can osCMax v2 do custom product fields?

[chint]

Hi

Very interested in osCMAX v2 - but can I ask a question? I tried to use all versions of OsCommerce recently but found none of them allowed me to use CUSTOM FIELDS for Product Descriptions. It was impossible to add my own descriptor fields and add them to the Product Listing pages. I only had access to various dangerous Hacks to do this.

Does this version offer the option to create custom fields for Product Descriptions?

many thanks


chint

[michael_s]

Custom fields for product descriptions? No this is not available.

[chint]

Ah that is disappointing.

I am really amazed that this is not a standard item in these shopping carts, I have spent SO LONG trying to fit products into what is given by default, and yet many products have their own product criteria, lengths, heights, which just cannot be added to the product description displays.

Why do shopping cart designers imagine that all the products of the world will fit into about 6 product descriptors?

When a shopping cart comes along that does that, I will be very happy, as will many of my clients.

oh well.... back to the drawing board.


achintya

Custom fields for product descriptions? No this is not available.

[michael_s]

Maybe I am not understanding what you want, but you can write whatever product description you like in any of the products.

You can create any amount of attributes per product (size, color, weight, width, height, scent, new, used, whatever you want) and have them display with a select box, radio button or dropdown list. Is this what you are talking about?

Of course, they are not shown on the product listing pages, as those pages tend to have the product name, price, basic description and a picture. I think with a little bit of hacking you could add the extra fields to display on the product listing page.

Could you give an example, so I understand what it is that you want?

[chint]

Hi

I appreciate your interest in this. I have seen many requests like this in the forums, and if one of the Oscommerce products or Zen Cart could crack it, I think you would please many a user.

Yes, it is not in the 'options' area, but in the 'descriptors' area. ie, what is on screen in the various tables that describe the product, such as weight, model, type, etc, which are there.

There seems no easy way of adding to the descriptors?

I feel reluctant to 'hack' because a new version of most of these products come out quite quickly and they all seem to require overwriting of the core files, which need changing if the product descriptor fields are to be added (or taken away even...).

For example, my client is selling safes and they have a product name, a model and a weight, and a price... so far so good....

BUT they also have Door Sizes (interior) and Door Sizes (exterior) as well as a stock code and number of shelves inside. These are not 'options' for each product but actual descriptions for each product as they stand.

I would want the product description to allow these extra 'fields' to be added so they can be described when filling in the product details, along with model, weight, price etc.

So far, no OsCommerce product, or Zen Cart and few of the more commercial products actual offer this facility.

As I said, there are quite a few people in the various forums for these products wishing this, and quite a few hacks which look like a nightmare, especially if not a programmer.

I use some CRM software called Vtiger and this offers a huge array of field customising tools for all kinds of categories of information, and these fields come up automatically to be filled in whenever a new Customer, or Lead, or Opportunity is filled in.

That's what I am looking for here? Along with quite a few others it seems.

If I am missing something or asking the impossible, please say, but I am amazed this is not possible in such advanced, wonderful software such as osMAX, and the other Os spinoffs.

Looking foward to your thoughts, or a hack which doesn't involve more than 2 things to change!!

thanks again for your interest


achintya

Maybe I am not understanding what you want, but you can write whatever product description you like in any of the products.

You can create any amount of attributes per product (size, color, weight, width, height, scent, new, used, whatever you want) and have them display with a select box, radio button or dropdown list. Is this what you are talking about?

Of course, they are not shown on the product listing pages, as those pages tend to have the product name, price, basic description and a picture. I think with a little bit of hacking you could add the extra fields to display on the product listing page.

Could you give an example, so I understand what it is that you want?

[michael_s]

Ok, maybe I am just not getting it.

Say you have a door that is interior and another that is exterior, could you not just say that in the product name:

Interior door witdh, height, etc

rather than adding more fields? It seems to accomplish the same thing without any code changes.

Maybe I just don't get what you are describing.

Or, optionally could you simply create an interior category, and place only interior doors in that category? Then, when the products are listed, the interior field is not necessary, since the customer sees they are in the 'interior doors' category.

Please do explain further, as it seems I simply am not understanding what you want...

[chint]

Have a look at the site, under construction:

You will see there are various items in the table for each of the products, which I have to put into the table by hand, then add to the description.

I would like those fields to appear when the product is displayed and be able to fill them in when I add a new product.

I could add some of the data when I do the 'name' or 'model' but as you can see, in most cases it is too long to do that?

I want those fields to be available to complete when I add a new product, and to display when I display a product?

Here is the site as it is done in Zen Cart, but I want to use Os really...

http://www.guardiansafes.co.uk/shopatguardian

thanks for your interest


achintya

Ok, maybe I am just not getting it.

Say you have a door that is interior and another that is exterior, could you not just say that in the product name:

Interior door witdh, height, etc

rather than adding more fields? It seems to accomplish the same thing without any code changes.

Maybe I just don't get what you are describing.

Or, optionally could you simply create an interior category, and place only interior doors in that category? Then, when the products are listed, the interior field is not necessary, since the customer sees they are in the 'interior doors' category.

Please do explain further, as it seems I simply am not understanding what you want...

[michael_s]

Hi, are you referring to the blue table on the page?

See the attached screenshot.

If yes, this is a simple matter of adding the html to the product decription.

[chint]

Hi

Yes... but I would need to do this for each product item, and each sub-category, as I have on the site so far. It took quite some time.

I am trying to get it so I can just add this data when I am putting a new product into ZC, without having to do html tables. They are quite fiddly to drop in.

If this is a very complex hacking job, is there any way I can 'copy' product data complete with all the html and choices intact, then modify the content?


achintya

Hi, are you referring to the blue table on the page?

See the attached screenshot.

If yes, this is a simple matter of adding the html to the product decription.

[michael_s]

I would use easypopulate to do it. Simply copy/paste your table into easypopulate file, making your edits with excel for each category/product, then do a one shot update with easypopulate.

I think it will be faster than having to manually add all the field data one product at a time anyway.