabric (radio boxes, single choice)
Cotton +/- $0 (default)
Poly cotton - $10
Silk + $20

Choose matching scarfs (checkbox list - no default, no selection required)
Blue + $10
Yellow + $5

So say if someone purchased a dress, size 10, in polycotton with a yellow and a blue scarf, the total product price with the chosen options would be $65.

Translating this into Hikashop speak:
Base Product = Product
Size, fabric, scarves = Characteristics
10, 12, Cotton, etc = Characteristic variants

Also, in this way you can effectively have a base product that is $0 and "build" your product according to the variants.

There would also need to be a Yes/No "Selection required" on each of the characteristics and the ability to set a default variant.

This would be perfect!

cheers!

nicolas wrote:

1. That's a good idea. We'll look at adding a "choose options" button on the product listing when it has characteristics and that the "add to cart" button option is activated for the listing.

In fact I see that this is implemented in the latest version... I will update in the morning.

Do you have a mailing list I can sign up to in order to be kept updated on new releases - maybe an "update is avaliable" notice on the backend like some other components have?

Simon

Very interesting thread and great to see the implementation of the 'choose options' button.

I have a related question:

Is it posible to have only the variant options that actually have a product in stock show in the dropdown list or radio button style. That is to say that any variant not in stock would not show up on the list.

In my case of shoes, it is tiresome to click on several sizes to see if it is in stock.

Thanks for the time.