[Mark Evans]

This thread is aimed to discuss the attibutes system available in osCommerce.

This area has not been touched for a long time and is in need of an upgrade.

Please post what you would like to see with the attrributes system here.

Any posts unreleated to the attributes system are likely to be removed.

Thanks

[Melinda Odom]

I would like to see the following:

1. options as images so an image can be shown for each attribute with new styles in stylesheet
2. ability to display options with text boxes so customer can write in personalized info
3. when customer clicks on attribute in drop down box the ability for a popup with a short description to appear
4. ability to select a group of attributes for a product all at once instead of one at a time like engraving letters on jewelry with 3 initials for each product...now you have to do them one at a time or even if you have the attribute manager which is great you still have to check off 26 letters for each initial on each product.
5. sort attributes the way you want them listed along with alphabetical sorting
6. attribute manager with ability like number 4.

All of these to be turned on or off in the admin.

These are things my clients have asked for ... more when I can think of them!

[241]

How about initial option selection via radio buttons leading to further option selections, where multiple selction options are required.

[Johnson]

The most important feature is attributes/stock - an SKU would also be on this list

Matti

[bruyndoncx]

include the functionality offered by the following contributions:
- option type
- static options
- must select (but database driven, ie flag if an option is optional or mandatory and create corresponding user prompts)
- attribute sorter

Additionally
- optionally indicate a default option value
- possibility to set attributes upon product creation

I personally think that attribute sets contribution is very usefull, but it might not fit well into a standard install, making it overly complex for a standard setup with just a few products with options

[burt]

I know that mention of other carts is not appreciated, but take a look at the ZC attributes. It's not coded particularly gracefully, but it does work well;

- text inputs
- radio buttons
- dropdowns
- checkboxes

Also, the ability to add a weight to an attribute. This would take care of (for example) those who sell framed or unframed pictures. A frame adds a lot of weight and thus needs to be charged for accordingly for postage.

Also, most importantly stock checking based on attributes, for example clothing shops. I might have 5 t-shirts in stock, but 3 are red and 2 are blue. Also I might have one of those red tshirts in size large, and 2 in small. And so on.

[burt]

Allow the addition of attributes on the product input page (aka "alternative attribute handling" I think).... or rework it somewhat to alllow multiple additons at one time (rather than add each option/attribute individually as it is in standard osC).

[spannerman2]

We have 1500 designs which can be printed on any garment we stock. At the moment we have an attributes table which contains all of the options for every garment, even though not every option is available for every garment. This leads to customers ordering items that we do not stock eg. Kids T-Shirt in 5XL!

I have tried eliminating the attributes from the db on a per item basis but it removes them from ALL products.

There may be a better way for me to use OSC but right now this is the way I have it!

I have been searching for a way of reading the attributes table in a "conditional" way since I started using OSC 12 months ago, but not found one yet - e.g - Customer chooses Adult T-Shirt, they see the colours and sizes available (full range), Kids T is only in Black and S, M, L sizes. At the mo I have a (html) table on the site which tells 'em what we stock but it's surprising how many don't read it!

The attributes table is huge as well! - 53 Attributes for each of 1500 designs!

Web address is available if you want to see what I'm talking about!

I am currently looking for a way of "Error Checking" when a user hits "Add to Cart" to test the url for "invalid" attribute choices - invalid as far as we don't stock that attribute combination. If anyone knows of a Contribution or method that will do this I would be most appreciative!

This post has been edited by spannerman2: 19 November 2004 - 12:14 AM

[medvid]

1) Attribute name seperate from attribute display name (even the demo data in MS2.2 uses Model to describe USB, PS/2 AND Deluxe, Premium, Value)
2) Attribute sort (order they show on the product page
3) Option sort (order they show IN attibute
4) Option types: text input, radio buttons, check boxes, images
5) Details link for attribute that can pop up a more detailed description
6) weight
7) cost +, -, %(+ and -) modifiers
8) cost = (sets product price)
9) cost surcharge (add once, not multiplied for multiple products)

Thanks,
ed

[Mark Evans]

So what your all saying is it needs some work then

[medvid]

Mark,

Just a little

I'm guessing that the original design was, if not an after thought then, at least considered a minor feature. The problem is so many stores now use it to give their customers the choice to customize their purchase.

Most of the requested mods so far are already available as contribs that have been tested and fine tuned. Look to them to get a full understanding of the requirements.


Also, break up the attributes/options screen! That 3 panel setup is hard even on high resolution screens.

Thanks,
Ed

[spannerman2]

Mark (and the other developers!)

I hope you don't take my earlier post as a criticism! OSC is a great system, along with all the other contributions made by other developers!

The store we operate is a peculiar one, with the possible combinations of print and garment. If I were to redefine the list by Adult T, Ladies Fitted T, Kids T etc I could quite simply define the attributes available for each, but I would have to repeat the designs (1500+ of them) in each category since any design can go on any garment - we have 9 categories of garment, therefore there would be 13,500+ products due to the repetition.

There are many great contribs out there for managing Attributes, and I think that some could certainly be adopted as standard code, but thats down to you guys choice-wise!

Just as a point of interest, we've added 450 or so new designs since this time last year.

All I can say is that I've had a great (sometimes frustrating!) time learning php and OSC coding over the past 12 months.

MANY THANKS for the development, now and in the future!

This post has been edited by spannerman2: 19 November 2004 - 09:08 PM

[Harald Ponce de Leon]

burt said:

I know that mention of other carts is not appreciated, but take a look at the ZC attributes.  It's not coded particularly gracefully, but it does work well;

- text inputs
- radio buttons
- dropdowns
- checkboxes

I believe that's the work from an osCommerce contribution

burt said:

Also, the ability to add a weight to an attribute.  This would take care of (for example) those who sell framed or unframed pictures.  A frame adds a lot of weight and thus needs to be charged for accordingly for postage.

Also, most importantly stock checking based on attributes, for example clothing shops.  I might have 5 t-shirts in stock, but 3 are red and 2 are blue.  Also I might have one of those red tshirts in size large, and 2 in small.  And so on.

Yep - I think these two have priority over the other changes

[Harald Ponce de Leon]

burt said:

Allow the addition of attributes on the product input page (aka "alternative attribute handling" I think).... or rework it somewhat to alllow multiple additons at one time (rather than add each option/attribute individually as it is in standard osC).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

medvid said:

Also, break up the attributes/options screen!  That 3 panel setup is hard even on high resolution screens.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Like this?

http://forums.oscomm...type=post&id=18

More here:

http://forums.oscomm...howtopic=119565

[medvid]

Harald,

Well, yes. But, many people have dozens and even hundreds of attributes and/or options. Will the current CVS code scale in a workable manner?

Also, the screen shot shows my issue with Model being used for different meanings/options.

ed

[burt]

hpdl, on Nov 19 2004, 11:04 PM, said:

I believe that's the work from an osCommerce contribution

That can be said about 99% of ZC

However, I believe that their method of Attributes is superior as (for example), if an option only has 1 selection, it defaults to a checkbox automatically. And so on, I haven't tested it in ages, but I remember thinking "that's good"...

[cannuck1964]

Well my wish for the attributes is more in the separation of the attributes and shopping cart class. I would really like to see a class made up which contains the attributes only and the shopping cart class for adding to the cart system. I would even go as far as to say the pricing should be put into a different class as well.

The reasoning behind this is simple, some shops need attributes some do not, some need a specialized pricing scheme, with the separation, these would be a ) easier to turn on/off, b ) easier to modify, c ) better logic design since each one is a unique business logic, and as such should be distinct from each other.


Cheers,

Peter M.

This post has been edited by cannuck1964: 20 November 2004 - 01:01 PM

[blueline]

I believe that the most critical updates to the attributes system are:

1.) Stock control (quantity control)
2.) Ability to add weight to attributes for more accurate shipping prices
3.) Ability to assign attributes from the categories.php page (product edit/insertion page)
4.) Ability to use additional resources besides just drop down boxes (uploads, text boxes, radio, checkbox, etc)

I also think that the system could be MUCH more user friendly regarding the code itself. Not to say that the code has been poorly written, because it hasn't, but it is difficult to integrate additional functionality due to the attribute code being so scattered and so involved in the core code. If there is a way we can make is less abundant in the code, I have a feeling greater functionality will come out of it in the future. Maybe the attribute system can be converted to a class system? I think that would provide a starting point for a LOT of improvement in a number of areas.

[chardae]

Quantity to attributes!

Example.

Attribute

Sizes:

Small [ Quantity needed ]
Med ( Quantity needed )
Large ( Quantity needed )

Add them all to cart update quantity and amount due, show cart. 1 step.

If this makes sense.

[Ethan1701]

First off, I think the stock issue is important, but problematic.
what happens if you sell sirts, you have S,M,L,XL, in red, blue and green.
How do you then manage the stock? you'll have to make a two dimentional array in order to handle it (3 yellow L, 2 green XL, 5 white S, and so on...) I think the master product contributions could come in handy here - create a master product (shirt) with salves (one for each size) and assign them attributes (for the colors).

Now, What I think is needed (or would be nice to have) in the attributes section is:
1. configure product attributes in admin/categories.php
2. allow attribute type (radio/ checkbox, etc.)
3. very important: modify the whole Option-Value_attribute interface. What I envision is something like this: (bear with me)

When you click on admin/products_attributes.php you are brought to a page that lists all the Options (size, color, etc.), where the first one (alphabetically, whatever) is highlited, and only it's Values are visible in the Values part of the page (could be where it is now...). in the Values table, you don't need the "Option Name" column, because you're only seeing those values of the selected Option.
Below these two tables is another table, which lists all the products that have this Option. One row per product. below the list is another row with a dropdown list of all the other products, and a button to add this product to the list. Clicking on a product in this list will open a sub-table under the item (javascript, reload the page, whatever...) with all the Values of this Option. on each row of this sub-table you'll have two radio buttons, to activate or diactivate the Value, and a textbox for added price (and added wheight, if we go there).

This view will clear all the clutter on this page, make it narrower (someone said even hi-res screens couldn't handle it the way it is), and make adding attributes far more intuitive.

That's it for now,
-Ethan