Hi thanks for replying, I am just like you in terms of php knowledge, just wish I had the time top learn... Anyway... That link suggests that I can add custom fields to the product listings page which is what I want, however I only have the standard version at the moment and you have to have commercial version to creat custom fields for products. So I cannot try this yet.
I cannot find the custom field for product sections discussed below in my configuration area so I assume that is because I don't have a commercial version.
Custom item fields don't appear on the front end.
When you create a custom field, don't forget to enable the "Front-end" option.
Be careful, when you create the custom field, be sure that you set the good table , which is the "item" table, not the "product" table.
For products listings, enable the default option in System->configuration->display, enable "Display custom item fields" in the Default parameters for products.
For products listings, enable the same option, in Display->content menus/modules.